(RNS) — Raised in the Baptist tradition in Oklahoma, a young Paldrom Catharine Collins was a seeker.
Her search for spiritual truth led her to the Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist monastery in New York, where she spent five years as Buddhist nun. There, she changed her name, took vows, and tried to become a “perfect nun,” according to her new memoir.
Then she left.
Now in her mid-70s and an addiction counselor, Collins shares the complicated story of her time at the monastery in her upcoming book, “Girl in a Box: Seeking Enlightenment as a Tibetan Buddhist Nun,” which she calls a “love letter to the Tibetans.”
“This book is for anyone who’s been on a spiritual search, or is thinking about going on a spiritual search, and for people who have been in some system and are feeling challenged by that,” said Collins in an interview with Religion News Service on April 20. “It’s as an inspiration to say, ‘Yeah, you can step outside of the system and still have the beauty of the teaching, the fundamental of the teaching.’ That’s a big piece of what I was trying to get at.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why was it important for you to tell this story?
I realized that I couldn’t talk about my year …