Ani Lodro Palmo

Spiritual Teacher, Buddhist Nun

Ani Lodro Palmo is a Tibetan Buddhist Nun and Director of the Vajra Vidya Monastery in Crestone, Colorado. She has dedicated her life in service to others' personal growth and awakening. The focus of Ani's talks and “pointings” is to uncover the layers of our human condition to expose something more fundamental and intimate - an exploration leading to a higher truth and clearer seeing- of what is actually happening around us, and inside us, without the filters of the conditioned mind.

Ani's “pointings” toward the truth of our existence offer inquiries into our deepest belief systems and conditioning to expose what may be buried or secretly loved and feared in all of us - life, death, longing, loss, and liberation.

Her teachings come from the direct experience of her own life journey, from an early age living with, and adjusting to, a world where abilities such as clairvoyance, past life remembrances, and the ability to speak with those that have crossed over to the other shore- are not shared by most of humanity.

For as long as Ani could remember, the impenetrable wall for others between this world and other worlds did not seem to apply to her. Ani’s mind seemed to extend beyond the Earthly sense perceptions most of humanity is limited by.

At an early age, Celestial realms were revealed to her where beings that appeared as angels or saints would speak with Ani about life as a human and the after-life. She was able to recall events from her past lives. She had clairvoyant abilities and could see events that would soon be unfolding for family members as well as hear their thoughts.

As a young adult Ani began speaking with people “on the other side”, people that had passed on, who somehow knew she was able to hear them and commune with them, and could give messages to their loved ones. She opened a psychic practice as a bridge for people to get in touch with loved ones and receive messages from them.

Over time, Ani’s own personal journey became more focused on a longing to understand who she was, who all of us are, as spirit, outside our bodies and Earthly existence. At the age of 35, following her heart, Ani “walked out of her life”, giving away all her possessions, and for the next 19 years lived as a monastic.

“For the next almost two decades I worked with various spiritual teachers, traveled to meet awakened beings that I felt called to, threw myself into devotional practices and selfless service and went through enormous transformation and purification of ego.

The first 11 years of this cycle I didn’t experience much growth in the way of enlightened states of consciousness. However, there was noticeable growth in my ability to have compassion and care for others. Thus, I grew into a more grounded and responsible person. The transformation during that time I could summarize as perhaps just becoming a nicer person.”

But then, into Ani’s 12th year of monastic life, her perception of the world transformed to be more closely aligned with how she experienced other-worldly, or “heaven” states, where beings of great compassion seemed to exist.

“It was as if the love and purity of heaven worlds I so longed to be a part of, I realized were here inside me the entire time. What was needed for me to see and experience this love and purity, was the purification of my own self. The Earthly suffering world I experienced, was my own suffering.

It was a shock to discover these higher worlds and states of consciousness actually exist here, and it was only my mind that created this separation between pure lands and this Earth land, this belief that heaven or “pure lands” existed somewhere else. This changed everything – my world view, my perspective, my attitude and my ability to feel joy and love others.”

In 2016, Ani went into private retreat, requesting guidance on where she should now go to live and serve. Within a few days she had a vision where the Dalai Lama came to her and asked her to come to Colorado, to a monastery in Crestone, which she did. In the dream the Dalai Lama showed her a Tibetan Buddhist mandala. When she arrived at the Vajra Vidya monastery in Crestone she found this exact mandala in the shrine room, a sign she had come to the right place.

In 2020, Ani Lodro ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun and becoming the Director of the monastery. In 2022 she was asked to start teaching.

“It was through Tibetan Buddhism I discovered there is a path to awakening, somewhat like an instruction manual, that has already been laid out. All that I had experienced directly is available and can be attained by following the pointings of the Buddha. This was a revelation for me. When I began teaching I wanted to share my own journey through the step by step teachings Tibetan Buddhism offers.

The spiritual journey is ultimately an inquiry into the nature of our own minds. Understanding this nature of mind gives us the tools to transform our limiting beliefs and personal conditioning into pure seeing and experiencing. This creates an opening for us to transcend our Earthly existence- we see as Buddha, as Christ, as Unconditional Love, as our own true Self.”