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General Buddhism => General Buddhism => Topic started by: dsiluvu on June 27, 2012, 04:40:29 PM
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I stumbled upon this site talking about great enlightened living Yoginis! If you can add more to this list, please do! I will start with two first...
Great Yoginis of Tantric Buddhism
Yoginis literally means female practitioners, and sometimes refers to accomplished female practitioners. For example, among the famed 84 Mahasiddhas of India, four were female: Laksminkara, the mad princess; Manibhadra, the model wife; Kanakhala, the younger of the two headless (severed-headed) sisters; and Mekhala, the elder of the two headless (severed-headed) sisters.
Mahasiddhas are the spiritual practitioners who within one lifetime have attained self-realization through real life experiences. This spiritual realization grants them mystical powers or siddhis. Some of the mystical powers are: increasing or decreasing one's size at will; making oneself invisible; assuming forms at will; power to control one's passion; the power to fly; the power to enter another person's body; the power to levitate; achieving high speed; to move about anywhere unnoticed; the power of obtaining everything; irresistible willpower; causing temporary paralysis in someone; control over others; infinite mental powers. These are some of the traits that come with being realized, but they are not the key purpose of attaining enlightenment.
The Drukpa Lineage, with Tilopa and Naropa, two of the 84 Mahasiddhas as its forefathers, is essentially a lineage of Mahasiddhas or enlightened yogis (Tib. Togdens). Since the time of Tsangpa Gyare, the founder of the Drukpa lineage, there have been many great female yoginis in the lineage, although not publicly well-known, they had benefited innumerble beings, especially setting themselves as inspiring examples to female practitioners of their times.
The first Drubwang Tsoknyi (1828-1904), an accomplished yogi of the Drukpa Lineage, was instrumental in establishing the biggest institution for female practitioners in Tibet - the Gechak Nunnery in Nangchen. Drubwang Tsoknyi was recognized as the reincarnation of Rechungpa, Milarepa's moon-like disciple, and Ratna Lingpa, one of the great tertons. Drubwang Tsoknyi instructed his disciple Tsangyang Gyatso to build the famed Gechak Nunnery which eventually had about 3,000 nuns, most of whom spent their entire life in solitary retreat, practicing the revealed treasures of Ratna Lingpa and special yogini practices belonging to the Drukpa lineage. Many of them attained rainbow bodies and enlightenment within one lifetime.
In this section, abridged biographies of the great female practitioners in Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism are retold to encourage and inspire women on the spiritual path.
Shugseb Jetsun
Shugseb Jetsun Rinpoche was sometimes known as Lochen. She was born in Rewalsar, India, and from childhood, Lochen was a diligent practitioner. Her mother was also a devoted practitioner, who accompanied her daughter on many pilgrimages and encouraged her practice. Â Her connection was mainly to the holy lineage of Palden Drukpa and Sangag Nyingma tradition. She was invited by Ladakh King and the people of its region. When she visited Ladakh, the King and Queen of Ladakh, their ministers, and everybody wept in tears after seeing her (then only a little child) reciting Om Mani Padme Hung and encouraging everyone else to do so!
Lochen took Drupchen Pema Gyatso as one of her main gurus. Under his guidance she became a great practitioner of Terma and Chod. As most of the masters were, she became ordained, Lochen was very well known to be a great pilgrim. She took this as a mean of purifications. Many of her students were encouraged as well. She also did many pilgrimages with her master and visited a lot of the sacred places in Tibet as well as neighboring regions. She founded the Shugseb nunnery, which is South west of Lhasa. There she established a firm body of disciples, lineage of teachings. She also encouraged the women to become ordained and be accomplished and mastered in Dzogchen realization. Her firm and main seat Shugseb and its nuns became a great example for all the female practitioner. Many masters such as the sixteenth Karmapa, Trulshik Rinpoche, Reting Rinpoche, Shechen Rabjam and many other great masters of that time came to pay respect to  her.  She was known as a living Mahasiddha who was accomplished in Mahamudra and Dzogchen within her life. She left her body in 1951.
She is actually one with Vajrayogini.
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Ani Lama Sherab Zangmo
The Great Yogini, Ani Lama Sherab Zangmo. © Karen Harris, 2007.
Ani Lama Sherab Zangmo was a resident nun and meditation teacher at Gebchak Gonpa. Often referred to as “The Great Yogini of Gebchak Gonpa”, Sherab Zangmo was famed among the lamas in Eastern Tibet for her high realization. She passed away in the autumn of 2008 with many signs of an accomplished practitioner. She spent 70 years in unbroken meditation practice since first coming to Gebchak Gonpa when she was 16 years old. She was the last remaining from the earliest generation of nuns at Gebchak Gonpa, and was integral in rebuilding the Nunnery in the late 1980?s and in the revival of its unique system of Buddhist practice for women. Sherab Zangmo was extraordinary in many ways: for the spontaneous enlightenment she gained through devotion to her guru, Tsang-yang Gyamtso[1]; the profound simplicity of her teachings; and her flexibility in the face of challenging conditions.
Sherab Zangmo guided the younger nuns of Gebchak Gonpa in their practice right up until the moment of her passing. As she neared the moment of her death she laughed as she encouraged the nuns, and narrated the clear visions of buddhas that were appearing before her.
Lama Sherab Zangmo’s repeated teaching was this: “Knowing one thing, everything is liberated” – by knowing the mind through practice, everything is liberated.
http://gebchakgonpa.org/gebchak-nuns/interviews-with-nuns/sherab-zangmo/ (http://gebchakgonpa.org/gebchak-nuns/interviews-with-nuns/sherab-zangmo/)
The great yogini of Gebchak Gonpa, Sherab Zangmo, passed away in the autumn of last year at the enlightened old age of 86 or so. She had been unwell for some time, but then seemed to recover and was strong and in high spirits for some days. During these days she gave meditation teachings to the nuns and often sang the prayer “Calling the Lama From Afar.” Near the time of her death her complexion lightened, and her face and body became youthful and small like a child’s. She told those who were with her that she could see Jetsun Tara clearly before her, and that she was now going to Dewachen, the Pure Land of Amitabha. She counseled the nuns to serve their lamas well and to live in harmony with each other, and told them not to worry, and that all would go well for them in the future. The sky remained like a morning sky, bright and clear for the whole day of Sherab Zangmo’s death, and she remained in tukdam meditation for six days afterwards.
Forty-nine days after her passing, Sherab Zangmo was cremated at Gebchak Gonpa, with the great yogi Pema Drimey, Gebchak Wangdrak Rinpoche, and all the Gebchak nuns performing the ceremony. The sky was clear blue and the temperature unusually warm on this day, in a season of constant inclement weather. After the ceremony, many white crystalline relics of different shapes were found in her ashes.
http://gebchakgonpa.org/sherab-zangmo-passes/ (http://gebchakgonpa.org/sherab-zangmo-passes/)
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Thank you dsiluvu for starting such an interesting thread... I am looking forward to learning more about these amazing Yoginis. My contribution to this thread is as follows:
Jetsun Rinpoche Migyur Paldron
Birth and Ancestry
Jetsün Mingyur Paldron was born in 1699 in the Earth Rabbit year as the daughter of Chögyal Terdag Lingpa and his consort, Phuntsok Paldron. By 13 years of age, she had received extensive instructions and teachings from her father and had accomplished many practices.
Early Practice and Transmissions
At 14, she received the entire transmissions of Thug Je Chenpo De Sheg Kun Du from Lochen Dharmashri and mastered the Tsa-lung and Thigle practices. Jetsun Mingyur Paldron also received many profound teachings and instructions from other great masters of the day such as Kathog Rigzin Shabdrung Jurme Shenphen Wangpo, Shenyen Ogyen Rabten, Soton Thutob Namgyal, Duldzin Kunga Lodrö and Lopon Sonam Lodrö Gyaltsen. Consequently, she accomplished practices in both the old and new traditions.
Escape from the Mongols and the Start of Teaching
Chögyal Terdag Lingpa passed into Parinirvana in 1714. In 1717, the Dzingar Mongols invaded Tibet and began destroying monasteries. Being in Central Tibet, Mindrolling was an easy target of this as well as other invasions. The Mongols razed the monastery and killed Lochen Dharmashri and Pema Jurme Gyatso, the eldest son of Terdag Lingpa. The younger son, Gyalsay Drinchen Rinchen Namgyal, managed to escape into Kham through the help of the family of the Khochhen Rinpoche. Jetsün Mingyur Paldron also escaped to Sikkim where she lived and taught for two years, turning the wheel of Dharma for many fortunate beings, firmly establishing the Dharma in Sikkim. Mingyur Paldron also founded the Pema Yangtse monastery there.
Return and Rebuilding of Mindrolling
After the Mongols left Tibet, Jetsün Mingyur Paldron, who was then twenty years of age, and her younger brother Drinchen Rinchen Namgyal, returned to Mindrolling. They found it in ruins. Together, with their courageous and tireless efforts, they re-built the monastery and re-established the sangha, making Mindrolling once more the center of learning and transmission of the Dharma.
Teaching, Writing, and Samten Tse
At the age of thirty-three, Jetsün Mingyur Paldron gave the empowerments, oral transmissions and explanations of the collected works of Chögyal Terdag Lingpa and the Nyingthig Yabzhi to over 270 disciples and thus insured the continuance of these precious transmissions. Jetsun Mingyur Paldron also established the Samten Tse nunnery a short distance from the Mindrolling monastery. It was there that she spent most of the remainder of her life, practicing, teaching and composing many precious texts and inspiring many to follow the path she embodied.
Parinirvana
Jestün Mingyur Paldron passed into Parinirvana at the age of 70 in 1769. The life of this great female master is an inspiration to all practitioners, especially women, to practice and realize the pure Dharma for the sake of all sentient beings.
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And here is a beautiful thangka which has Jetsun Mingyur Paldron in it. Read the amazing description for this blessed thangka:
The Three Dakinis of Tibet
Yeshe Tsogyal was an actual emanation of Sarasvati, who served as the intermediary for Guru Rinpoche to leave the eighteen kinds of hidden treasure teachings in Tibet. Machik Lapdron, an emanation of the great mother-dharmakaya-was the master who established the traditions of Zhije and Cho. Jetsun Mingyur Paldron, whose coming was prophesied by the victorious Buddha, was the regent who succeeded Minling Terchen and was an accomplished master of the Manjushri Yamantaka teachings, These three were the most famous of the dakinis of Tibet, guarding the teachings against obstacles.
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I would like to share story about Ayu Khadro, quoted from " Buddhism After Patriarchy:" by Rita M. Gross. Like what Rita said, I like her story because of her spiritual friendship with other yoginis and it’s recent. Also, her story makes me feels very warm and ‘communal’, it is as if this community of practitioners she belongs to is very accessible, and it would be nice to have met and practice with someone like her.
Ayu Khadro (Tsewang Dorje Paldron 1839-1953)
Ayu Khadro was a teacher of Dzogchen and Tantric Buddhism in East Tibet. She was a student of both Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Nyala Pema Dundul. By many, Ayu Khandro was held to be an incarnation of Vajrayogini. She spent many dozen years in dark retreat and also practiced and taught a tantric long-life practice and was an adept Chödma.
"She lived with her aunt, another yogini, from the age of seven till she was eighteen, by which time she had decided that she wanted the yogini lifestyle for herself. Her parents forced her to marry at nineteen but after three years, she was undiagnosably near death. Her aunt and the resident lama insisted that her poor health was due to the forcible interruption of her religious practices. Ayu Khadro characterized her husband as kind, both before and after this diagnosis. He accompanied her back to her aunt's cave and paid for her attendant during her recovery. She remained with her aunt until the aunt died.
Then when she was thirty, she began to travel around Tibet, first with a nun and a male Chod practitioner. Eventually she met another yogini with whom she became close friends. The two of them met several male practitioners with whom they and great rapport; they travelled in a foursome for some time. Eventually after about fourteen years of wandering to important pilgrimage spots, practicing, making retreats, and studying with many important teachers, she returned to her home area. Her former husband, with whom she had very good rapport and to whom she gave meditation instructions, build a retreat hut for her. she remained there for most of the rest of her long life. At one point her yogini-friend from her days on the road came and stayed with her ‘and we did retreat together. This was a big boon for me; it really helped the development of my practices.' In 1953 at the age of 115, she died.
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Thank you dsiluvu for this thread. I would like to share the story about Mandarava who is also known as the White Princess.
Mandarava
A princess of Zahor also known simply as the White Princess (Tib., lha lcam dkar mo), Mandarava was one of the five consorts who practiced and studied with Padmasambhava. In terms of historical time, Mandarava was actually the first of these five, chosen and initiated when she was 16 years old (in India, a number symbolizing perfection).
In due course and by diligent practice, Mandarava attained a degree of mastery equal to that of her consort, a fact given expression in her honorary title of Machig Drupa Gyalmo (ma gcig grub pa'i rgyal mo), Singular Queen Mother of Attainment. Compassionate and loving by nature, she also saved the life of young Kalasiddhi - and helped her grow up - who later became another of Padmasambhava's favorite ladies.
Her full name, Mandarava Flower (Tib., man da ra ba me tog), refers to one of the five mythical trees said to grow in Sukhavati.
The legendary tale of Tso Pema, one of the holy sites included in the itinerary of the pilgrimage, was retold by H.H. the XIIth Gyalwang Drukpa in the book "A Tribute to Naropa and His Lineage":
"In the 8th century AD, the king of Mandi had a beautiful daughter, Princess Mandarava, born with all the signs of a dakini. Although she was not born a Buddhist, she was interested only in solitary retreat, away from the samsaric obstacles of marriage and other activities. She became a nun on reaching adulthood. Her father, who was worried about the possibility of his daughter disrobing which would affect the kingdom's reputation, sent five hundred ordained nuns to live with her, to practice with her and to guard her from male suitors.
When Guru Padsambhava journeyed from the Swat Valley (located in present-day Pakistan) to Tibet, he stopped at Mandi and discovered Princess Mandarava to be a suitable spiritual companion. The princess and her entourage became disciples of Guru Rinpoche. A local shepherd discovered them and news of the princess living with a man finally reached the ears of the king. He was so outraged that he commanded that his daughter be stripped and wrapped in thorns, and locked in the dungeon near the river. At the same time, he demanded that Guru Rinpoche be burned in the charnel grounds high in the mountains, while he watched the smoke from the Royal Park.
Guru Rinpoche turned the fire into a lake and reappeared on a lotus. The sight of this converted all the witnesses into following Buddhadharma, and when the king knew about it, he too became the Guru's follower. Immediately, he ordered that the princess be released from the dungeon. The lake became known as Tso Pema, or the Lotus Lake, and is also commonly known as Rewalsar."
http://www.drukpa-nuns.org/index.php/mandarava (http://www.drukpa-nuns.org/index.php/mandarava)
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Thank you for sharing dsiluvu, It is very inspiring of reading the story of these Great Yoginis, I found another one great Yogini that went through a lot of hardship but she turn out to be one of the great Yoginis.
Yeshe Tsogyal
Birth and history
Yeshe Tsogyal was born in the princely Kharchen family. Her father's name was Namkhai Yeshe and her mother was called Gewa Bum. When she was born, a spring of fresh water spontaneously burst from the ground and formed a sizable pond next to her house. This pond came to be known as "Lha-tsho", the Divine Lake. Later the spot would become a famous pilgrimage site for generations of devotees.
Life was not easy for Yeshe Tsogyal. She was brutally raped by her first suitor and fought over by her second. When she fled from the latter, she was taken and placed in the King's harem. Later the Dharma King Trisong Deutsan offered her as a consort to his guru, the Lord Padmasambhava.
Entering into her spiritual path
Guru Padmasambhava set her free and she became his disciple. Only then did she begin to discover happiness in her life. That was in the year 794 A.D., when Yeshe Tsogyal was sixteen years old. When she received Empowerment her flower fell on the sacred mandala of Vajrakilaya and through practicing the appropriate sadhana she rapidly gained accomplishment. She then received all of Guru Padmasambhava's teachings and became his spiritual heir.
Since Yeshe Tsogyal possessed a phenomenal photographic memory, it was possible for her to memorize vast numbers of texts without the slightest difficulty. Thus the entire Khandro Nying-thig teachings were handed into her care.
Meeting her Soul-Mate
The Princess Yeshe Tsogyal traveled to Nepal in 795 A.D., where she met her soul-mate and mystical consort, Atsara Sahle. The Yogini and her consort traveled to various hermit caves, where they practiced their Sadhana with great diligence.
Yeshe Tsogyal would seem to have been a stronger personality than her mate. She had suffered extensively in her youth. She had great determination to attain spiritual awakening. Atsara Sahle was from the valley of Kathmandu, where the biting cold of Tibet in winter is never experienced. It was therefore more difficult for him, when they lived as hermits in the high mountains. Yet both struggled as best they were able on the hard path of spiritual endeavor.
The Final Spiritual Catharsis
There came a period when, while living alone in the wintry cave of Nering Senge, her mate having retreated to warmer climes, that Yeshe Tsogyal began to face all the demons of her mind. Visions rose up before her in the process of her meditations, full of hideous and terrifying intensity. Hordes of phantoms advanced upon her: fearful, seductive, malign, and evil. With these, the product of her own traumatic passions, she wrestled, while remaining unmovable in her vajra-like samadhi, the immutable poise of impartial contemplation. For days the onslaught continued, until finally she was left in peace. This was the trial of her final spiritual catharsis.
Afterwards, at the lonely cave of Paro Taktsang in the highlands of Bhutan, with her consort Atsara Sahle, she disciplined herself through vigorous fasts, long meditation, and the spiritual practice known as karmamudra, so as to blend the refined positive and negative seed essences (bindus) of her heart nerve-plexus (chakra) and branch nervous-systems (nadi), from whence the five major and five secondary bio-energies (vahyu) of the living body derive, so as to crystallizing in the whole of her presence the basis of an inner vajra-body. This rigorous blending together of refined nerve substance (the white and red seed essences), and the undoing of the last psychological knots of the heart centre, pertains to the final stage for winning Buddhahood in a single lifetime. Yeshe Tsogyal's retreat at Paro Taktsang would be the last austerity practiced for her own benefit.
In Paro Taktsang after pursuing her goal with incredible diligence, Yeshe Tsogyal attained the level of a world-encompassing Insight holder. Thus she gained the basic stages of Enlightenment.
Travelling and Spreading Dharma
Later she traveled all over Tibet with her Precious Guru, Padmasambhava, blessing particular locations and depositing Treasure texts (terma) for the benefit of future mystics.
She went into an isolated Meditation Retreat in 796 and did not come out until 805, after her great Guru had already left Tibet, but when she did finally emerge it was as a fully Enlightened Buddha. Possibly in 837, but perhaps later, she transcended worldly existence, ascending bodily to the manifest pure field dimension of the Sacred Copper-Color Mountain, the luminous sphere of her Guru, the Lord Padmasambhava.
