ANI LOCHEN (c. 1865–1951) came to achieve the most treasured status of Tibetan culture, that of a religious master, and her devotees regard her as an emanation (sprul sku) of the the famous eleventh-century yoginī Machig Labdron. An exceptional autobiography, written during her last years, provides insight into her spiritual achievements, as well as the more mundane aspects of the life of female religious specialists in Tibet during the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries.

In her youth Ani Lochen was an itinerant yoginī; in midlife she was ordained a nun (a ne); and in her mature years she became a famous lama (bla ma). Ani Lochen was addressed as rinpoche (precious), a title reserved for high lamas and only exceptionally used for female masters. In premodern Tibet, thousands of male yogins, rinpoches, and learned monks competed for attention and support, and it is highly remarkable that a...