‘Now I’m in my late thirties. I feel something maturing in me I've got these inner feelings, and maybe even abilities, which I’ve never allowed myself to develop. Sometimes I feel the time is coming. I'd like to go on the three year, three month and three day retreat that the lamas go through as part of their training. But I don’t want to do it with the set routine of the practice as it is traditionally done. I want to go somewhere quiet, maybe to a cave, and I want to become a nagpa. I want to let my hair grow long and not cut it. I want to wear it in a knot on my head. I will let my fingernails grow. This urge comes from deep inside me. I want to go there and be quiet and let what is inside me come out.’

— A Step Away from Paradise by Thomas K. Shor, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (Page 282)