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Interesting thread. Beautiful Yoginis... I quite like Machig Labdron hence I will contribute her story.. I have heard and read her story about 5 years ago.
Machig Labdron
Machig Labdrön (1055 - 1149) was a renowned 11th century Tibetan Tantric Buddhist practitioner and teacher.
Machig Labdrön was a great Tibetan yogini who originated several Tibetan lineages of the Indian tantric practice of Chöd. Machig may have come from a Bönpo family and, according to Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, developed Chöd by combining native Tibetan Bönpo shamanism with the Dzogchen teachings, although this is historically incorrect.
In the Life of Yeshe Tsogyel, Padmasambhava predicted that Yeshe Tsogyel would be reborn as Machig Labdron; her consort, Atsara Sale, would become Topabhadra, Machig’s husband; her assistant and Padmasambhava's secondary consort, Tashi Khyidren, would be reborn as Machig’s only daughter, and so on. All of the important figures in Tsogyel's life were to be reborn in the life of Machig Labdron, including Padmasambhava himself, who would become Phadampa Sangye.
Machig was the mindstream emanation (tulku) of another great yogini, Yeshe Tsogyal, as well as "an emanation of the 'Great Mother of Wisdom,' Yum Chenmo, and of Arya Tara, who transmitted to her [Machig] teachings and initiations."This pattern of reincarnations and emanations continued into the life just before her birth as Machig Labdrön. In the lifetime before, she was the Indian yogi, Mönlam Drub. After his death, the body of the twenty-year-old Mönlam Drub is said to have remained "alive" in the cave of Potari in Southern India.
According to tradition, it was Mönlam Drub's mindstream which entered the womb of Bum Cham ("Great Noble Woman"), who lived in the area of Labchi Eli Gangwar in Tibet, which caused the birth of Machig. According to the biography of Machig that appears in Tsultrim Allione's work Women of Wisdom, her mother experienced auspicious dreams of dakinis shortly after conception, dreams which contained the vase and the conch of the Ashtamangala:
When consciousness entered the womb of the mother on the fifteenth day, she dreamt that four white dakinis carrying four white vases poured water on her head and afterwards she felt purified. Then seven dakinis, red, yellow, green, etc., were around her making offerings, saying “Honor the mother, stay well our mother to be.”
After that, a wrathful dark-blue dakini wearing bone ornaments and carrying a hooked knife and a retinue of four blue dakinis carrying hooked knives and skull cups, surrounded her, in front of her, behind her, and to the left and right. All five were in the sky in front of Bum Cham. The central dakini was a forearm’s length higher than the rest.
She raised her hooked knife and said to the mother: “Now I will take out this ignorant heart.”
She took her knife and plunged it into the mother’s heart, took out the heart and put it in the skull cup of the dakini in front of her, and they all ate it. Then the central dakini took a conch which spiraled to the right and blew it. The sound resounded all over the world. In the middle of the conch was a luminous white “A”.
She said” “Now I will replace your heart with this white conch shell”...
Even after she woke up she felt great bliss.
As a child and young woman, Machig made a living as a liturgy reader. She was fortunate to be literate and patrons would hire her to read the Prajna Paramita Sutra or 'The Perfection of Wisdom', a Mahayana Sutra, in their homes as a form of blessing and to gain merit. Machig was known to be a fast reader and so was in much demand as this meant that she could complete the entire text quickly and her patrons would have to pay for fewer meals for her while she read.
Chöd
Machig's Chöd, also known as Mahamudra Chöd, has been widespread in Tibet since Machig's lifetime. It is also called "The Beggars' Offering" or "The Cutting-Off-Ritual." Chöd is a visionary Buddhist practice of cutting attachment to one’s corporeal form (in terms of the dualistic proclivity to relate to one's corporeal form as a reference-point that proves one’s existence). This means that a practitioner offers the mandala of their own body in a ganacakra rite. The practitioner works entirely with their own mind, visualizing the offering, and—by practicing in lonely and dreaded places, like cemeteries—works to overcome all fear. This is also why Chöd was often used to overcome sickness in order to heal oneself and others. In some lineages of the Chöd practice, chodpas and chodmas (practitioners of Chöd) use a bell, small drum (a Chöd damaru), and a thigh-bone trumpet (kangling) made of human bone (often obtained from the charnel ground of sky burials).
As long as there is an ego, there are demons.
When there is no more ego,
There are no more demons either!
—Machig Labdrön
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Gelongma Palmo is an amazing Yogini in her own right. Below is some research on her. There is even a very interesting short biography written by Kalu Rinpoche about her. Do read, as it is such an incredible account of her life/lives.
Gelongma Palmo
HISTORY
Gelongma Palmo (Skt. Bhishuni Lakshmi or Bhikshuni Shrimati), introduced the Nyungnay practice, which is a special fasting practice of purification and merit accumulation based on Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Great Compassion. She was a princess of an ancient Indian kingdom. Through devoted and extensive practice of One-Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara for twelve years, Gelongma Palmo overcame severe illness of leprocy and attained enlightenment. Thereafter, she passed the methods and blessings of this practice known as Nyungnay down through a lineage of great practitioners that continues to this day.
This intensive practice involves maintaining the eight Mahayana precepts (not to kill, not to steal, not to commit sexual misconduct, not to lie, not to take intoxicants, not to take high or luxurious seats, not to sing, dance or wear ornaments and not to eat after midday) on the first day, and taking additional vows of not eating, drinking or talking for twenty-four hours on the second day. The meditation and practice sessions include praises, prostrations and mantra recitation.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY BY KALU RINPOCHE
In the past, there was an extremely evil individual who nevertheless encountered the teachings of Dharma and forged a positive connection with the form and mantra of Avalokiteshvara.
This individual was therefore reborn in the land of Uddiyana to the west of India, as the daughter of a king. As she grew up to be an extremely lovely maiden, there were many princes from neighboring kingdoms who sought her hand in marriage. Not wishing to risk offending the other suitors by selecting any one of them, she instead became ordained as a Buddhist nun, or gelongma.
At that point, karmic tendencies (which would ordinarily have resulted in rebirth in a lower state of existence due to the violent force of her karma) came to maturity during the nun’s lifetime and she was afflicted with a virulent and infectious form of leprosy, a disease caused by naga spirits. Her body became covered in swellings from which issued profuse pus and blood, so that she could not be allowed in the company of others. Building a wooden hut in a forest, she stayed alone in misery.
A holy yogi encountered this nun, and out of great affection bestowed upon her the empowerment and blessing of Avalokiteshvara. After his departure, she practiced with intense exertion, supplicating the deity with concentrated mind even as her sickness and pain increased. Eventually, her body became one open sore and she was on the point of death. Then, one night in the early dawn before awakening, she dreamt of a person in white clothing carrying a vase of water with which she was bathed—she had the impression that all her sickness and suffering were cleansed without trace. Upon awakening, she found that in fact all her disease and suffering had been completely discarded like skin shed from a snake.
Gladdened and overjoyed, she offered a prayer of fervent faith and devotion, whereupon the Exalted One, Avalokiteshvara, actually appeared and blessed her. Her mind merged with the divinity’s, and she experienced directly the eighth level of bodhisattva realization.
The nun became widely known by the name of Gelongma Palmo. The cycle of empowerments and teachings that she received directly from Avalokiteshvara comprise both the sadhana for the one-thousand-armed, one-thousand-eyed form of the Supremely Compassionate One, and the empowerment and practical instructions for the fasting ritual (nyungne). These are classified in the Lotus (Pema)-family section of the kriyatantra. This cycle was bestowed on the Indian mahasiddha Candrapra Bhakumara, and from him to the succession of gurus in the lineage, whose names are mentioned in the supplications of the liturgies.
http://youtu.be/YP7fB7UMmy4 (http://youtu.be/YP7fB7UMmy4)
BEAUTIFUL IMAGE OF GELONGMA PALMO
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Researched and compiled information for yet another amazing Yogini, Khandroma Sukhasiddhi and she is also known as Dakini Sukhasiddhi. Amazing history:
Khandroma Sukhasiddhi
History in brief
Khandroma Sukhasiddhi was a laywoman with a husband and six children. However, her family did not like the idea of her giving their last store of rice to a starving beggar and chased her out of the house. After wandering for some time, she finally met the Mahasiddha Virupa, who bestowed empowerment and the Buddha's teachings to her. She was a master of Hevajra Tantra. Sukhasiddhi accomplished complete enlightenment and directly connected with Dorje Chang (Vajradhara).
History in Detail
ukhasiddhi’s accomplishment equaled that of Niguma. Although they were both born in Kashmir, there is no record of any meeting between them. They are cited together only as teachers of the same disciple, Kyungpo Naljor, yet according to the Nyingma tradition, they are related from past lives. Jamgön Kongtrul writes in The History of the Sources of the Profound Treasures and the Treasure Revealers, that Niguma in a past life was none other than Mandarava, Guru Rinpoché’s foremost Indian disciple. The identification of Sukhasiddhi with Yeshé Tsogyal, Guru Rinpoché’s foremost Tibetan disciple, and with her reincarnation as Machik Labdrön, is well known.
Here is the story of the woman known by the name Sukhasiddhi in Sanskrit or Dewai Ngödrup in Tibetan. At one time, in the Moslem part of India [Kashmir], there were 38,000,000 cities. In one of these—in the one called the Western Moslem City—there lived a couple with three sons and three daughters. At one time, they became so extremely impoverished and destitute that they had only one jar full of rice left as their food supply. They agreed they should not eat this last provision and stored it in a hidden place. Then, the three sons went south in search of food. The three daughters went north. The father went west. While they were gone, a very poor beggar came to the door asking for food. The mother, who had stayed home, opened the jar of rice and gave it to the beggar.
The father, unable to find food in the west, became weak with hunger. Remembering the vase full of rice, he turned back with the thought that they must use that as their food. The three sons also had no luck and turned back. The three daughters also were compelled to come back empty-handed. All three parties returned from their search at about the same time. When they convened at home, they said, "Mother, open the container of rice and give us some. Already we were weak with hunger, and we have new become completely exhausted from our journey." The mother replied, "Thinking you would return with food, I gave the rice to an extremely poor and weary beggar who came asking for alms. So now we have nothing."
The father, sons and daughters replied in unison, "Even had you done something like this previously, it would not have been with our consent. Not only did you not go with us in search of food; you robbed us of our earnings at the same time!" Saying this, they threw her out of the house.
From Kashmir, the old woman traveled west to Persia [Orgyen]. In Orgyen, all males were dakas and all females were dakinis. Therefore, it was said that by merely traveling there, a person’s awareness would naturally become clear. It happened to be harvest time, so the woman gathered some grains together and loaded them onto her back. She carried this into a city and established herself as a beer seller.
At that time the master Birwapa, also known as Avadhutipa, was living in a nearby forest of Orgyen, where he practiced secret conduct with his consort yogini Avadhutima, who frequently went to the town to buy him beer. Most often, she purchased beer from the old woman beer vendor, because the beer she sold was far more delicious than that sold by the other vendors. One day, the old woman asked, "Yogini, after you buy my beer, who do you take it to?" The yogini replied, "In the forest of Yaki lives an excellent yogin. I bring it to him." The old woman said, "Well, in that case, you do not need to pay for the beer", and gave her the very best portion of beer to take with her.
When the yogini returned to the forest, Birwapa said, "How is it that you were able to acquire this beer for free?" She replied, "There is a new beer seller with devotion; she is unlike the other vendors we used to buy from. I told her that my excellent lama lives in the forest and that I bring beer to him. The beer seller was moved to devotion and gave me this beer to bring." Birwapa said, "At all costs, I must deliver that old woman from the three realms of samsara." So the yogini returned to the market and asked the old woman, "Will you come?" The old woman felt very inclined to go, so she accompanied the girl to meet him, bringing with her a jug of beer and some pork. During that very meeting, Birwapa bestowed upon her fully the secret practice, the four empowerments of the nirmanakaya chakra at the navel. He also taught her the generation phase, completion phase and secret practices, along with instructions in the magnetizing activity. She transformed into a wisdom dakini right at that time.
At the time that she was thrown out of the house by her husband and children in Kashmir, she was 59 years old. When she came to Orgyen and established herself as a beer seller, she was 60. When she met Birwapa and requested empowerment, she was 61. Then, in the course of that one night, her 61 year old physical body purified itself and transformed into a youthful, attractive, very white rainbow body. Her silken hair flowed down her back. She became as beautiful as a sixteen year old maiden, ravishing to behold, and sat up in the sky for seven days. Thus, she became known as the miraculous dakini known as Sukhasiddhi. She then actually transformed into the Bhagavati Damema and became the secret consort of Birwapa.
Since even as of now she has not passed away, her wisdom eyes see sentient beings in the three realms throughout the six times. Especially, she teaches the Dharma to those who have pure view. She directly blesses those engaged in the secret practice and those who supplicate her, and she confers upon them supreme and ordinary siddhi. Those who read the life story of the wisdom dakini or merely hear her name will develop devotion. [Upon first hearing of her] I, Kyungpo Naljorpa, felt the seed of faith stir deep within my heart. I traveled all over India in search of her. I finally encountered her in the middle of the Sandalwood Medicine Forest in front and above a Tala tree. I saw her from afar, floating up in space in the midst of swirling rainbow light surrounded by countless dakinis. I offered her five hundred sang of gold and requested complete instruction. She fully bestowed upon me the four empowerments of the extraordinary secret practice. She gave me oral instructions in the generation and completion phase aspects of the secret practice, the six yogas and the three gatherings. In particular, she conferred the special point of attaining Buddhahood in a just a few years or months... From among my four root lamas Niguma, Rahula, the Hidden Yogin and Sukhasiddhi, Sukhasiddhi showed me the most exceptional kindness. Her first kindness was in conferring many prophesies. Her second kindness was that she became my secret consort and bestowed all initiations without exception. Her third kindness was in bestowing empowerments, practices and instructions. She was also very kind to say, "I will never be separate from you all throughout India and Tibet." She also said, "Good practitioners in the future who engage in this secret practice will accomplish it."
Mochokpa said, "Once, when I was deeply engaged in intense practice, Sukhasiddhi came and gave many prophesies. From that time forward, she was never separate from me." Lama Kyergangpa said, "When I went to Lhasa to see the emanation, Sukhasiddhi taught me Dharma, including the completion phase exercises, and bestowed the four empowerments. Now she is not separate from me for even a moment. Sangye Nyentön said, "Once, when I was staying for awhile with the one known as Kyergangpa, I saw Sukhasiddi face to face. She repeated these words to me three times, "Rest in non-referential awareness". From that time onwards, I have continuously seen her face before me. I requested from her the four extraordinary empowerments. She made many prophesies such as, "You will become a yogin who masters the three doors to complete liberation." And "If you and your students wish to attain Buddhahood in a matter of years or months, go to an isolated place and engage in this secret practice and you will accomplish the goal." May there be auspiciousness.
Niguma’s teachings make up the bulk of the Shangpa Instruction Lineage’s meditation practices, yet it is Sukhasiddhi who occupies the center of the sacred circle when Kyungpo Naljor’s masters are recalled. Kyungpo Naljor himself testified to her central position, as quoted in The Story of the Wisdom Dakini, Sukhasiddhi, Whose Other Name [in Tibetan] is Déwé Ng–drub [Accomplishment of Bliss]:
Among my four principal spiritual masters, Niguma, Rahula, the hidden yogi [probably Métripa], and Sukhasiddhi, the kindest was Sukhasiddhi. Her first great kindness was the bestowal of many transmissions. Her later great kindness was to be my secret consort and to grant me every empowerment. Her final great kindness was to give me directions for giving empowerment, along with profound instruction in meditation. Moreover, she said she would remain inseparable from me throughout India and Tibet, a very great kindness, and that meditators in future generations would gain accomplishment by experiential cultivation of this secret meditation she taught. (The Collection of Shangpa Masters’ Biographies, pp. 56-57)
In fact, Sukhasiddhi kept her promise to appear to future lineage holders, notably to each of the first four lineage holders after Kyungpo Naljor, and has thereby revitalized and added to the Shangpa teachings over the centuries.
If we compare Niguma and Sukhasiddhi’s contributions to the Shangpa lineage, Niguma’s definitely outnumber those of Sukhasiddhi, but both taught Great Seal and a series of meditations called the Six Doctrines (each very different from the other and from those of Naropa, although the subjects are the same).
Niguma’s and Sukhasiddhi’s biographies have one thing in common. Both women reached as high a level of realization as any of the great Indian masters without the drama that we have come to associate with Dharma (Buddhist religious practice), particularly that of the early Marpa Instruction Lineage. In looking at the Marpa lineage masters’ lives, we might wonder, "Does the path to enlightenment have to be so excruciating?" Niguma and Sukhasiddhi would answer, "No." While it’s true that Naropa and Milarepa in particular had difficult spiritual lives, we should recall that they were particularly difficult characters. Before his awakening, Naropa had been a brilliant Buddhist university professor, one of the best of his time. Yet his tight, solid, self-assured mind was so unfit for meditation, or instruction in the mind’s nature, that his teacher had him undergo hardships instead. For his part, Milarepa had practiced black magic and killed forty people before meeting his teacher.
Naropa and Milarepa were not average people and did not follow an average path to awakening. Their stories are well loved throughout the Himalayas, but Tibet’s Buddhists also know many other "templates" for the path to enlightenment. While we might not be able to attain enlightenment in an evening or a week, as Niguma and Sukhasiddhi did, we can absorb that possibility into our outlook. Things can be light and easyówe receive pith instructions from a qualified teacher and we give ourselves permission to allow the teachings to guide us to awakening. It could be as simple as that. And so it was for our two uncomplicated, straightforward dakinis.
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Niguma
In the Shangpa tradition's collections of the early masters' life stories, Kunga Ö's Biography of the Wisdom Dakini Niguma covers a mere six pages, most of which amount to verses of praise. Only the following words are pertinent to her life:
This wisdom dakini was born the daughter of the great Brahmin Shantivarma [Zhiwé Gocha] and the Brahmini Shrimati [Palgyi Lodrö]. Her name was Shrijnana [Palgyi Yéshé]. She was pandit Naropa's sister and a member of the Brahmin caste.
