Freda Bedi had a big heart and a big life. An English head prefect and Oxford graduate, a devoted Indian wife and doting mother of three, a hands on social worker and investigative journalist, a university teacher and Tibetan translator, a Gandhi satyagraha and Buddhist nun: who was Freda Bedi, Gelongma Palmo, affectionately called Mummy-la by all the Tibetans including His Holiness the 16th Karmapa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama? Who was this lady who tread so lightly yet left an indelible footprint, obscured but not forgotten? Fearless even in death, Freda died sitting in meditation with no rigor mortis, her body remaining supple for four days with warmth around the heart.
“Mrs. Freda Bedi whom we all lovingly called Mummy was truly a giver of life for thousands of Tibetan refugees. But she was much more. She delved deep into ancient Tibetan wisdom and became a living representative of its value to the rest of the world when it was being destroyed in Tibet. The history of Tibetan Buddhism in the West would not be complete without her. ”
– Ringu Tulku, author of Mind Training, Confusion Arises as Wisdom, and Path to Buddhahood
