Confessions of a Gypsy Yogini, by Marcia Dechen Wangmo

Confessions of a Gypsy Yogini is a collection of teachings taken from the author's own life, gained from "experience through mistakes, learning the hard way." After an early life as a "quasiradical, hippie, horse trainer, and environmentalist," Marcia Dechen Wangmo became a Buddhist. Over the next three decades, through encounters with respected Tibetan masters and an enduring student-teacher relationship with a famed yogi, she moved deep into the hidden world of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Written as a guidebook for others and presented within a Buddhist framework, Confessions offers a fresh approach to traditional teachings. The author turns an unflinching eye on her own shortcomings and painful experiences in a series of revelations proving that, despite appearances to the contrary, she has been a far from ideal student. "I confess to not eradicating ignorance from the core," she begins. Interweaving insights gained from her personal experience, step by step she draws readers closer to the fruits of Buddhist practice: the ability to see things as they truly are.

Marcia Dechen Wangmo is a translator, editor, and writer whose company, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, has translated and preserved 62 essential Tibetan works for the English-speaking public. She lives in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Leggett, CA.