During three previous incalculable eons of time, she actualized her training on the spiritual path. In the continuity of that path, during this lifetime she received a little instruction from a few accomplished spiritual masters and, based on their teaching, directly saw the truth of the nature of reality. Her illusory body of obscuring emotions appeared as a pure body of enlightenment. Having reached awakening's three pure stages, she actually met the great Buddha Vajra Bearer [Dorje Chang, Tib, Vajradhara. Sanskrit] and received from him the full four empowerments of Great Way tantra within an emanated sacred circle of deities. The wisdom of her understanding of every sacred teaching, such as Buddha's discourses and tantras, profound instructions, and treatises, flowered to include direct [knowledge and sight] of the nature and multiplicity of all phenomena. She reached awakening's tenth stage, Cloud of the Doctrine. Her obscurations of knowledge became finer and finer until no veils remained; she became one with enlightenment, an epitome of the three bodies of enlightenment. She reached perfection in renunciation and realization, the achievement of her own goal. Her enlightenment's two form bodies appear for the benefit of others until the end of existence and bring benefit to beings in ways that can purposefully guide them. In åparticular, she watches over those who preserve her lineage with a compassion that knows no distance; she blesses them and ensures the success of their enlightened activity. (The Collection of Shangpa Masters' Biographies, pp. 40-42)
Niguma far exceeded the stage of awakening of all but a very few before or after her in that she received a large corpus of instruction directly from Buddha Vajra Bearer In A Supplement to the History of the Lineages, Taranata relates that she gained realization after just one week of meditation:
The account of the wisdom dakini Niguma as the sister of Naropa and so on is well known everywhere. It should be added that she received a few instructions from the master Lavapa of the East. After meditating with the master for one week, she became a wisdom dakini, who exhibited a rainbowlike physical form and attained spiritual realization that reached awakening's eighth stage. It is said that Lavapa of the East's body dissolved into light, leaving only a palm-sized portion of the crown of his head behind. He was also known as Lavapa the Younger.She is called Nigu, Nigupta in Sanskrit, said to mean “definite secret” or “definitely hidden,” although her name is really from the dakinis' symbolic language. From her, the great accomplished Kyungpo Naljor, endowed with five ultimate teachings, received many of the tantric transmissions known throughout the land of exalted ones [India]. In particular, her special instructions included the Great Empowerment of Illusory Body, which she bestowed to him on the night of the fifteenth day of the fourth lunar month, by the light of the full moon. The following morning, she taught him the entire Six Doctrines in his dreams. He later received these instructions from her in waking life twice, a total of three times. (pp. 2b-3a)
Niguma transcended human limits and attained a rainbowlike body, thus she is sometimes praised as a nonhuman being, i.e., a buddha or dakini. She has continually watched over those who preserve her lineage and has renewed the vitality of her instructions by appearing over the centuries to many of her spiritual children.
The supplication to Niguma that follows was written by Jamgon Kongtrul as part of a collection of supplications to the Shangpa masters, A Garland of Udumvara Flowers: Supplications to the Lives of the Wonderful Lineage of Jewels, the Masters of the Glorious Shangpa Instruction Lineage. Kongtrul wrote to inform and to inspire, and usually included in each supplication the main events of each master's life. In Niguma's case, he had little choice but to depart from his seminarrative style. Instead, he praises her for having followed the path to enlightenment, without having “to rely on exhausting training,” and he describes her realization of the view, tantric meditation's four stages of familiarization and accomplishment, postmeditation conduct, and the final result. Despite its lack of new information on Niguma's life, I have included this supplication in part to give non-Shangpa readers a chance to read something they have probably never seen before. Where else in this world can we read devotional supplications to a dark-brown woman as an enlightened being, a buddha, and as head of a living, worldwide spiritual lineage?
The Melody of Wisdom: A Supplication to the Wisdom Dakini Niguma
by Jamgon Kongtrul
Vajra queen, mother of all buddhas,
Dark-brown woman wearing bone ornaments who flies through space,
You bestow supreme accomplishment on your fortunate disciples:
Noble Niguma, to you I pray.
You were born in the wonderful land of Kashmir,
In a sublime city
Known as Incomparable in the Land of Jambu,
Emanated through Madhyantika's blessing; to you I pray.
In the family circle
Of the pure Brahmin, Shantivarma,
Narotapa and you, the wisdom dakini, were brother and sister—
Your karma ripened together like sun and moon; to you I pray.
You are the feminine form of true emptiness,
Sublime among all appearances, giving birth to all victorious buddhas.
Although you manifest in a worldly form,
You renounced any connection to existence through craving and grasping; to you I pray.
During incalculable past lives, you reached the far shore
Of awakening's stages and paths.
Thus, in this life, you gained the inconceivable, perfect freedom of self-manifest accomplishment.
Innate dakini, to you I pray.
You did not have to rely on exhausting training—
When some advice from accomplished masters entered your ears,
You understood all teachings.
Great bliss of natural liberation, to you I pray.
Knowledge of one subject—the tantras' subtle, profound meaning—led to your total liberation
And the flowering of your two forms of knowledge.
You saw directly and without obscuration the truth of the nature of reality.
Illustrious woman of accomplishment, to you I pray.
You bound your mind, eyes, and circulating energy within the expanse of emptiness,
Permitting you to see in the central channel the [empty] forms created by the spring vital essence.
Vajra illusory reflections, such as smoke, developed together.
You completed the branch of familiarization; to you I pray.
You used your breath to block the dark circulating energies and made them descend to your belly.
You joined the vitality and descending energies equally at the six energy centers,
Blocking the movement of the six elements' sun and moon.
You completed the branch of proximate accomplishment; to you I pray.
You transcended the three seals to reach incomparable Great Seal.
The innate light of its unchanging, coemergent bliss
Created your ten-faceted illusory body, replete with all powers.
You completed the branch of accomplishment; to you I pray.
You blocked the twenty-one thousand six hundred circulating energies and attained that many forms of changeless bliss.
At the crown of your head, the mind of awakening became stable,
And you traversed awakening's stages in an instant.
You completed the branch of great accomplishment; to you I pray.
Through engaging in conduct that is enlightenment's direct cause,
You enjoyed many pleasures and were nurtured spiritually by Buddha Vajra Bearer.
Your fortune equaled his—your body of training's integral union
Works for beings whose numbers equal space; to you I pray.
You saw directly all phenomena without obscuration
And opened inconceivable millions of gates to meditative states.
You master the secret treasury of all victorious ones.
Consort of all buddhas, to you I pray.
Body of great bliss, emptiness and compassion inseparable,
Manifestation of blissful buddhas, sovereign of common and supreme accomplishment,
Powerful bodhisattva on awakening's tenth stage, glorious guide for beings,
Wearer of Bone Ornaments, to you I pray.
Sentient beings, our venerable mothers, wander along the wheel of life
In endless and fathomless seas of suffering.
With your universal great compassion,
Lead them to a pure land of flourishing, uncontaminated bliss, I pray.
Nurture fortunate persons who have entered the path;
Pacify all adversity, hindrances, and obstacles;
Continually enhance our experience and realization;
And bless us with the completion of awakening's five paths and ten stages.
(A Garland of Udumvara Flowers, pp. 3a-4a)
Excerpted from Timeless Rapture, by Ngawang Zangpo.
http://www.sukhasiddhi.org/about_niguma.php (http://www.sukhasiddhi.org/about_niguma.php)
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Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo is a Tibetan Buddhist nun in the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school. She is an author, teacher and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India. She is best known for being one of the very few Western yoginis trained in the East, having spent twelve years living in a remote cave in the Himalayas, three of those years in strict meditation retreat.
Vicki Mackenzie, who wrote Cave in the Snow about her, relates that what inspired the writing of the book was reading Tenzin Palmo's statement to a Buddhist magazine that "I have made a vow to attain Enlightenment in the female form - no matter how many lifetimes it takes".
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo was born Diane Perry in the East End of London in June 1943. Although spiritualist meetings were held in her childhood home, she realized at the age of 18 that she was a Buddhist when she read a library book on the subject. She moved to India at 20, where she taught English at the Young Lamas Home School for a few months before meeting her root lama, the 8th Khamtrul Rinpoche. In 1964 she became only the second Western woman to be ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, receiving the name Drubgyu Tenzin Palmo, or 'Glorious Lady who Upholds the Doctrine of the Practice Succession'. The ordination was as a shramanerika, or novice nun, the highest level of ordination currently available for women in the Tibetan tradition where the bhikshuni sangha has died out. However, with the support of her teacher, in 1973 Tenzin Palmo received the full bhikshuni ordination in Hong Kong, one of the first Western women to do so.
Living at Khamtrul Rinpoche's monastery as the sole nun among 100 monks provided Tenzin Palmo with first-hand experience of the discrimination that restricted women’s access to information that was imparted freely to men. Eager for instruction, she felt frustrated by the fact that she was kept out of most monastic activities because of misogynistic prejudices. This phase lasted for six years. Then Tenzin Palmo left the monastery at her teacher’s suggestion to go to Lahul in the higher reaches of the Indian Himalayas, where she would eventually enter the cave and launch herself into uninterrupted, intense spiritual practice.
In 1976 Tenzin Palmo commenced living in a cave in the Himalayas measuring 10 feet wide and six feet deep and remained there for 12 years, for three of which she was in full retreat. The cave was high in the remote Lahul area of the Indian Himalayas, on the border of Himachal Pradesh and Tibet. In the course of the retreat she grew her own food and practiced deep meditation based on ancient Buddhist beliefs. In accordance with protocol, she never lay down, sleeping in a traditional wooden meditation box in a meditative posture for just three hours a night. The last three years were spent in complete isolation. She survived temperatures of below ?30° Fahrenheit (?35°C) and snow for six to eight months of the year.
Tenzin Palmo emerged from the cave in 1988 and travelled to Italy as visa problems meant she needed to leave India. Since her retreat Tenzin Palmo has taken on the cause of equal rights and opportunities for Buddhist nuns. In support of this, she spent several years travelling the world fund raising for a new Buddhist nunnery, as her root lama had asked her to do. In 2000, the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery was opened with the purpose of giving education and training to women from Tibet and the Himalayan border regions. At this nunnery, Tenzin Palmo also plans to re-establish the extinct lineage of togdenmas, a Drukpa Kagyu yogini order. within the Drukpa Kagyu tradition.
Tenzin Palmo is a member of the six member 'Committee of Western Bhikshunis', an organisation of senior Western nuns supported by two Advisors from Taiwan (Ven. Bhiksuni Heng-ching Shih, Professor of Philosophy at Taiwan National University [Gelongma ordination 1975 in San Francisco] and Ven. Bhikshuni Wu-yin, Vinaya Master). It was formed in the autumn of 2005, after the Dalai Lama told Bhikshuni Jampa Tsedroen that the Western bhikshunis should be more involved in helping to establish the bhikshuni ordination in the Tibetan tradition.
On 16 February 2008, Tenzin Palmo was conferred as Jetsunma (reverend lady) in recognition of her spiritual achievements as a nun and her efforts in promoting the status of female practitioners in Tibetan Buddhism by the head of the Drukpa Lineage, the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa /Gyalwang Drukpa the XIIth - Gyalwang Drukpa
Her official nunnery website:
http://tenzinpalmo.com/tenzin_palmo/biography.htm (http://tenzinpalmo.com/tenzin_palmo/biography.htm)
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Hi Guys... It would great if you could include pictures of the Yoginis :) A Pictures always paint a thousand words.
Here I have found Yeshe Tsogyal's image and Jetsun Rinpoche Migyur Paldron
The first picture would be Yeshe Tsogyal
Second is Jetsun Rinpoche Migyur Paldron
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Here i have another 2 pictures of Yeshe Tsogyal in the standing posture to share.
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The Mad Princess who Became Mahasiddha Lakshminkara
She is amongst my most favorite female Mahasiddhas and she has a fantastic story that inspires renunciation of worldly riches and pleasures...
The word "siddha" denotes a practitioner of Tantra who has been successful in achieving the goal of all tantric meditation which is "siddhi." The prefix "maha" means "great" or "magnificent." Thus the Mahasiddhas are the greatest and most accomplished travellers on the Tantric Path. Contrary to popular opinion, Buddhism female adepts were not lacking in successful Tantric practice.
There is a well-known group of eighty-four Mahasiddhas, who flourished in India from the eighth to twelfth centuries. Basically, the lives of these eighty-four Indian men and women abound in episodes that demonstrate their conviction to perform any act contrary to convention.
The life story of Mahasiddha Laksminkara describes the kind of journey that is often required of those who seek ultimate truths.She was born into a royal family and had been delicately brought up in luxurious surroundings. She showed a grasp and understanding of tantric concepts even at an early age. All in all it was an idyllic life until she was betrothed to the king of Lanka (Ceylon) as part of a deeper political alliance.
She travelled to Ceylon with a large dowry. Due to a delayed departure, the wedding party arrived only some days after it was expected. The court astrologers present at the city gate informed them that it was an inauspicious day and that the bride and her retinue must wait until the following day before entering the city.
Already apprehensive, Laksminkara felt into a depression. Suddenly, she observed in the distance a great clamour, and presently a hunting came into view. At the head rode a stern faced man in royal clothes soiled by a bloody carcass, the trophy of the game, which he had carelessly tossed across his shoulders. He was her future husband.
The princess despaired when she witnessed this inhuman treatment of animals. Being a thoughtful Buddhist she reached a new resolve at that very moment. She had all the chests and trunks carrying her dowry opened on the spot and began to distribute it amongst the crowd which had gathered there. Everything was given away. Even the jewelry was bestowed on her attendants before they were sent back.
The next day, when she was finally invited into the palace, she locked herself into a chamber and refused to see anyone, discouraging visitors by throwing things at them. The princess then proceeded to unbound her hair, tore off her clothes and rubbed ashes on her body. She talked incoherently in a prattle, and to all appearances, she was hopelessly insane. Her erratic behaviour led to the wedding being cancelled, which was exactly she what she had hoped would happen.
One night, she crept out of the palace and fled to a cremation ground, renouncing the world to become a yogini, living by scavenging the food thrown out for dogs. She lived so for seven years until she attained siddhi. A sweeper of the royal latrines served her faithfully during this period. When she gained her realization, he was the first person to be initiated.
Laksminkara's story dramatizes the lengths to which a mystic must sometimes go in order to sever the attachments that prevent full immersion into the Highest, egoless state. When she came out of seclusion she attracted a large circle of disciples some of whom subsequently became quite famous. Her former fiancé too converted to Buddhism and asked her to be his guru, but she assigned him to the low-caste sweeper who had been her first disciple.
The artwork very aptly brings alive in her vigorous and contorted movement her feigned madness. Balancing her right leg on a blooming lotus, she lifts the left up high. The upraised right arm brandishes a chopper while the lowered left holds up a skull-cup. Unstitched silk scarves flair around her, but do not conceal any of her feminine charms from the viewers' gaze. A skirt made of human bones, fashioned like a spider's web, emphasizes that she is sky-clad rather than grant her modesty. Heavy chokers and necklaces made of gold clamber down her globular breasts, one of them ending just below the jewel of her ample waist, the navel. The energetic dance takes place in air, emphasizing that the action takes place on the cosmic rather than the mundane plane.
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Hello!
I have been taught that the reason Tibetan Buddhist nuns can only become novices, not fully-ordained . . . is that "their lineage has been lost." With so many major practices ongoing today having been initiated or refined by women practitioners, it seems the male disciples are today practicing the female-devised sadhana. It seems that the insights of many accomplished yoginis were appropriated in later years. Has the women's lineage truly been lost? Or is that is what some Tibetan Teachers tell their students . . . an entire history of accomplished women, their teachings absconded by male practitioners to this day.
peace,
mickey morgan (mickeypamo)
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I find this "Modern-Day Yogini", a westerner extremely interesting and which we can relate to:
In December 1978, a 28 year old American woman, Suzi Joy Albright (ordained as Karma Wangmo), entered a twelve-year solitary retreat in a small hut, she had helped build with her own hands in the grounds of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa’s monastery in Woodstock, New York. She had already accomplished three retreats of Ngöndro or preliminary practices and two hundred days of Nyungney fasting practice. In an interview published in Chö Yang 3, the present Tai Situ Rinpoche referred to her as ‘the best practitioner’.
That a Westerner would have the courage and single-mindedness to accomplish such a long retreat, rare even among Tibetan practitioners, necessarily gave rise to much curiosity. Occasional word would slip out through Monastery staffers indicative of the intensity of Wangmo’s practice. Khenpo Karthar, the resident Abbot and Wangmo’s Retreat Master had likened her to Milarepa; no matter how difficult the practices given her she never complained, but responded only with joy. Nonetheless, by late 1990 as the time grew near for Wangmo to end her retreat, many people wonder what kind of person would emerge?
Wangmo tall and sturdily built, with hands and feet that are more workman-like than feminine, she nonetheless gives an overall impression of grace. But perhaps her most striking feature is her emotional independence. Her detachment is so total that it is disconcerting.
When I remarked, for instance, that it might be difficult for her to do her daily practices before strangers during the three-day bus journey on which she embarked immediately following this interview, she dismissed the subject swiftly with the remark: “Yes, but a commitment is a commitment, that’s all.” The finality of her tone was a reminder of how often most of us let worldly considerations sideline Dharma practice.
Your path has been highly unusual, especially for a Western practitioner. Did you receive any religious training, Christian or other, as a child?
My family wasn’t affiliated with any religious organisation at all. In Arizona where I grew up the only exposure I had to religion was through the Mexican population and the Mormons. But the sight of crucifixes and of people going door-to-door preaching didn’t appeal to me. My impression of religion was that it was a blue collar thing based on superstition. There was nothing inviting about it.
Did you at least have personal spiritual leanings at that time?
I remember in grammar school I got into this religious bent and felt the need for prayer and a sense of higher power, but it only lasted a short time. I don’t know what brought it on.
As a child, did you think a lot about helping others?
I don’t think noticeably more than anyone else. What did interest me was always the mind, how it functioned and what caused it to dysfunction. When I eventually went to the University (Arizona State) I majored in psychology but in my junior year I left to travel with the intention of being away one semester. As it turned out, I kept travelling for three years.
Did you go to the East because you were already interested in Buddhism?
No, at that point it was just for the adventure. I love to travel, being a nomad at heart, so I went around the world through Europe, North America, Asia, the South Pacific and so on. While I worked in Australia, a friend with whom I had gone overland through Asia went back to Nepal where she became involved with the Buddhists. I had no interest in Buddhism, but after finishing my degree at Arizona State I went to Lama Thubten Yeshe’s centre in Kopan just to see her. This was in 1974.
When I arrived, I was completely turned off by the whole scene. Many people there seemed unhealthy mentally and physically. I remember asking my friend, “Is this Buddhism?”, and thinking, “If this is what meditation is about, who needs it?” Nonetheless, I attended the month-long course in Kopan taught by Lama Zopa. At the time my attitude was that I was strictly an attendee, I was no way involved as a participant. For this reason, I was slow to start prostrating. It just seemed to be one more trip these people were into. But when Lama Yeshe walked in, I swear he was just glowing. You immediately sensed that this person knew something that most people don’t. My father was a university professor, so I had met a lot of people who were educated, but none who were wise. But Lama Yeshe was as wise as one could ever get. His compassion and wisdom were so overt that you were really struck by his presence. A lot of people can talk Dharma, but they don’t have that effect on you. I always regarded him as a Buddha. If he weren’t a Buddha, I don’t know what could be. It was after he came that I began making prostrations.
When did you decide to take refuge?
Lama Yeshe was giving refuge and lay precepts at the end of that Kopan course, but I had no intention of making commitments. However, one day I was taking this Tibetan mastiff for a walk, and along came another huge dog who leaned up against me, as if seeking protection. The three of us were standing there overlooking the beautiful valley with a herd of water buffalo. It was like a Disney scene. All those animals seemed to be looking at me, reminding me of fortunate human rebirth, so that I felt the obligation to take refuge and one vow: not to kill.
When I ran back and asked to take refuge, I was told I had to take two vows. That immediately broke my stride! I had no intention of disrupting my lifestyle to that extent. Up until then I had led the life of a happy hedonist. Growing up in the sixties you had all the options in terms of sense pleasures. I immediately ruled out vowing not to take intoxicants and not to engage in sexual misconduct, and instead settled on vowing not to steal, as I had never particularly enjoyed it! But it was the animals who inspired all this. They have always had a big impact as far as motivating me to do the practice – more so than most people.
I hate to think why I have such close contact with animals; maybe we were even closer in our last lives! When I later did Nyungne for seven months in a tree house not far from Woodstock, I had a huge Persian cat with me. He was deaf, so when I did Chenrezig practice he would sit on my lap and I would play my bell over his head without bothering him.
How did you come to take nun’s vows?
It all happened rather rapidly. After I attended that first Kopan course in November 1974, I did a Lam Rim group retreat for several months, then a solitary Vajrasattva retreat in Dharamsala for three months. In fact, since that time I have been in retreat almost constantly with only brief spells in between. In November 1975 I returned to Kopan and received ten vows and robes from Lama Yeshe with the thought that I would go to Dharamsala and take ordination in the Gelugpa tradition with the Dalai Lama. But around March 1976 the Karmapa came to offer a month-long cycle of Kagyu wangs. I attended that with Lama Yeshe’s blessing, and decided to be ordained by the Karmapa in the Kagyu tradition.
So in one year’s time you went from not wanting even to take two vows to being ordained. Was it difficult to make so radical a transition in so short a time?
We don’t know where we have come from before this life, but I am sure many of us have very strong Buddhist connections from the past. Obviously, in other lives I was very connected with the Dharma, so there was really no conscious decision on my part. Situations and circumstances just arose so that the retreats were there and I was there, and everything fell into place as far as my doing them. So I was propelled to follow in this direction, and there were no particular obstacles. I didn’t feel myself especially worthy of all this, but I was aware that I was meant to be doing it. When I was in retreat it was the only time that I felt I was doing what I should be doing with my life. It even transcended contentment because it’s so natural. With contentment there is a certain amount of self-consciousness involved, but with the retreat situation it was a natural thing to be doing. Maybe this seems odd coming from the place I was in, but in another sense, being obsessive-compulsive about sense pleasures can be helpful if you’re doing practice. What has driven you in one direction can be redirected.
Beyond this, I am the cold turkey type. I cannot move in moderation. I remember Lama Yeshe using the phrase, “Integrate Dharma into your life.” In my life that would be like mixing tar and water. So I would either have to give up the one to do the other, or I would have to forget the Dharma. And there was a side of myself which would have preferred that! But the Dharma takes all the fun out of samsara. You’re left with ignorance, but knowing enough to make you miserable. I never wanted to be a nun, but ordination seemed part of the process. Milarepa said, “If you want to do something useful with your life, follow in my footsteps.” I really believe that. So that is what determined my path. But I still don’t relate to being a nun. I see other ordained people, and I think of them as nuns, but I don’t particularly relate to that. I could never live in a monastic setting. I’m basically a loner, an extroverted introvert.
There were several tragic events in your family: your father’s suicide and your brother’s death in Vietnam. Did these have any bearing on the life you have chosen?
I don’t think that was a determining factor. Ordination was something that transcended this particular lifetime. But it gave the teachings more impact. It’s true of everyone that when tragedy hits close to home, the idea of attachment and death becomes clear. You see the futility of relationships whether they were very attached or unpleasant. They all end. We waste such tremendous energy on things so short-lived.
Do you care to share your impressions of Gyalwa Karmapa, who became your root Lama?
Nice situations happened, but it is probably better not to discuss them because if you do, they lose their significance. But it was always easy to be near him, literally and otherwise. Actually, I didn’t see him that often, but he always appeared at the exact moment when you needed direction. For instance, he came to my retreat hut KTD when I was considering how long I should stay in retreat. I thought, five minutes with His Holiness, and I can get this settled. And that was about how long it took for him to give me permission to stay in retreat for twelve years.
What was your motivation for entering a twelve-year retreat?
In December 1978 I went in with the intention of doing a three-year retreat. Khenpo Karthar, KTD’s Abbot, had told me, “You build a hut, and I will teach you.” So I worked as a health aide at Woodstock while doing my third Ngöndro, and the money I earned from that, plus contributions, made it possible for me to build a hut with the help of volunteers for just a few hundred dollars. As far as extending the time for twelve years, there is a twelve-year cycle in the Tibetan calendar, and Milarepa meditated in retreats for twelve years. I felt that, given the opportunity and KTD’s kindness in supporting me, it would be a wonderful thing to do. On some other level I’m sure it was in the game place long before it surfaced in my mind, because His Holiness seemed to have the same thing in view.
During that time did you experience any of the inner or outer obstacles many yogis normally encounter in retreat?
In all honesty, no. I was very fortunate because I was never really ill, which is unusual over a twelve-year period. Physically I was fine, and mentally everything went as well as I could hope [this with a laugh]. Of course, I could hear the Monastery being built from day one, but the noises weren’t a problem because they become so familiar. I also want to say that anyone who, like myself, has Khenpo Karthar as a Retreat Master is very fortunate, and need look no farther. The man is about as pure as anyone could possibly be, and about as wise as anyone could hope to find in a teacher.
Along more general lines, you have told me things indicating that you had an unusual turn of mind even before you were involved in Buddhism – for instance, that you always looked on the idea of a limitless lifespan with distaste. Was this view brought on by experiencing a great deal of personal suffering?
Death always seemed like a great relief to me. Old age was obviously not an appealing situation to be in because the body fails. And I’ve always had the relationship with my body that when it fails on me it’s incredibly frustrating. I admire people who have lost legs or are quadriplegic, yet who cope. I would find that excruciating. On the other hand, staying young forever would also be boring, like California weather. No seasons, all sunshine. But it wasn’t suffering that made me feel this way. I’m not one of those who say that life is miserable, because it certainly isn’t. Life can be wonderful, people can be happy, there is love, and that type of thing. You don’t have to suffer if you don’t want to. If you move fast enough, you can have sense pleasures out of your ears! But that just becomes constant input; people who live like that become zombied out. And anyway, the highs are so short-lived. So the main thing that gave me pause was, what is the purpose of life? Each of its phases is so temporal, and anyhow you wouldn’t want any of them lasting forever.
Out of your long years of retreat experience, do you have any realisations you can share in the areas of emptiness and One Taste?
The realisation has to be something experienced. All the talk in the world won’t help someone understand what emptiness is about; only meditation will. It can be more of a hindrance than a help to understand emptiness intellectually. There has been a lot said about emptiness, but obviously very little experienced because there are few enlightened beings.
After being in retreat for so long, which involved a commitment not to see anyone or be seen, you emerged in December 1990 to find many people present, some of whom had come from afar to attend the ceremony that was given for you. Could you describe your feelings about such a radical change of situation?
During retreat, Khenpo Karthar had said, “Pretend you are a thief hiding.” So for twelve years I was attuned to that. I remember seeing my reflection once in the burner of my stove dodging, thinking I had seen someone. Occasionally I would by accident catch sight of a foot or arm of someone coming to leave food at the hut door, but that was all. There is a necessary intensity in maintaining that sort of solitude for retreat practices. Then, suddenly, you come out and see all those people and they see you! It was a blatant antithesis to the way I had been living, yet not wholly unfamiliar. You just adopt to situations as they arise. Being in solitude so long, however, results in your identity becoming very rarefied. Many people living at KTD when I came out had not been there when I went in. Their only contact with me was my dirty dishes and laundry left on my doorstep. I knew that I could drop dead and the only way they would know is that the dishes wouldn’t have been left outside! Probably a lot of people who had been feeding this thing were curious as to what it was that would emerge.
You strike me as the most detached person I ever met. Was this the cause of your moving comfortably into retreat situations, or is it the result of long years of solitary practice?
Growing up, I was as socially occupied as anyone, but I was always comfortable alone. The only thing uncomfortable about it was that you felt you shouldn’t be comfortable! I was never particularly needy in relationships. People were usually more attached to me that I was to them. I was never attached to anyone that I couldn’t leave – very easily. I consider attachment to people worse than attachment to vices because with the former you are hindering others, dragging them down. It becomes difficult for them to do Dharma practice if they are tied by relationships.
While in retreat, did you feel at some level connected to the world, or were you sufficiently in another space that re-emerging was a shock?
I always felt that being in retreat was a group project. I occasionally received moving letters from people saying how inspired they were to know I was doing the practice, and that it was helpful. I’ve never taken any personal interest in my practice. The twelve-year retreat hopefully inspired others to do it. It didn’t matter that it was I, or how poorly I was doing it. The point was that it was being done. I knew that for twelve years nothing must interfere I felt I had to do this. It was just a minor contribution to the cosmos, for what it’s worth. But it was not just something I was doing; we were all rooting for one another. Those people who supported me while I was in retreat were also creating good karma.
But socially speaking, was it a shock to see how crime, for instance, had increased since you went in?
Actually, I’m impressed with the qualities I see in people who aren’t even Buddhist. They have a tremendous amount of compassion, more in many cases than a lot of people who have been Buddhist longer than they should admit. I think that in many cases there aren’t more problems than there used to be, but that people are more aware of them. H. H. the Dalai Lama made a good point [at the recent Kalachakra initiation given in New York] that the fact that people are so shocked by the news is an indication of how compassionate we all are. We blare headlines about these atrocious nightmares because people are disturbed by it. For that reason it sells papers. But there’s hardly a problem, no matter how far in left field it might be, that doesn’t have its own support group. Every issue that could possibly come up is being addressed.
You have chosen not to be called Ani-la. What is your reason for this?
Ani simply means nun. Among Tibetans it is not disparaging, but just as people don’t like being called ‘boy’ or ‘girl’, I don’t like being called Ani. I regard it as sort of demeaning, but that’s just my take on it. Anyway, I never really related to being a nun. Wangmo is the shortened version of the name I was given at ordination. I’m not into titles. I think it’s perfectly all right to call someone by their name rather than a title. That’s comfortable with me.
How do you view the status of women practitioners?
I think there are more women practicing in the West than in the East, and that their situation is very good. No one is going to stop anyone from obtaining enlightenment. All that’s necessary is that one be able to receive the teachings, and that one’s own karmic situation be favourable as far as having one’s own body and mind together enough to be able to practice. It’s up to the individual; no one is going to be enlightened by proxy. If someone wants to put forth the effort in the hope of benefiting all sentient beings and attaining enlightenment, no one is going to stop them. Some of the strongest practitioners I’ve met are women because everything is telling them that they don’t really have to do it. So the women who say they are going to do it are usually very determined and diligent.
Do you have any sense of your role in the Dharma in the future?
Lama Yeshe told me in a special moment, “You are going to teach. Expect that.” So I anticipated that, though getting up in front of a group of people and lecturing is not my thing. I never received the formal training one gets in a monastic setting where you go to school for many years, so I probably know a lot less about Buddhist philosophy than most people who walk into the room. Therefore, who am I to be lecturing? But I do feel obliged to do something. When you’ve been at this for twelve years, people need you to be available in whatever capacity. Before coming out of retreat, I did ask Khenpo Karthar if I could stay in retreat for the rest of my life. He said, “You can if you want to.” I knew I should come out, though, because my elderly mother wanted to see me, and maybe some other people would want to have me around for whatever reason. Also, I am one who basically likes to expose sentient beings to Dharma. If a fly lands on my leg, I think it’s auspicious for both of us, and I say, let’s make the most of this situation.
There will soon be a three-year retreat starting at KTD’s new retreat centre, and it seems I’ll be helping in some capacity.
During your retreat years you had a sign on the door of your hut reading: Buddha or Bust. Do you care to comment on how far you’ve gone towards that goal?
That’s still the slogan! I don’t by any means pretend to be enlightened, but even intellectually you know what the goal is, you can see that developing. I may be a fool, but at least I have enough sense to keep practicing. You never get to a state where you say, “I’m too impure to practice.” You’re not too sick to take medicine! When I met Kyabje Sakya Trizin, he said, “You must be realised since you did a twelve-year retreat.” I replied, “I just keep practicing.”
Is there anything you would particularly like to say to people who might read this and other practitioners?
Only as a sort of pep talk to all people practicing all over the cosmos who sometimes feel removed, especially women, who can feel a little estranged from the Buddhist male hierarchy, there is room for everyone, and it is important that everybody practice and that no one be estranged from anyone. There are people who can relate to whatever problem you are experiencing. It is helpful to stay in touch with one another, network if necessary. If you remember that your motivation is to benefit all sentient beings, you cannot go wrong. If you’re doing it for yourself you can get bored with it, or decide it’s a hobby you don’t want to pursue anymore. As long as you’re clear in your heart, it doesn’t matter how poorly you’re doing it, just keep doing it and everything else will eventually fall into place.
Do people find you greatly changed since you have come out of retreat?
When I returned from India as a ‘meditator’ in 1976, my sister said she expected these profound changes, but it was just the same old fool that had come back! That’s the secret, of course.
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A modern day Yogini who is a shining example to women and men alike. Truly an insipration!
H.E. Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche
History in Brief
Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche (birth name Tsering Paldrön, born August 19, 1967) is a rare example of a female Tibetan Buddhist lama. Born in Kalimpong, India and the daughter of His Holiness the late Mindrolling Trichen. Khandro Rinpoche was 10 months old when she was recognized by Rangjung Rigpe Dorje the 16th Karmapa as the re-incarnation of the Great Dakini of Tsurphu, Khandro Ugyen Tsomo, who was one of the most well known female masters of her time. Khandro Urgyen Tsomo was the consort to the 15th Gyalwa Karmapa Khakyab Dorje (1871–1922) and an incarnation of Yeshe Tsogyal. Her name is in fact her title, Khandro being Tibetan for Dakini and Rinpoche being an honorific usually reserved for Tulkus, willfully incarnate lamas, which means "precious one."
Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche is a teacher in both the Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. She speaks fluent English, Tibetan, and Hindi dialects and has completed a Western education at St. Joseph's Convent, Wynberg Allen, and St. Mary's Convent, both in India. Rinpoche has been teaching in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia since 1987. She has established and heads the Samten Tse Retreat Center [4] in Mussoorie, India, and she is also resident teacher at Lotus Garden Retreat Center in Virginia, USA.[5] She is also actively involved with the administration of the Mindroling Monastery in Dehradun, India.[1] Additionally, she is interested in interfaith dialogue and currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith Institute.
History in Detail
Her Eminence Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche was born in 1968 and is the eldest daughter of Kyabje Mindrolling Trichen Gyurme Künzang Wangyal, the 11th Mindrolling throne holder of the renowned Mindrolling lineage. The Mindrolling lineage is one of the six main Nyingma Lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. Throughout its history, some of the greatest masters of their time have been born within the Mindrolling lineage. Mindrolling has also had the unique lineage of great female masters who have been great teachers and yoginis who have been inspiration for generations to come. This great line of female masters is known as the Jetsünma line and is one of the most remarkable features of Mindrolling. The Jetsünmas have been daughters of various Mindrolling Trichens over the years and this line has produced some of the greatest and most inspirational figures in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. Beginning with Jetsün Mingyur Paldrön (1699-1769), the daughter of Chögyal Terdag Lingpa (founder of Mindrolling), to Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche (1968 – ), the daughter of the 11th Mindrolling Trichen, Mindrolling has maintained an extraordinary tradition of female teachers.
When Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche was ten months old, she was recognized by His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa as the reincarnation of the great Dakini of Tshurphu, Khandro Orgyen Tsomo, the consort of the 15th Karmapa. Khandro Orgyen Tsomo was known throughout Tibet as one of the most respected and revered female masters who spent most of her life in retreat and was known to all as Khandro Chenmo or the Great Dakini. Thus, Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, as a Jetsünma within the Mindrolling lineage and a Tulku within the Kagyu lineage holds both the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages.
Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche began receiving teachings and transmissions from a very young age from some of the most revered Tibetan masters of our age such as Kyabje Mindrolling Trichen, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche, Kyabje Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, Kyabje Tulku Ugyen Rinpoche and Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche.
Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche has been teaching internationally for over seventeen years all across the world. Rinpoche has been especially teaching extensively in North America, Europe and Asia since 1992. In 1993 Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche established the Samten Tse Retreat Center in Mussoorie, India. Samten Tse is the result of Rinpoche’s vision of a place of study and retreat for both monastics and Western lay practitioners where students from the East and West can live together harmoniously in a spiritual community and practice in implementing the teachings of buddhadharma in daily life.
As president of Samten Tse Charitable Projects and Mindrolling International Rinpoche heads various charitable projects and sponsorships including sponsorship of the elderly, Tibetan Women’s Development Projects, Tibetan Youth Projects, sponsorship of students, development of medical clinics, the Leprosy Project, sponsorship of retreatants as well as numerous community development projects. Rinpoche directs all charitable projects under the Vajra Vidyadhara projects, Shri Dharma Sagara projects and the Ayujana projects.
Rinpoche is also actively involved with the Mindrolling Monastery in India. Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche has also been actively engaged in the preservation and flourishing of the authentic dharma. In keeping with this aspiration, Rinpoche has sponsored some of the greatest transmissions of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche sponsored the entire set of Kama transmissions bestowed by Kyabje Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche in 1997-1998, the entire Minling Chökhor (complete set of transmissions within the Mindrolling lineage) bestowed by Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche in 2007 and the Great Rinchen Terdzöd bestowed by Kyabje Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche in 2008-2009. All these transmissions were attended by thousands of tulkus, monastics and lay practitioners from all over the world and were held at the Mindrolling monastery in India.
Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche leads various centres and associations in many countries all over the world including Samten Tse Association in France, Samten Tse Germany, Samten Tse Greece, Samten Tse Denmark, Samten Tse Czech Republic and Samten Tse Poland.
In 2003, Rinpoche’s book entitled This Precious Life: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on the Path to Enlightenment, was published by Shambhala Publications. It has since then been translated into German, Polish, Spanish, Russian, Danish, Mandarin and Norwegian.
Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche divides her time between teaching and personal retreats and studies in India and, teaching engagements and growing dharma activities in the United States and Europe.
A nice picture of H.E. Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche taking a stroll looking relaxed!
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Researching on Yoginis is truly a magnificent exploration... there are many stories abound. This one in particular I love because it is about attachment and renunciation. Beautiful! Please read on:
Queen Chudala
History – Version 1
In a story narrated in the Yoga Vashishta, Sikhidhvaja, a king, was overwhelmed by vairagya (the sense of dispassion). He renounced his kingdom and went away to practice meditation and penance in the jungle. In his absence, his wife, Queen Chudala ruled the kingdom.
Now Queen Chudala was a Yogini. She was gifted with wisdom and internal vision and she had realized that her husband was wasting his time doing sadhana in the forest. She had intuitive experience or 'aparoksha anubhuti.' The queen did try to persuade her husband to stay in the kingdom and attain moksha but her words were taken lightly by the king.
The king started his Tapas (austerities) in the forest and the queen ruled the kingdom. Soon the queen decided to help the king who was wasting his time in the forest.
Using her yogic powers she reached the place where her husband was sitting in sadhana or intense meditation. And soon the king realized her presence as he was not doing ‘sadhana’ but merely sleeping and running away from responsibilities.
The king asked, ‘What are you doing here?’
The queen said, ‘I am her to tell you that you are not doing sadhana and you are merely sleeping and you have renounced nothing.’
The king retorted, I have renounced my kingdom. I have renounced you. How can you say that I have renounced nothing?’
The queen said, ‘No, you have renounced nothing.’
An angry king threw away all his belongings and asked, ‘Now?’
The queen said, ‘You have no real renunciation at all.’
An angry king started climbing the tree and said, 'I have only this body to renounce and I will commit suicide and renounce it too.’
Unfazed, the queen said, ‘Real renunciation consists in renouncing egoism, in renouncing the cravings and the desires (Vasanas), in renouncing the intellect that makes you identify the perishable body, that mistakes the body to be the soul. This you will have to renounce and only that constitutes real renunciation.
Hearing these words the king was thunderstruck and he came down from the tree and asked his wife to instruct him on spiritual life.
Queen said, ‘material life can never contaminate spiritual life. Money and desires cannot touch the spirit because they are different entities. If you mix water and oil, they will always remain separate. Likewise material life and spiritual life are totally different. People mistakenly think that worldly life can contaminate spiritual life.’
Queen continued, ‘When you identify yourself with karma, then you suffer. Karma is not the cause of suffering. Your identification with karma is the cause of suffering and this identification is a kind of neurosis.’
King Sikhidhvaja soon realized his mistake and returned to his kingdom along with his wife queen Chudala. He practiced renunciation and ruled his kingdom.
History – Version 2
Ramana Maharshi : The Self is the most intimate and eternal Being whereas the siddhis are foreign. The latter requires effort to acquire while the former does not. The powers are sought by the mind which must be kept alert, whereas the Self is realised when the mind is destroyed. These powers may be sought and gained even after Self-realisation. But then they are used for a definite purpose, i.e. the benefit of others as in the case of Chudala.
King Sikidvaja and Queen Chudala ruled the kingdom of Malava. Chudala regularly practised meditation in the silent hours. In due course she realised the Absolute Truth and her face shone brightly and became much more beautiful than before.
The king observing this asked her the reason. The queen replied that it was due to her realisation of Truth. The king laughed at her, thinking that realisation was possible only through severe austerities and could never be gained while living in a palace.
He wanted to leave the kingdom and practise tapas in the forest so that he could gain Realisation. The queen tried to dissuade him and suggested that he could carry on the tapas in the palace itself and rule the kingdom as well. Refusing to act on her advice, he went to the forest and performed hard penance.
The queen was ruling the kingdom in the king’s absence. The queen taking pity on her husband and anxious to rescue him from the mire of delusion, practised siddhis and took the guise of one Kumbha Muni and stood in front of him, but a few feet above the ground!
The king, thinking that some celestial being had descended from the heavens to bless him, fell at his feet, told him his woes and sought guidance.
The Muni taught the king as follows: “Karmas can give fruit as ordained by the Lord but karmas in themselves cannot grant you salvation. By doing disinterested actions, one’s mind can become pure. With a pure mind one should contemplate on the Self. This would destroy the vasanas. Then one should approach a master and through his grace learn how to enquire into the nature of the Self. Liberation is possible only through enquiry and not by performing any amount of karma. By renouncing everything one would realise the Truth.”
The king said that he had renounced everything, including his kingdom and family. Kumbha Muni told him that his renunciation was only external and the seeds of attachment were still in him. The king then took out his walking staff, kamandalu, rudrakshas and clothes and threw them all into the fire and stood without any possession.
Still, on being told that he had not renounced completely, the king was ready to drop his last possession, the body, by jumping from the top of the mountain.
The Muni asked him, “What harm has the body done to deserve the punishment?” Thereby the Muni taught him that he would not realise the Truth by destroying the body, but only by destroying the mind which was the source of all attachment. The mind identifies itself as ‘I’ and this was bondage. The snapping of this identity was renunciation of everything.
Then the Muni described in detail the sadhana of discrimination. Thus the king’s doubts were dispelled and his mind became pure. The king enquired into the source of Self and soon became one with it and remained in blissful samadhi.
Kumbha Muni disappeared and returned after some time. The king was still in samadhi. Chudala roared like a lion to wake him up, but could not. Then taking a subtle form she entered into the king’s heart and found it pure and devoid of any latent tendencies. Then in a melodious voice she chanted the Sama Veda and like the blossoming of a lotus, the king became aware of the world.
The king filled with joy, remained silent not knowing how to express his gratitude. Then as advised by the queen, he returned with her to the kingdom. Thus established in Truth he ruled the kingdom and lived happily with the queen for a long time.
The teaching behind the Story of Queen Chudala and King Sikhidhvaja in the form of Poetry:
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This is a incredible lady who is known to be Vajravarahi/Vajrayogini and her incarnation is still around! When you read on you will discover that she actual sits representing the Tibetan people as the vice-chairwoman of the standing committee of the Tibetan Autonomous Regional People's Congress. Also see what she said about His Holiness the Dalai Lama... am wondering curiously has got anything to do with the Ban and why she would say such things about His Holiness...
Dorje Pakmo
Dakini Vajravarahi
In Tibetan Buddhism, Dorje Pakmo: Samding Dojêpagmo Zhügu, literally The Diamond Sow; simplified Chinese: ???????? (????); traditional Chinese: ???????? (????); pinyin: Du?jí Pàm? (Du?jié Pàmó); Sanskrit: Vajrav?r?h?)[1], also known as Sera Kandro, is believed to be the reincarnation of the consort of the wrathful deity Demchok (Heruka). She is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third-highest ranking person in the hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China.
History and background
Her seat, Samding (literally, 'the temple of soaring meditation') was in many ways unique in that about half of the inhabitants were monks and the other half were nuns, while the head of the monastery with all its branches was (and still is) a woman.[6] It is a Geluk Ani gompa (or nunnery) - which also housed some monks - and was built on a hill on a peninsula jutting into the sacred lake, Yamdrok Tso.
The female tulku who was the abbess of Samding monastery, on the shores of the Yamdrok Tso Lake, near Gyantse, Tibet was traditionally a nirmanakaya emanation of Vajravarahi (Tibetan: Dorje Phagmo). The lineage started in 15th century with the princess of Gungthang, Chokyi Dronma (Wylie: Chos-kyi sgron-me)(1422–1455). She became known as Samding Dorje Pagmo and began a line of female tulkus, reincarnate lamas. She was a contemporary of Gendun Drup (1391–1474) and her teacher Bodong Panchen Chogley Namgyal also was one of his teachers. Charles Alfred Bell met the tulku in 1920 and took photographs of her, calling her Dorje Pamo in his book. The current incarnation, the 12th of this line, resides in Lhasa. where she is known as Female Living Buddha Dorje Palma by the Chinese.
The present incarnation [i.e. in 1882] of the divine Dorje Phagmo is a lady of twenty-six, Nag-wang rinchen kunzag wangmo by name. She wears her hair long; her face is agreeable, her manner dignified, and somewhat resembling those of the Lhacham, though she is much less prepossessing than she. It is required of her that she never take her rest lying down; in the daytime she may recline on cushions or in a chair, but during the night she sits in the position prescribed for meditation.
I learnt that the Dorje Phagmo, or the "Diamond Sow," is an incarnation of Dolma (Tara), the divine consort of Chenrezig. In days of old, before the time when the Buddha Gautama appeared, there was a hideous monster called Matrankaru, who spread ruin and terror over all the world. He was the chief of all the legions of demons, goblins, and other evil spirits; even the devils (raksha) of Ceylon had to become his subjects. He subdued to his rule not only this world, but the eight planets, the twenty-four constellations, the eight Nagas, and the gods. By his miraculous power he could lift Mount Ribab (Sumeru) on the end of his thumb.
Finally the Buddha and gods held council to compass about Matrankaru's destruction, and it was decided that Shenrezig should take the form of Tamdrin ("Horse-neck"), and his consort, Dolma, that of Dorje Phagmo ("the Diamond Sow"). When the two had assumed these forms they went to the summit of the Malaya mountains, and Tamdrin neighed three times, to fill the demon with terror, and Dorje Phagmo grunted five times, to strike terror into the heart of Matrankaru's wife, and soon both were lying prostrated at the feet of the two divinities.But their lives were spared them, and Matrankaru became a devout follower of the Buddha, a defender of the faith (chos gyong), and was given the name of Mahakala.
In 1716, when the Jungar invaders of Tibet came to Nangartse, their chief sent word to Samding to the Dorjo Phagmo to appear before him, that he might see if she really had, as reported, a pig's head. A mild answer was returned to him; but, incensed at her refusing to obey his summons, he tore down the walls of the monastery of Samding, and broke into the sanctuary. He found it deserted, not a human being in it, only eighty pigs and as many sows grunting in the congregation hall under the lead of a big sow, and he dared not sack a place belonging to pigs.
When the Jungars had given up all idea of sacking Samding, suddenly the pigs disappeared to become venerable-looking lamas and nuns, with the saintly Dorje Phagmo at their head. Filled with astonishment and veneration for the sacred character of the lady abbess, the chief made immense presents to her lamasery."
"Her monastery belongs to one of the red hat or unreformed orders, which are frowned on by the prevailing yellow-hat hierarchy, but an exception has been made in her case, and she is treated with royal honors by the Lhasa government, sharing with the Trashi- and Dalai-lamas the privilege of riding in a sedan-chair when she travels. She is also exempt from the rule that all nuns must shave off their hair and is permitted to wear her hair long, but on the other hand she is never permitted to assume a recumbent position. In the daytime she can sleep sitting up in a chair, but the whole night she must spend in meditation in the rigorous position demanded in this practice."
Samding gompa was destroyed after 1959 but is in the process of being restored.
Lineage
The first Dorje Phagmo, Chokyi Dronma, was a princess of the then independent kingdom of Gungthang in southwestern Tibet in the 15th century. She married into the royal family of the principality of Southern Lato that is she married/was married to the prince of southern Lato (La stod lho) defined as a keen supporter of Bonpo practices [18] - but, after the death of her only child, a daughter, she renounced her family and royal status to become a Buddhist nun circa 1442.
She rapidly became famous as a dynamic and inspirational follower, possibly a tantric consort (phyag rgya ma), of three of the outstanding religious tantric masters of the era. She was also recognised as a master in her own right and as the spiritual heir of her main teacher. She contributed to some of the most significant works of art, architecture, and engineering of her time and had seminal influence in the development of printing. Furthermore, she expressed a particular commitment toward women, promoting their education, establishing nunneries, and even creating religious dances that included roles for them. Chokyi Dronma died at the age of thirty-three, leaving a tangible mark on history not only through her own deeds but even more through what happened after her death: her disciples searched for the girl in whom she had reincarnated and thus initiated a line of female incarnations that became the first and most famous in Tibet."
Chokyi Dronma was a leading figure in the Tibetan Bodongpa tradition which gradually waned under Gelugpa rule, but is being gradually restored today. She died at the Manmogang Monastery in Tsari to the southeast of Dakpo, near the Indian border, in 1455.Diemberger also says that [..... "the Venerable Lady passed away into the dakinis' heaven (khecara), her true home. She left her skull with special features as the wish-fulfilling gem of the great meditation center of Tsagong. The great siddha [Thangtong Gyalpo] had said earlier, 'A skull with special features will come to this sacred place, together with a mountain dweller from Ngari', and thus the prophecy had come true, greatly enhancing the devotion of the Kongpo people."]
According to Diemberger the second Dorje Phagmo was Kunga Sangmo (wylie: Kun dga' bzang mo) (1459–1502).
The ninth Dorje Phagmo -Choying Dechen Tshomo- , for example, became a renowned spiritual master not only for Samding but also for the Nyingma tradition, discovered some terma and died at Samye. Her skull is still preserved and worshipped as a holy relic in the Nyingmapa monastery on the island of Yumbudo in Yamdrok Tso Lake.
In premodern Tibet, the successive incarnations of Dorje Pakmo were treated with royal privilege and, along with the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, (and when they were in Tibet, the Chinese Ambans) were permitted to travel by palanquin or sedan chair. Unlike most other nuns, Dorje Pakmo was allowed to wear her hair long, but was never to sleep lying down - in the day she could sleep sitting up in a chair, but was expected at night to remain in a meditative position.
Twelfth Samding Dorje Pakmo
The twelfth Samding Dorje Pakmo was very young at the time of the Chinese occupation, but her exact date of birth is contested, some people claiming she was born a year before the death of the previous incarnation (and therefore cannot be the true reincarnation).[36]
However, she was recognised by the present 14th Dalai Lama as a true incarnation and served as a vice president of the Buddhist Association in 1956 while he was president, and the 10th Panchen Lama also a vice president. She went to Lhasa in 1958 and received the empowerment of Yamantaka from the Dalai Lama and the empowerment of Vajrayogini from the Dalai Lama's tutor, Trijang Rinpoche.[37]
She was trained in the Bodongpa tradition but remains the head of the Samding Monastery while also holding the post of a high government cadre in the Tibet Autonomous Region. She has, as a result, been accused by many of "collaborating" with the Chinese.[38][39]
After the 2008 Tibetan unrest and prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Xinhua, the Chinese official government news agency, said that the twelfth Samding Dorje Phagmo, who is also the vice-chairwoman of the standing committee of the Tibetan Autonomous Regional People's Congress, was quoted saying that, "The sins of the Dalai Lama and his followers seriously violate the basic teachings and precepts of Buddhism and seriously damage traditional Tibetan Buddhism's normal order and good reputation." She reportedly told Xinhua that, "Old Tibet was dark and cruel, the serfs lived worse than horses and cattle."[40]
According to Diemberger there also is a Dorje Phagmo line in Bhutan. She writes: Currently there is a Dorje Phagmo Tulku in Bhutan who was recognized by the Sakya Lama Rikey Jatrel, considered an incarnation of Thangtong Gyalpo (1385–1464 or 1361–1485). The Dorje Phagmo is currently a member of the monastic community of the Thangtong Dewachen nunnery at Zilingkha in Thimphu, which follows the Nyingma and the Shangpa Kagyu tradition.
The 12th Samding Dorje Pakmo Trülku is Dorje Pakmo Dêqên Qoizhoin Rinpoche, who was born in 1942.
Twelfth Samding Dorje Pakmo
The twelfth Samding Dorje Pakmo was very young at the time of the Chinese occupation, but her exact date of birth is contested, some people claiming she was born a year before the death of the previous incarnation (and therefore cannot be the true reincarnation).
However, she was recognised by the present 14th Dalai Lama as a true incarnation and served as a vice president of the Buddhist Association in 1956 while he was president, and the 10th Panchen Lama also a vice president. She went to Lhasa in 1958 and received the empowerment of Yamantaka from the Dalai Lama and the empowerment of Vajrayogini from the Dalai Lama's tutor, Trijang Rinpoche.
She was trained in the Bodongpa tradition but remains the head of the Samding Monastery while also holding the post of a high government cadre in the Tibet Autonomous Region. She has, as a result, been accused by many of "collaborating" with the Chinese.
After the 2008 Tibetan unrest and prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Xinhua, the Chinese official government news agency, said that the twelfth Samding Dorje Phagmo, who is also the vice-chairwoman of the standing committee of the Tibetan Autonomous Regional People's Congress, was quoted saying that, "The sins of the Dalai Lama and his followers seriously violate the basic teachings and precepts of Buddhism and seriously damage traditional Tibetan Buddhism's normal order and good reputation." She reportedly told Xinhua that, "Old Tibet was dark and cruel, the serfs lived worse than horses and cattle."
According to Diemberger there also is a Dorje Phagmo line in Bhutan. She writes: Currently there is a Dorje Phagmo Tulku in Bhutan who was recognized by the Sakya Lama Rikey Jatrel, considered an incarnation of Thangtong Gyalpo (1385–1464 or 1361–1485). The Dorje Phagmo is currently a member of the monastic community of the Thangtong Dewachen nunnery at Zilingkha in Thimphu, which follows the Nyingma and the Shangpa Kagyu tradition.
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Hello!
I have been taught that the reason Tibetan Buddhist nuns can only become novices, not fully-ordained . . . is that "their lineage has been lost." With so many major practices ongoing today having been initiated or refined by women practitioners, it seems the male disciples are today practicing the female-devised sadhana. It seems that the insights of many accomplished yoginis were appropriated in later years. Has the women's lineage truly been lost? Or is that is what some Tibetan Teachers tell their students . . . an entire history of accomplished women, their teachings absconded by male practitioners to this day.
peace,
mickey morgan (mickeypamo)
Hi Mickey... from all our postings here about the many illustrious female practitioners... I doubt very much that their lineage has been lost. One perfect place that is still burning with female energy and illustrious female yoginis are Drukpa Nunnery... http://www.drukpa-nuns.org (http://www.drukpa-nuns.org)
I am not sure what your Tibetan teacher has been saying but my Tibetan teacher has never said anything of that sort before in regards to the female lineage being lost. Perhaps not as prominent as you would find more male practitioners and this is perhaps to suit the time and situation we are in for the time being. Things can very well change as well. Here is some information in regards to how women are view in the Vajrayana Tradition... certainly it does not sound like it absconded because the form male or female is quite irrelevant to achieving Enlightenment. Like you said "major practices ongoing today having been initiated or refined by women practitioners, it seems the male disciples are today practicing the female-devised sadhana."
WOMEN IN VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM
Buddhism is sometimes given a bad rap by women for being male dominated and misogynistic. For instance, there are some Buddhists who say that the only way to attain enlightenment is to be reborn as a male, and in the Vinaya, the monastic code of conduct, women have more vows than men. Buddhist leaders in Asian countries are almost always men. Is it true then that Buddhism is anti-women?
In Vajrayana Buddhism, women have always played key roles. Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), the Indian tantric master who introduced Vajrayana into Tibet, had many consorts. Among these were two who played pivotal roles in his teachings. One was the Princess Mandarava of Zahor in India who chose the Dharma over wealth and power that was hers for the taking if she had so chosen. Padmasambhava came to Zahor specifically to teach her and make her his consort. After some initial problems with her family (her father attempted to burn him at the stake when he found him in her quarters), Mandarava was allowed to become his consort. Padmasambhava took her to Maratika Cave in Nepal where they accomplished the unified vajra body of life mastery as master and consort. She is considered to be a wisdom dakini who has manifested numerous times, including the yogini Mirukyi Gyenchen, Risulkyi Naljorma, Drubpey Gyalmo, Niguma, and Chusingi Nyemachen, the consort of Maitripa. Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo has been recognized as an emanation of Mandarava.
The other principal consort of Padmasambhava was Yeshe Tsogyal, a highly realized Tibetan yogini. Originally one of King Trisong Deutsen’s queens, she later became Padmasambhava’s spiritual consort. She was responsible for compiling the inconceivable teachings of Guru Rinpoche and assisted him in hiding termas (hidden treasures) throughout Tibet and surrounding countries to be revealed in later times when they would be of supreme benefit. According to Jamgon Kongtrul, she was “a direct incarnation of Vajra Varahi.” Padmasambhava considered the accomplishment of both Mandarava and Yeshe Tsogyal to be the equivalent of his own. Thus two of the foundational figures of Vajrayana Buddhism were highly accomplished women.
The history of Vajrayana in Tibet and other countries where it flourished, such as Mongolia, Nepal and Bhutan, is replete with stories of highly accomplished female practitioners or yoginis. Among these, the great yogini Machik Labdron is particularly significant. Said to be a reincarnation of Yeshe Tsogyal, she studied under Phadampa Sangye, a great master believed to be the reincarnation of Padmasambhava. She originated and propagated the Chöd practice, the only Vajrayana practice to originate in Tibet and spread to India rather than vice versa. Tsultrim Allione, a Western female lama, has been recognized as an emanation of Machig Labdron.
These are but a few of many highly realized female practitioners in the history of Vajrayana. They make up an important and vital segment of the fabric of Vajrayana. But beyond the historical figures, there are also a number of female Buddhas and dakinis (female wisdom beings) that are included in Vajrayana deity practice, Buddhas such as Tara, the female Buddha known as Mother of all Buddhas as she represents enlightened wisdom. She is said to have sprung from the tears of Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig in Tibetan), the bodhisattva of compassion, as he looked out upon the suffering in the world. In other stories she is said to be a fully enlightened Buddha who, when she was an ordinary sentient being striving for enlightenment, was told that she could only attain enlightenment as a male. Therefore she made a vow to attain enlightenment and always return in a female form for the benefit of sentient beings – the ultimate feminist!
Protectors of the Dharma in Vajrayana at times appear in female form, such as Palden Lhamo. She is the consort of Mahakala and is the tutelary deity of Tibet. She is closely identified with the Dalai Lamas.
For the ordinary practitioner, the role of women in Vajrayana Buddhism is equivalent to that of men. While it is true that in Tibet monastic institutions were nearly always headed by men, female practitioners were greatly respected and revered. For example, Genyenma Ahkön Lhamo, the sister of Kunzang Sherab, first throneholder of the Palyul lineage of the Nyingma School, was widely considered to be a living saint during her lifetime. So many nuns came to hear her teachings and practice with her that the hills around the cave in which she lived in retreat became known as the “Red Hills”, a name which persists even today.
Women are considered to be superior practitioners to men as they are said to have a greater capacity for wisdom. In the Vajrayana view, the female is symbolic of wisdom, while the male is symbolic of compassion, which is somewhat opposite of the way the sexes are viewed in the West. The union of the male and female principles, compassion and wisdom, is known as bodhicitta and is enlightenment itself.
Dakinis – enlightened female wisdom beings – are said to reveal the teachings to practitioners who are ready to receive them. Dakinis also represent the Three Roots as they may manifest as a guru, a yidam or a protector.
It is clear that women play a vital role in the practice of Vajrayana Buddhism and are essential to the attainment of the ultimate goal, enlightenment. Without them, there would be no Diamond Vehicle.
http://protectingnyingma2.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/women-in-vajrayana-buddhism/ (http://protectingnyingma2.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/women-in-vajrayana-buddhism/)
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Found another beautiful site talking about Nuns in the mountains... this is so beautiful and inspiring to see... real life Yogini's... even monks and lamas go seek their teachings and instructions. They give aid, counseling and exudes energy of compassion and wisdom to their surrounding and whoever they cross path with, even watching them do their daily chores earns blessings of transformation it is said... amazing :)
May their Dharma work flourish and may there be more nun Yoginis like them :)
The Tsoknyi Lineage Nangchen Nuns
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. ~ H. H. the Dalai Lama
Ancient Practices leading to Enlightenment
The nuns’ story is a classic example of dedication and tenacity. Organized in nunneries comprised of several “Ani houses” (dwellings where up to 15 nuns live together), they perform their spiritual practices in a group, teaching and helping each other all their lives. Many nuns do three-year, nine-year or even lifetime retreat. On retreat, each nun sits all day in meditation posture doing her yogic practices and meditation.
Tsoknyi Lineage Nangchen Nuns in Retreat 2005
The nuns’ daily routine captures a timeless scene from the past. A typical day starts around 3:30 a.m., as the nuns wake and immediately start their first three-hour practice session. After a short break for breakfast, they resume their second session, ending at lunch. The third session occupies the afternoon, and after a light evening meal, they complete their fourth practice session. They then continue sitting throughout the night, practicing dream yoga.
(http://pundarika.bluemandala.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/monk12_000.jpeg)
Many of the nuns are accomplished masters of difficult yogic practices such as tummo (the yoga of inner heat). They perform yearly rituals for the public that include a long procession around the center in the dead of winter in sub-zero temperatures, with only a sheet wrapped around their bodies. During the night, hundreds of the most adept nuns wet their sheets repeatedly in buckets of melted snow and continue their procession, drying the sheets again and again with the inner heat generated by their yogic practice. This very rare and awe-inspiring event, as well as the realization of the elder nuns, have gained them respect and renown throughout Tibet. In a culture where female practitioners have struggled to gain respect, these nuns have risen to a high level of status, with many monks and lamas seeking their teachings and instruction.
(http://pundarika.bluemandala.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/monk04_0014.jpeg)
Sherab Zangmo (above), a senior Tsoknyi Lineage Nangchen Nun at Gebchak Gonpa, passed away in the Fall of 2008.
Not only is the power of their practice evident in the atmosphere of harmony and cooperation within the nunneries, but also there is a profound impact on the surrounding communities. When people meet them, even while conducting the simple tasks of daily life, they are changed for the better. How does this happen? From a dharma perspective, it is because they have become rich treasure stores of palpable virtues, such as inner peace, love and compassion. The communities and villages that surround the nunneries become very peaceful and markedly happier as violence, alcoholism, excessive drinking and harmful smoking habits dramatically decline. Even harsh speech becomes rare. Many villagers are inspired to be vegetarian. The nuns also serve the community through spiritual support and counseling, helping with ceremonies, death and so forth, giving love, compassion and emanating peace directly into people’s minds. This is a tangible example of the power of spiritual influence. The values that nuns have—peace, love and compassion—affect an entire community and continue to branch out to the rest of the world. In summary, the nuns’ lives exemplify the power of living Dharma and its realization to transform the hearts and minds of the surrounding communities.[/b]
(http://pundarika.bluemandala.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/monk09.jpeg)
Procession of Tsoknyi Lineage Nangchen Nuns
(http://pundarika.bluemandala.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/nangchen_nuns_vid.jpg)
Mingyur Yogini, a senior Nangchen Nun
BLESSINGS
In the summer of 2005, Tsoknyi Rinpoche led a group of western students along with a photographer and video crew to Nangchen to document the lives and needs of the Nangchen Nuns. Blessings is a feature-length documentary DVD by Victress Hitchcock of Chariot Productions that offers a rare glimpse into the lives and faith of these extraordinary women. The Nangchen Nuns need health care, food, shelter and emergency relief. Blessings contains extraordinary footage that was collected on the journey to Nangchen. The DVD is available for purchase through www.chariotvideos.com (http://www.chariotvideos.com). To view the Blessings trailer, please click here.
For more information about the Tsoknyi Lineage Nangchen Nuns, please read the Home Fundraiser Newsletter and the June 2008 Nangchen Nuns Update for a better sense of these phenomenal female practitioners and their simple daily needs.
http://www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/monestaries/the-tsoknyi-lineage-nuns-of-nangchen/ (http://www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/monestaries/the-tsoknyi-lineage-nuns-of-nangchen/)
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I have heard about an amazing story of a yogini who 'returned to life' from the Drikung Kagyu lineage :)
Venerable Tsele Khandro Rinpoche/ Venerable Khacho Wangmo
(http://www.drikung-kagyu.org/templates/site_images/article/Khacho-Wangmo-01.jpg)
Venerable Khacho Wangmo was born in 1890 as the daughter of Bangri Dadul in Kham. At the age of 13 she died, but a lama ordered that she may be left untouched for one week. After that time she suddenly came back to life. Since then her fame spread all over Tibet and she was known as Jare Lhamo (Dakini) and Delog. Delog ('das log) is a designation of someone who experienced a return from death.
Khacho Wangmo took the vows from the third Tsele Tulku Konchog Ngawang Trinle and her root lama was Terton Osel Dorje. Her main practice was Dorje Phagmo (Vajravarahi) and she was considered an emanation of Dorje Phagmo.
In 1979 she took over responsibility for the nunnery Tsele Gon Samten Choling, founded by Tsele Tulku. Tsele Gon is the biggest Drikung Nunnery in Eastern Tibet with more than 500 nuns. Venerable Khacho Wangmo was considered one of the most revered nuns in Tibet, a highly realized Yogini, renowned for her knowledge of the three times and deeply venerated all over Kham.
When Khacho Wangmo departed this life on the 23rd day of the 10th Tibetan lunar month of the fire pig year (December 2, 2007) at the age of 117, her body remained for three days in a meditative posture (thugs dam). His Holiness Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche told Tsele Tulku and Gar Mingyur Rinpoche to build a stupa for her relics (sku gdung).
His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche composed the following supplication prayer for her swift return.
Supplication for the swift return of Jetsun Kunsang Kacho Wangmo
Om Swasti
By the fierce power of your previous generation of wondrous bodhicitta
The great dance of the Dakini Lekyi Wangmo
Appeared as glorious enlightened activity in Eastern Tibet.
Great Venerable Lady, please swiftly return to manifest again.
Here at this time of beings with little merit
By your great compassion rise above weariness
And from the vast expanse of the all-positive great bliss
Do not neglect your commitment but swiftly return.
Though temporarily to disciples you demonstrate impermanence
And your emanation has merged into the expanse of Khechara,
Like the full moon in a cloudless sky
Lady who prevails over beings, please reveal the moon of your face.
By the power of the truth of the Lama who embodies the three jewels, all sources of refuge
And the power of the truth of infallible interdependence,
By the enlightened activity of Achi Chokyi Dolma
May this aspiration of true words be swiftly accomplished.
This was composed by the one blessed with the name Gyalwa Drikungpa,Konchog Tenzin Kunsang Trinle Lhundrup on the first day of the eleventh lunar month in the fire-pig year.
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Here's a story of a recent dakini/yogini: Sera Khandro. Her determination for her Guru and the Dharma is admirable in more ways than one and an inspiration for us all!
Sera Khandro Kunzang Dekyong Wangmo b.1892 - d.1940
Name Variants: Kunzang Chonyi Wangmo; Kunzang Dekyong Wangmo; Sera Khandro Dewai Dorje; Uza Khandro Kunzang Dekyong Wangmo
ESSAY
TEACHERS & STUDENTS
INCARNATIONS
OFFICES HELD
Sera Khandro Kunzang Dekyong Wangmo (se ra mkha' 'gro kun bzang bde skyong dbang mo) was born into a wealthy, politically powerful family in Lhasa. Her father, Lhase Jampa Gonpo (lha sras byams pa mgon po), was descended from Mongolian royalty. Her mother, Tsering Chodzom (tshe ring chos 'dzom), was from the powerful Tibetan Nub clan.
From an early age, Sera Khandro was drawn towards religion; instead of playing games with other children, she recited the six-syllable mantra and encouraged other children to practice religion. She reported that revealed her first treasure when she was seven, pulling a ritual dagger part-way out of a rock at Drak Yerpa (brag yer pa) near Lhasa. In her biography she records that throughout her life she had many visionary experiences interacting with ??kin?s and siddhas and traveling to many extraordinary Buddhafields. (All ages from her biography have been adjusted to accord with the international standard.)
Despite Sera Khandro's proclivity towards leading a religious life, her father insisted that she be educated in literary Chinese in order to follow his footsteps into the life of the Lhasa political elite. When she was only ten years old, her father arranged a marriage to a Chinese leader's son, a union the religiously-minded young girl opposed. Despondent at the prospect of losing her chance to practice the dharma, Sera Khandro attempted suicide by drinking a mixture of opium and alcohol.
Traumatized by this and by the death of her beloved mother, at the age of twelve, Sera Khandro experienced a vision of Vajrav?rah? that changed the course of her life. Vajrav?rah? empowered Sera Khandro in the two Treasures that would be her life's main teachings: The Secret Treasury of Reality ??kin?s (chos nyid mkha' 'gro gsang mdzod) and The ??kin?s' Heart Essence (mkha' 'gro thugs thig).
Emboldened by ??kin?s' prophecies, Sera Khandro courageously escaped from her home and her imminent marriage to join a group of Golok (mgo log) pilgrims, never to return to Lhasa or see her family again. From the moment she saw the Golok pilgrims' lama, Drime Ozer (dri med 'od zer, 1881-1924), great faith and devotion arose in her. Yet the road ahead was full of obstacles. Sera Khandro's wealthy upper-class Lhasa upbringing was no match for the harsh terrain and sub-zero temperatures of life on the road as a traveling pilgrim. She nearly starved and froze to death en route to Golok.
When the group finally arrived at Dartsang (brda/r tshang) the religious encampment of Drime Ozer's father Dudjom Lingpa (bdud 'joms gling pa, 1835-1904) in the high pasture lands of Golok, Sera Khandro's presence was met with jealous hostility from Drime Ozer's consort Akyongza (a skyong bza'), and she was forced to live elsewhere. Sera Khandro worked as a servant girl for a local nomadic family and began her preliminary practices. Quickly, she became renowned for her diligent practice, eloquent speech, and religious devotion.
Sera Khandro later became the consort of Garra Gyelse (mgar ra rgyal sras), son of the treasure revealer Garra Terton Dudul Wangjuk Lingpa (mgar ra gter ston bdud 'dul dbang phyug gling pa, 1857-1910) of Bannak Monastery (ban nag/pan nag) in Golok. They had two children, a daughter named Yangchen Dronma / Choying Dronma (dbyangs can sgron ma / chos dbyings sgron ma, b. 1913), and a son, Rigdzin Gyurme Dorje (rig 'dzin 'gyur med rdo rje, 1919-1924), but he did not live past childhood.
Life with Gyelse proved difficult for Sera Khandro; he disapproved of Sera Khandro's calling as a treasure revealer and forbade her from writing or propagating religious teachings. Her health worsened as she became increasingly afflicted with an arthritic condition in her legs. Meanwhile, her devotion for Drime Ozer only grew stronger. These factors contributed to Gyelse's decision to send her back to live with Drime Ozer when she was twenty-nine years old. Sera Khandro credited her reunion with Drime Ozer with curing her of her illnesses. Together they revealed many treasures. After Drime Ozer's death only three years later, his disciple Sotrul Natsok Rangdrol (bsod sprl sna tshogs rang grol, d. 1935) invited Sera Khandro to live at his monastery in Golok named Sera Monastery, the place from which she derives her title.
Sera Khandro traveled widely throughout Golok with her attendants, the monks Tupzang (thub bzang) and her scribe Tsultrim Dorje (tshul khrims rdo rje). Her main teachings were the treasures of Dujom Lingpa and Drime Ozer as well as her own. She died in Riwoche at the age of forty-eight. It is said that before her body was burned, it dissolved into light until it was the size of a seven-year-old child's body.
Sera Khandro's main disciples include the First Adzom Drukpa Pawo Dorje (a 'dzom 'brug pa dpa' bo rdo rje) and his son Gyurme Dorje ('gyur med rdo rje) and daughter Chime Wangmo ('chi med dbang mo); Dujom Lingpa's sons Pema Ledrel/Drime Ozer (pad+ma las 'brel/ dri med 'od zer) and Dorje Dradul (rdo rje dgra 'dul); the Fourth Katok Chaksa Pema Trinle Gyatso (kaH tog phyag tsha pad+ma 'phrin las rgya mtsho); Pelyul Gochen Tulku Jiktrel Chokyi Lodro (dpal yul sgo chen sprul sku 'jigs bral chos kyi blo gros); the Riwoche Zhabdrung Tulku Tsewang Drakpa (ri bo che zhabs drung sprul sku tshe dbang grags pa); Abo Soge Tulku Natsok Rangdrol (a bob sod dge sprul sku sna tshogs rang grol) and Jikga Tulku ('jigs dga' sprul sku) from Sera Monastery in Serta; Trakya Lama Sherab Ozer (khra skya bla ma shes rab 'od zer), Tromge Khandro Dawa Dronma (khrom dge mkha' 'gro zla ba sgron ma); Dzogchen Khenpo Norbu Wangyal (rdzogs chen mkhan po nor bu dbang rgyal); Chadral Sanggye Dorje (bya bral sangs rgyas rdo rje, b. 1913); the king and queen of Ling (gling); and her own daughter Choying Dronma (chos dbyings sgron ma).
Sources
Bde ba'i rdo rje. 1934. Dbus mo bde ba'i rdo rje'i rnam par thar pa nges 'byung 'dren pa'i shing rta skal ldan dad pa'i mchod sdong. Unpublished manuscript.
Bya bral sang rgyas rdo rje. 1976. Dbus bza' mkha' 'gro bde ba'i rdo rje'i rnam thar chen mo'i mjug gi kha skong nyung du g.yu yi phra tshom. Unpublished manuscript.
Sarah Jacoby
August 2007
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I believe that the Tibetan and earlier Indian yogini tradition was perhaps heavily influenced by the cult of Tara. This tradition that swept through the Buddhist regions of India and Tibet. She has many varied stories of how she came about but the most memorable is the one that evoked a feminist figure from a distant past that has particular relevance to the struggles of female practitioners today:-
Tara has many stories told which explain her origin as a bodhisattva. One in particular has a lot of resonance for women interested in Buddhism and quite likely for those delving into early 21st century feminism.
In this tale there is a young princess who lives in a different world system, millions of years in the past. Her name is Yeshe Dawa, which means "Moon of Primordial Awareness". For quite a number of aeons she makes offerings to the Buddha of that world system, whose name was Tonyo Drupa. She receives special instruction from him concerning bodhicitta — the heart-mind of a bodhisattva. After doing this, some monks approach her and suggest that because of her level of attainment she should next pray to be reborn as a male to progress further. At this point she lets the monks know in no uncertain terms that from the point of view of Enlightenment it is only "weak minded worldlings" who see gender as a barrier to attaining enlightenment. She sadly notes there have been few who wish to work for the welfare of beings in a female form, though. Therefore she resolves to always be reborn as a female bodhisattva, until samsara is no more. She then stays in a palace in a state of meditation for some ten million years, and the power of this practice releases tens of millions of beings from suffering. As a result of this, Tonyo Drupa tells her she will henceforth manifest supreme bodhi as the Goddess Tara in many world systems to come.
With this story in mind, it is interesting to juxtapose this with a quotation from H.H the Dalai Lama about Tara, spoken at a conference on Compassionate Action in Newport Beach, CA in 1989:
There is a true feminist movement in Buddhism that relates to the goddess T?r?. Following her cultivation of bodhicitta, the bodhisattva's motivation, she looked upon the situation of those striving towards full awakening and she felt that there were too few people who attained Buddhahood as women. So she vowed, "I have developed bodhicitta as a woman. For all my lifetimes along the path I vow to be born as a woman, and in my final lifetime when I attain Buddhahood, then, too, I will be a woman."
Tara, then, embodies certain ideals which make her attractive to women practitioners, and her emergence as a Bodhisattva can be seen as a part of Mahayana Buddhism's reaching out to women, and becoming more inclusive even in 6th century C.E. India.
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Here's the story of a modern female tantric practitioner who is considered as the emanation of Machig Lapdron. She has since written a book based on the teachings of chod for people who want to get over post traumatic mental issues. She is also a western female lama that has been recognized by several high lamas by now and is actually married with kids.
Lama Tsultrim Allione
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Lama Tsultrim Allione, author and international teacher, is the founder and spiritual director of Tara Mandala. In 2009, Lama Tsultrim was selected by an esteemed committee of scholars and practitioners to receive the International Outstanding Woman in Buddhism Award given in Bangkok, Thailand.
Background
Born in 1947 as Joan Rousmaniere Ewing, the daughter of a small town New England newspaper publisher, James Ewing and Ruth D. Ewing, a labor mediator. Her maternal grandparents both received PhD. degrees in philosophy at Harvard University, and her grandmother was the fifth women to receive a PhD. there. Her grandmother Frances Dewing gave Lama Tsultrim her first book on Buddhism when she was fifteen, planting a seed which would come to fruition in a life devoted to Buddhist teachings. On her father’s side, she descended from Oscar Ewing, a lawyer and politician who, as a cabinet member under President Truman, sought universal health care, but due to the political climate had to settle for what became Medicare.
She grew up in Maine and New Hampshire with an older sister Carolyn and younger brother, Thomas. At nineteen, in 1967, having read every book available at the time about Tibet, she traveled to Nepal and India with her college friend now filmmaker, Victress Hitchcock, who made the film Blessings and When the Iron Bird Flies.
Meeting the Tibetan refugees in Nepal, Lama Tsultrim felt that she was ‘home’ and began to sit every morning in the Kagyu monastery next to Swayambhu stupa in Katmandu. At this time she was living with the American yogi Bhagavan Dass when Dr. Richard Alpert, an eminent Harvard psychologist and psychedelic pioneer with Dr.Timothy Leary arrived. Alpert and Bhagavan Dass embarked on the famous journey to see Neem Keroli Baba, where Alpert bacame ‘Baba Ram Dass’, and documented this journey in his famous influential book Remember Be Here Now. After they departed Lama Tsultrim left on an arduous journey hitchiking across Northern India to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. After arriving in Dharamsala she began a lifelong study of Tibetan Buddhism.
Study and Practice
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche circa 1967
After a six month stay in India and Nepal, she returned home and went back to school, but felt what she wanted to learn was not being taught in American colleges, and in 1969 made her way to the first Tibetan monastery established in the West: Samye Ling in an old Scottish country house in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
She stayed for six months and there met Trungpa Rinpoche arriving the day he returned from the hospital after a car accident and shortly before his departure for the U.S.A. From him she received The Sadhana of Mahamudra which he had composed at Taksang in Bhutan.
In the sadhana (Tantric meditation practice) the line, “The only offering I can make is to follow your example” struck her as significant. Leaving Samye Ling for Nepal at the end of 1969 she practiced The Sadhana of Mahamudradaily while traveling overland in a VW bus with five other people from London to Kathmandu , where she met H.H. 16th Karmapa, great master and a committed monk. He spotted her in a large crowd at Swayambhu and made prophecies that she would benefit beings through the Dharma. Not knowing this at the time, but feeling spontaneous devotion for His Holiness she
The 16th Karmapa Rigpai Dorje
recalled the line from the sadhana and decided to follow his example by becoming a monastic.
At the age of 22 on the full moon of January 1970 in Bodhgaya, India, she was ordained as Karma Tsultrim Chodron by the 16th Karmapa Rigpai Dorje, with the four main reincarnate tulkus: H.E. Tai Situ, H.E. Jamgon Kongtul, H.E. Gyaltsap Rinpoche, and H.E. Sharmar Rinpoche as her witnesses. She was the first American ordained by H.H. Karmapa and he became her root Lama.
She returned to Nepal and studied with Sapchu Rinpoche and with many of the great masters who had escaped from Tibet including Lama Thupten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. She received Phowa and Gyalwa Gyamtso from Sapchu Rinpoche.
Then in 1971 she traveled to Darjeeling and studied the Ngondro (Preliminary Practices) and Chenrizig extensively with Khabje Kalu Rinpoche and was also able to meet many great Tibetan masters such as Khabje Chatral Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche and Drukpa Thugse Rinpoche. At this time she went to see His Holiness Karmapa in Sikkim at Rumtek monastery where foreigners were allowed to stay only one week and was not able to see him again
Ani Tsultrim 1971
until 1981, however he appeared often in her dreams giving teachings and empowerments.
She then went to Bodhgaya for the winter of 1971 reconnecting with Baba Ram Dass and meeting his followers who were there doing the first Goenka Vipasana courses.
She then went to Sarnath where she met Nyichang Rinpoche, and studied Buddhist philosophy with him. That spring she traveled to Himachial Pradesh where she met H.E. Khamtrul Rinpoche and in Manali she encoutered her heart teacher Apho Rinpoche, grandson of the great yogi Shakya Shri. Here she practiced Ngondro and received Shene Lhakthong (Shamanta/Vipasana) teachings and completed the half of her first Ngondro. Then in late 1972, the age of 25 she returned to America and went directly to Trungpa Rinpoche’s center in Vermont called Tail of the Tiger (now Karma Choling) and went into retreat to finish her first Ngondro. At this time she met Allen Ginsberg and traveled with him in a Volkswagon Bug around Wyoming and Montana and then again with Ginsberg and Ram
Kalu Rinpoche 1971
Dass, she traveled through Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. Allen Ginsberg later asked her to be his
meditation instructor.
After a year in the United States Trungpa Rinpoche sent her back to India as his emissary to invite His Holiness Karmapa to the United States. During this visit she received the Dam Ngag Dzod Empowerments from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche which took three months in Tashi Jong hosted by H.E. Khamtrul Rinpoche. Then she returned to Manali to be with Apho Rinpoche and there
learned her first Chod practice of Naro Sang Chod from Gegyen Khyentse. At this time she made the difficult decision to return her
Ani Tsultrim Darjeeling 1971
monastic vows and shortly afterwards married Paul Kloppenburg from Holland in Delhi. They then returned to America and moved to Vashon Island in the Puget sound South of Seattle.
There they began to study with the great all knowing Deshung Rinpoche. It was during this period that she gave birth to her two daughters Sherab (1974) and Aloka (1975). The family then moved to Boulder to study with Trungpa Rinpoche. Here she separated from her first husband and became one of the first meditation instructors trained by Trungpa Rinpoche. She began to teach at Naropa Institute (now Naropa University) and to work for his organization at that time called Vajradhatu (now Shambhala International). She was in the first group to receive the Vajra Varahi Empowerment from Trungpa Rinpoche and was also asked to become a Vajrayana instructor.
Women of Wisdom
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche
In 1978, at Naropa she met Italian documentary filmmaker Costanzo Allione, who became her second husband. She moved to Italy with her two daughters where she met Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche with whom she studied and practiced Dzogchen teachings for the next eighteen years. In 1980 she gave birth to twins: a boy, Costanzo, and a girl, Chiara. When they were two and a half months old, Chiara died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
This event triggered a need to find the life stories of women teachers from the Buddhist tradition and so she began research what became her first book, Women of Wisdom, a groundbreaking book on the lives of great Tibetan women practitioners published in 1984. At this time Lama Tsultrim earned her Master’s degree in Buddhist Studies/Women’s Studies from Antioch University. After leaving her Italian husband in 1986, she moved back to the USA and began teaching widely under Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. She met her third husband David Petit in 1988. David taught dance and theater at The Waldorf School in Spring Valley, NY, which her children attended. This marriage proved to be a true partnership on every level and until David`s sudden death in 2010 they worked together on many projects, primarily Tara Mandala.
Tara Mandala
Temple at Tara Mandala 2010
In 1993, after Lama Tsultrim’s children had grown up, she recalled her vision formed in Manali in 1972 to create a western retreat center where meditation could be practiced as it had been in Tibet. She envisioned a place that would explore the interface between Western psychology and Buddhism. On Sept 18, 1993, following dreams and visions she and her husband David found the beautiful 700 acres of rolling hills, flowering meadows, forests, that became Tara Mandala. The land in Pagosa Springs in Southwest Colorado has many special features including ridges, views of two snow mountain ranges.
East Temple Corbel 2011
In June 1994 Lama Tsultrim and David moved to the land with a group of supporters and began to hold retreats, build retreat cabins and host visiting teachers. In 1999 the first stupa on the land was consecrated by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, dedicated to Nyala Pema Duddul, great Dzogchen master who took rainbow body in 1872. The community lived on the land for ten years before any permanent buildings were built, retreats were held in large tents and yurts. Between 2005 to 2008, three buildings were completed at Tara Mandala: the Community Building, which houses the kitchen, dining room, offices, store, and bathing facilities; Prajna Residence Hall, which houses forty people in spacious sunlit rooms; and the extraordinary three-story mandala-shaped Tara Temple.
Adzom Rinpoche
Adzom Rinpoche 2004
In 1999 the great yogi and Dzogchen master Adzom Paylo Rinpoche, reincarnation of Pema Wangyal one of the gyalse or sons of Adzom Drukpa also recognized as an emanation of Jigme Lingpa came to Tara Mandala for the first time. Lama Tsultrim and her family made a close connection with him. He taught at Tara Mandala many years offering the lineage of Longchen Nyingtig and Adzom Drukpa. He back a heart teacher of Lama Tsultrim and a great support for Tara Mandala. He revealed an extraordinary Troma Terma on December 19, 2002 at Tara Mandala and witnessed by many people imprinted his hand into a stone in 2003 . has on several occasions made auspicious prophecies about its future. He taught Ngondro extensively, Chod, Green Tara and Yeshe Lama.
Machig Labdron’s Lineage
Lama Tsultrim after her Recognition as Emanation of Machig Labdron Tibet 2007
Since learning Chod from Gegyen Khyentse in 1972 she always felt and connection with Machig Labdron. Thwn in 1981 she had a vision of her while practicing Chod with Chogyl Namkhai Norbu which lead to the discovery and translation of her biography for her first book Women of Wisdom.
For many years, Lama Tsultrim focused her teachings on the lineage of Machig Labdrön, the 11th century Tibetan yogini who founded the Chöd lineage. While teaching Norbu Rinpoche’s Chod she developed the five steps of feeding your demons that developed into her book Feeding Your Demons (Little Brown 2008) .
While traveling in Tibet in 2007 Lama Tsultrim was recognized as an emanation of Machig Labdrön by the resident Lama of Zangri Khangmar (Machig’s monastery in Tibet). Before Lama Tsultrim’s arrival, the resident Lama had had a dream of a white Dakini coming from the West loudly sounding a damaru (drum used in Chöd). There were other indicative signs during the visit such as rainbows that stayed for hours, rain after a long drought etc. After these signs Lama Karma Dorje Rinpoche tulku of the brother of the second Karmapa Karma Pakshi made the announcement of the recognition and gave her Machig’s relics to bring back to Tara Mandala, claiming that the future of Machig’s lineage would be in the West.
The pilgrimage group then returned to Nepal where Lama Tsering Wangdu who holds the lineage of Machig from Tingri Langkhor, the seat of Phadampa Sangye in Tibet and is abbot of the Shelkar Chode monastery in Kathmandu which is dedicated to Machig Labdron’s lineage was waiting for them. He also had had a dream. Three days before the group arrived, he dreamed of Machig Labdrön and her entire lineage in the sky above him. Machig said to him, ‘In three days I will be there.’ When the pilgrimage group arrived he gave the the Machig Chöd Empowerment at his monastery and saw Mchig Labdron dissolve into Lama Tsultrim heart through the top of her head.
while visiting Tara Mandala in 2008, he gave Lama Tsultrim the title of ‘Lama’ and wrote a recognition letter of her as an emanation of Machig Labdrön, a long life prayer, and praises of her. Read more about Lama Tsultrim’s recognition. Lama Wangdu subsequently came to Tara Mandala and wrote a Long Life Prayer for Lama Tsultrim and a recognition letter of her as an emanation of Machig Labdron.
Dzinpa Rangdrol
Dzinpa Rangdrol White Dakini Drubchen 2009
Since 2008, Tulku Sangngag Rinpoche has been establishing the lineage of Dzinpa Rangdröl from Do Khyentse at Tara Mandala. This cycle combines the lineage of Machig Labdron, Phadampa Sangye, the practice of Chöd with Dzogchen teachings. It is a complete cycle beginning with Ngöndro (preparatory practices) and extending through the most advanced Dzogchen teachings. Tulku Sangngag Rinpoche has been extremely helpful and supportive of Tara Mandala first helping with the building of the stupa, then with the filling and blessing of the vase offering to the earth and water spirits placed under the temple foundation. He oversaw the ceremonial filling of the Sertog (gold pinnacle on top of the temple) and then with the establishment of the Dzinpa Rangdrol cycle guiding the three year retreat and the (Tsogyel Karmo) White Dakini Drubchen held every year. He wrote a song in praise of Tara Mandala in 2009, a long life prayer for Lama Tsultrim in 2010, and a beautiful Tsog song about Dzinpa Rangdröl in 2011. He has kindly overseen many ceremonies and necessary rituals at Tara Mandala and has taught extensively on many topics as well.
Feeding Your Demons and Kapala Training
Lama Tsultrim Allione authored Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict (Little, Brown Co.), published in 2008. This book connects the knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism with the western concept of the psyche, addressing major cultural issues and the roots of our suffering. This national bestseller is based on Lama Tsultrim’s pioneering technique which uses five steps to nurture the parts of ourselves we usually fight against. The book offers a personal and collective new paradigm of “feeding not fighting” inner and outer demons. She developed a training program combining the Demon Works and Machig Labdron’s lineage practices called Kapala Training which has become an international program.
Loss and Return
In July 22, 2010, Lama Tsultrim’s husband David Petit died suddenly of a heart attack. He was cremated in front of the stupa he built on the land. At the time of his death he was proclaimed a great yogi by many lamas who knew his practice and the signs at the time of his death. There were numerous rainbows everyday after his death, as well a one of the rarest atmospheric phenomena a moon bow, which on the third day extended from Ekajati Peak in the center of the land to the house where David died. Extensive traditional rituals were performed for him at Tara Mandala and in Tibet at Adzom Rinpoche’s monastery for 49 days. David’s togal teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche performing the 49th day cremony.
David Petit
His bones were blended with clay and made into tsatsas (clay stupas with mantra roles placed inside) and placed in a tsakang (a memorial stone house) on the ridge where he practiced in the early mornings.
After David’s death, Lama Tsultrim made a long pilgrimage to Asia. She started with a six-week stay in Kangding (Dartsedo) receiving the entrustment ceremony (Katey) and oral transmission (lung) of Dzinpa Rangdröl from Do Dasel Wangmo, great granddaughter of the terton Do Khyentse. Lama Tsultrim then went to central Tibet to Machig Labdron’s cave and birthplace, and to Nepal and India where she remet Orgyen Thrinley 17th Karmapa and Sey Rinpoche, son and lineage holder of Apho Rinpoche. She then visited Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche in Australia and made a short visit to New Zealand.
At the end of 2011 she started to teach again. She gave the Chöd Empowerment and Prajna Paramita teachings in California at Orgyen Dorje Den and she taught in Switzerland and Italy. Tara Mandala and an international community of practitioners continue to flourish under her care and guidance. click here to watch Victress Hitchcock’s production THIS PRECIOUS LIFE: A Celebration of the Life & Passing of David Petit.
Children
Costanzo, Aloka and Sherab 2004
Lama Tsultrim is the mother of three grown children and has recently become a grandmother. Her daughter Sherab is an architect who is married to Eric Adolphi and lives in Telluride, Colorado and mother of Otto Ziji Adolphi (2012). Aloka is a manager in Human Resources at Disney Films and is married to Trevor Sands. Aloka is the mother of Luna Violet (2009) and Truman James (2011) and lives in Los Angeles, California. Costanzo works at Tara Mandala and is engaged to Cady Holtcamp. Her con Costanzo (Osel Dorje) has completely nearly 4 years of solitary retreat, studied Tibetan in Nepal and is married to Cady (Holtcamp) Allione former Executive Director of Tara Mandala.
Lama Tsultrim is now working on several new books and traveling around the world to teach.
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This is the biography of the 1st Samding Dorje Pagmo, Chokyi Dromma:
The Life of Chokyi Dronma (Chos kyi sgron ma) according to her biography
Chokyi Dronma’s’s life is narrated in her biography: Ye shes mkha' 'gro bsod nams 'dren gyi sku skyes gsum pa rje btsun ma chos kyi sgron ma'i rnam thar compiled by one of her companions in religious practice (for a discussion of the dating and authorship of the biography see Diemberger, H. When a Woman becomes a Dynasty: the Samding Dorje Phagmo of Tibet, Columbia University Press 2007, the following paragraph is an abridged version of chapter 2 of the book. A translation of the biography is given in the same book, Part II).
According to this text she was born as the daughter of the King of Gungthang in the year of the tiger, or, by the western calendar, 1422. It was a moment when an heir to the throne was keenly awaited and the priest to the royal court considered her to be a divine incarnation and gave her the name that, according to a prophetic dream by her mother, she had already given herself: Queen of the Jewel (Konchog Gyalmo) - a title that reflected both her commitment to become a royal supporter of the Dharma and the prospect that she would be ‘victorious in all directions’. These names concur with the representations in the biography of Chokyi Dronma as, secretly, a tantric deity, but this initial effort to imply that she had a sacred role may in fact have been part of an attempt by the court to present her as a potential royal heir in case no son was born to the king.
The scenario changed radically a few years later: when Chokyi Dronma was about six1 a son was born to a junior queen. This is said to have deeply troubled Chokyi Dronma and her mother, and this is the first point at which she is supposed to have expressed a wish to renounce the world and become ordained. This meant a change of position in the royal family: not only would it mean that Chokyi Dronma faced the prospect of being sent away as a daughter-in-law, but it also signalled great anxiety for her mother, the main queen, since she had produced only girls while a junior queen had produced the much awaited male heir. Throughout her life Chokyi Dronma was concerned about the position of her mother as potentially vulnerable and felt responsible for ensuring that she would be looked after at all times. These were practical issues that might have had a bearing on her precocious decision to pursue a religious life, and also on her later commitment to support Buddhism as a religion that provided assistance to women.
Despite these considerations, as an infant princess she enjoyed a happy and lively childhood, dividing her time between the capital of the kingdom and the lush valleys of Kyirong, which she loved. She would go there often, especially in the winter when the upper areas were frozen and stricken by blizzards while the lower Himalayan valleys were still rich with flowers and fruits. Chokyi Dronma seems to have been an energetic and adventurous child; the biography also describes her as compassionate towards animals, aware of worldly impermanence and daring in her choices. She is said to have shown a strong character early on, perhaps a prelude to the fact that throughout her life she never shied away from physical hardship or risky enterprises. Nevertheless, she seems to have also suffered in her early childhood from some health problems and illness seems to have repeatedly marked difficult periods in her life.
In about 1438, since Chokyi Dronma had reached a marriageable age, the court decided that she should be married out to the rulers of neighbouring kingdom of Southern Lato. The strategic relationship between Gungthang and Southern Lato was crucial at a time of political fragmentation, so Chokyi Dronma’s father accepted the marriage request from these important allies, who were also potential enemies: it was a political marriage. A very detailed description is given in the biography both of the grand celebrations held in honour of the marriage and of the great sorrow felt at her departure from her homeland. The text carries the reader along with the weeping marriage procession leaving the royal palace and climbing the steep pass that leads towards the Porong plains and eventually to Shekar. According to the biography, at the top of the pass, she prostrated for a last time towards her home, more than 3000 feet below, taking a last look at the royal palace.
The marriage procession presumably crossed the Dingri area, north of the Bongchu River and the holy Tsibri range , until they reached Shekar, the “White Crystal”, the capital of Southern Lato. From afar they would have seen the mountain rising from the plain with the forbidding fortress on its ridge, and near it the white and red of the monastery. Both had been built by the great lord of Southern Lato, Situ Chokyi Rinchen, the grandfather of Chokyi Dronma’s bridegroom. Even though his parents and grandparents were great supporters of Buddhism, the young prince Tshewang Tashi was particularly keen on the local ancestral cults. As the bridal procession approached the capital a group of Bonpo priests came out to meet it and to celebrate some customary marriage rituals. As a committed Buddhist Chokyi Dronma had very strong views on non-Buddhist practices; she was openly jubilant when the Bonpo priests were driven away by her retinue, dropping their ritual instruments as they made a hasty retreat. Once in the palace, she further intimidated the Bonpo priests by meditating and empowering herself as Vajrayogini. This episode and a number of other details introduce a slightly dissonant note in what otherwise seems to have been the perfect fulfilment of her role as a royal daughter-in-law. She behaved very respectfully towards her parents-in-law and her husband and was generally seen as a bringer of prosperity, beautiful and well behaved, even though she sometimes challenged conventions of royal protocol.
According to the biography she became pregnant in her nineteenth year, which would have been about 1440, and gave birth to a girl. No difficulties are described during the delivery of the child, and at first everything seemed to proceed serenely. She enjoyed being with her little daughter, living in a very comfortable residence and assisted by several nannies. When her husband expressed his wish to appoint a Bonpo teacher for the child, she was able to negotiate that the girl should be educated according to Buddhist principles. When her child was more or less one year old she went to the hot springs with her retinue. At the hot springs she fell so gravely ill that she almost died; her eventual recovery was ascribed to a miracle.
Around this time a major dispute broke out in her father’s kingdom and she decided to help in mediating the conflict. She left for Gungthang escorted by one hundred horsemen, leaving her little daughter behind with her parents-in-law, her husband and the nannies. While she was away the child died and her parents-in-law sent her a message to this effect. She took the news calmly and replied that there was no reason to worry since the child would soon be reincarnated. However, she also said in her reply that the child would have lived longer if deeds against the doctrine had not brought about her untimely death. The biography says that this episode gave her much to think about. Before leaving Gungthang and returning to Shekar she formally announced her wish to take religious vows as a nun. Predictably, her father argued strongly with her about this decision and refused to approve it, saying that at the age of twenty she had just started her life and expressing his hope that she would postpone this decision. Chokyi Dronma remained resolute in her position. This marked the beginning of her long and momentous struggle to free herself from her secular obligations.
A short while after returning to Shekar she announced her wish to take religious vows to her parents-in-law and sent a letter to this effect to her father. Neither of the parties agreed. Meanwhile she had started to take care of the property and the interests of the Porong Pemo Choding monastery at Shekar. She read the Collected Works (dPal de kho na nyid ‘dus pa) of Bodong Chogle Namgyal (1375-1451) and when this great lama was invited to Shekar she was entranced by his teachings. After his departure she missed him deeply; she felt that her life had become pointless and that she had to devote herself to his doctrine. She then read The Life of the Buddha (the Lalitavistara) and felt a strong wish to emulate Prince Siddharta, giving up her royal life to strive for enlightenment. She repeatedly requested permission from her father and her father-in-law to become ordained, but to no avail. Eventually she decided that she had to take some action to achieve her aim. At first she tried to escape from the castle, without success. Eventually she unbound her hair and started to tear it out, injuring herself in the process. When her shocked parents-in- law found her in this condition she threw the hair at their feet. The sight of her, standing in the middle of the royal fortress covered in blood and with her hair dishevelled, led her parents-in-law to allow her to leave and to renounce her secular obligations. Her father-in-law calmed her down and promised to agree to all her wishes provided she would not present herself in this state to her husband, who had recently suffered some kind of mental crisis. She therefore arranged a makeshift wig to cover her hair and dressed in her best clothes to meet him. At first he did not understand the situation, but eventually went along with the decision that he should marry another woman. Chokyi Dronma’s action in feigning or experiencing mental instability in order to achieve a radical change in her life places her in a long tradition of sacred women in Tibet who had to resort to this option, whether nuns, tantric practitioners or oracles. She may have been the most prominent to do so, but she was not the first: the act of unbinding the hair as an expression of madness and transgression features prominently in the life of Laksminkara, the mad Indian princess of the eighth century who was her spiritual ancestor, and has wide resonances throughout the Buddhist world.
Eventually the princess was allowed by her husband’s family to leave. The biography describes her riding off in the rising sun towards the high pastures and the monastery of Porong Pemo Choding, delighting in her newly acquired freedom. At the monastery she was welcomed by Bodong Chogle Namgyal, who ensured that she had arrived with proper permission from her family before admitting her formally. After receiving the confirmation from both Shekar and Gungthang, she was allowed to take part in her first ritual as a member of the monastic community. She dressed sumptuously for the ceremony, had the remains of her hair cut by an attendant, and took her vows as a novice. She was then given the name under which she became famous, Chokyi Dronma, ‘the Lamp of the Dharma’ (Dharmadipa)2 . She used the occasion to announce her commitment to support religious practices for women.
Bodong Chogle Namgyal was later to face some sharp criticism for having admitted a woman into a monastic institution, but he always defended his choice staunchly. Chokyi Dronma’s life revolved around him from around 1442 until his death in 1451. During this time she moved between Pemo Choding monastery and her homeland, to which she loved to return from time to time. In the monastery she pursued her religious training and eventually was fully ordained as a bhiksuni or nun. This makes her one of the rare instances of a fully ordained woman we know of in Tibet, even though the biography seems to imply that this practice was more widespread at that time than is now assumed on the basis of the surviving records, an important and controversial issue to which we shall return later.
In an effort to follow the example of the Buddha, Chokyi Dronma also spent a great deal of time travelling around as a begging nun. Although this was an established practice, seeing their princess in this guise provoked a great deal of surprise in the local population. From simple herdsmen to aristocrats, most people became great supporters and she was extremely successful in collecting all sorts of donations with which she was able to support the religious activities carried out by her master. She was often joined in her begging by a nun called Deleg Chodren, who became her closest friend and followed her for the rest of her life. It was probably this woman who was to become one of the key figures in the compilation of the biography.
Throughout the period during which her life was centred around Bodong Chogle Namgyal and Pemo Choding monastery, Chokyi Dronma devoted herself to the recruitment and training of nuns. Often these were inexperienced young girls and the biography underlines the point that since they were ‘free from worldly concerns’ Chokyi Dronma had to consider all their practical needs. It appears that she even oversaw the weaving and sewing of their clothes, while at the same time being deeply committed to their education. She apparently taught them proper reading skills and introduced a very effective system of teaching the Buddhist doctrine. Bodong Chogle Namgyal himself was particularly sensitive to women’s issues and was a great innovator in this respect. Just as he had insisted on bestowing the full ordination on Chokyi Dronma, so he also established new ritual traditions for women. He encouraged Chokyi Dronma to initiate the performance of ritual dances by women at a time when usually female roles were performed by monks. The biography gives a very vivid description of the social and cultural challenges that this innovative enterprise entailed and of her skills in successfully overcoming them.
As long as her master was alive Chokyi Dronma seems to have been constantly torn between her wish to be with him and her desire to return to Gungthang. Even though the closeness to her master made bearable the harsh, high nomadic areas where Pemo Choding was located, she apparently preferred the more hospitable agricultural environment of her homeland and the hermitages in the lower, forested valleys of the Himalayas. In Gungthang she was also more effective in mobilizing networks of support for religious enterprises and was able to count on the availability of skilled craftsmen. In the last period of Bodong Chogle Namgyal’s life, she seems to have spent most of her time in Gungthang. However, she repeatedly went back to Pemo Choding whenever her master’s health deteriorated. The biography gives a striking description of how she rushed back after having been summoned by Deleg Chodren with the news of the master’s fatal illness. The two women, together with Chokyi Dronma’s father, rode in great haste by day and night through icy storms over the 5,200 metre pass that separates Gungthang from Porong. The pace that the two young women set was too fast for the father and he allowed them to ride ahead so that Chokyi Dronma could see Bodong Chogle Namgyal before he died. In the event they all succeeded in reaching Pemo Choding before his demise and Chokyi Dronma’s father was able to receive important teachings from the dying lama before returning to Gungthang, while Chokyi Dronma remained to nurse her master. Eventually, at the end of the third month in the year of the sheep (1451),3 she was summoned from a brief rest to interpret signs that those around him were unable to comprehend. She understood immediately that her master wished to practise meditation and joined him so as to be with him at his passing.
After Bodong Chogle Namgyal’s death she took care of the funeral rituals, together with the most important people of his retinue. Once his body was cremated, people were divided over what should be done with his relics, a dispute in which she acted as the mediator. Eventually she distributed the bone fragments among all members of the monastic community and had little figurines (tsha tsha) made of clay mixed with his ashes which were given to the lay disciples and patrons. She felt that he thus belonged to the multitude of his followers rather than being embodied in one precious relic that could be owned and fought over. In many ways this faithfully represented the legacy of a teacher whose teachings had been directed to all sects and among disciples of all political alignments, rather than being exclusively associated with one place, patron or tradition.
The events surrounding the death of Bodong Chogle Namgyal are mentioned in several sources, notably in his own biographies. These tend to provide descriptions that conform to the Buddhist ideal according to which death is no reason for grief and emphasize his glorious passing into celestial spheres. Chokyi Dronma’s biography tends instead to reveal more of the deep emotional tension and the sense of bereavement among Bodong Chogle Namgyal’s disciples at the loss of their master. Chokyi Dronma herself was deeply disturbed by the event and spent several months wandering around the hills of her homeland and practising meditation. The faithful Deleg Chodren accompanied her; she is described as having felt distress and helplessness at seeing her in extreme disarray, covered in lice and randomly praising her master in front anyone she encountered even if these were people who would not understand what she was talking about. In due course she recovered from this extreme distress and was able to take care of other disciples of Bodong Chogle Namgyal.
After a while, probably sometime in 1452, she mobilized her whole retinue, all the the disciples of Bodong Chogle Namgyal and the people of Gungthang, in order to fulfil her pledge to collected the entire writings of her master, and to have them edited and reproduced. Chokyi Dronma played an important part in instigating some of the earliest examples of printing known in Tibet, second perhaps only to the production of the prints of the Collected Works of Tsonkhapa just a few years earlier. She also supported innovative arts and crafts.
Eventually Chokyi Dronma grew weary of her stay in her own region. The reasons are not completely clear. But the biography reports that the people of Pemo Choding wanted her to stay at their monastery but she agreed to this on the condition that her vision would be fulfilled: she wished to build water channels so as to create fields that could support a centre of learning, similar to the ancient Buddhist cities of India, where a gathering of scholars could be supported so as to bring peace to the whole region. Construction was begun and the details of the work are described in the biography; some surviving traces of channels and ruins are still attributed, by some of the Porong people, to these efforts. However, things were not carried out as well as she envisaged and she eventually gave up on this plan. Meanwhile she had started to make contact with Thangtong Gyalpo. She had already heard of this extraordinary siddha, who had become famous both for his religious deeds and miracles and for the production of iron-chain bridges over the Brahmaputra River, and she decided to ask him for advice on her situation. So she sent Deleg Chodren as a messenger and, sometime after she had received his reply to her request for guidance, she decided to visit him; leaving Gunthang for what would be the last time. Chokyi Dronma had wished to take her mother with her but this was not permitted by the court. However, both her mother and sister were allowed to escort her up to the pass that leads to the Porong plains, where they had a moving farewell.
After staying at Porong Pemo Choding for a while she left for Northern Lato where Thangtong Gyalpo was at that time residing. She probably arrived some time in 1452 or 1453, and met the great siddha at Chung Riwoche, where with her support he would later complete the famous Stupa. She stayed near the master until the autumn of 1454,4 less than two years in all. The biography devotes much space to her visit, probably because of Thangtong Gyalpo’s role in the survival of the tradition. He also appears to have had a decisive impact on her life and is said to have delivered famous prophecies according to which she would enjoy a long life but would have few disciples if she remained in her region, but would have an uncertain lifespan and a multitude of followers if she were to leave for the east. This prophecy is mentioned several times in the biography and is considered the reason for her final journey to south-eastern Tibet and the holy shrine of Tsari.
After the rainy season of 1454 Chokyi Dronma set out towards Central Tibet. A number of letters sent to the local rulers and a letter of introduction that Chokyi Dronma took with her enabled Thangtong Gylapo to activate his large network of followers and provide her with adequate support on her way. During her journey she encountered several political and religious personalities of her time, such as the Lord of Rinpung, Norbu Sangpo, and the Indian pandita Vanaratna, she arrived at Lhasa. Here she visited the Jokhang temple, paid respect to the holy statue of the Jowo and had complex interactions with the local rulers who were utterly surprised by some of her informal behaviour, especially since she was wandering around on her own. At the time of Chokyi Dronma’s visit to Lhasa the fame of Tsongkhapa, later to be regarded as the founder of the Gelugpa sect, was rapidly spreading in Central Tibet; this deeply impressed the princess and her retinue.
After leaving Lhasa she visited Ushangdo, the temple established by her ancestor, the King Ralpacen, in the ninth century. She then went to Chagsam Chubori where she stayed for a few days next to the iron-chain bridge built by Thangtong Gyalpo. Here she received an extraordinary visit from a lama called Rigsum Gonpo, a disciple of Thangtong Gyalpo who had been appointed as the first abbot of his monastery at New Tsari. He told her the astonishing story of how he had come to be there and was then welcomed by Chokyi Dronma and her retinue as a prophetic guide on the way to Tsari. She continued her journey along the southern bank of the Brahmaputra river towards Tsari where she died in her thirty-fourth year– that is, in 1455 or early 1456. The final part of the biography is a kind of travelogue of her journey from Northern Lato, over Shigatse, Rinpung, the Gampa-la pass, Lhasa and eventually Tsari. The biography is incomplete, and her journey is covered only as far as Dagpo; the last part of the journey to Tsari is missing and the final part of Chokyi Dronma’s life must be reconstructed on the basis of other sources. Thangtong Gyalpo’s biography says that she spent the very last period of her life there participating in the extraction of iron and the production of chains for the Nyago bridge.
Thangtong Gyalpo’s biography describes how Deleg Chodren reported Chokyi Dronma’s death to him in the hope that he would pronounce as to whether there would be a reincarnation. The great siddha responded by reassuring the concerned nun that her mistress would indeed be reborn as a human. Some three years later, in 1459, a girl called Kunga Sangmo was born and was identified by Thangtong Gyalpo and by the community of Chokyi Dronma’s disciples as the reincarnation of the princess. Chokyi Dronma had started to be seen as an emanation of the deity Dorje Phagmo as she was staying with Bodong Chogle Namgyal and this identification was later confirmed by Thangtong Gyalpo. Kunga Sangmo was thus both an emanation of the female tantric deity and a reincarnation of the deceased princess. With her identification the institution of the Dorje Phagmo reincarnation line became fully established.
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Here is the story of a more recent yogini who has shown the signs of accomplishment in her practice. When she passed away in 1953, and he body shrunk to a fraction of her original size, indicating that she has accomplished Dzogchen.
Ayu Khandro Dorje Peldron b.1839 - d.1953
Name Variants: Dechen Khandro ; Tsewang Peldron
ESSAY
TEACHERS & STUDENTS
INCARNATIONS
OFFICES HELD
Ayu Khandro Dorje Pendron (a g.yu mkha' 'gro rdo rje dpal sgron) was born in 1839 in a place called Takzik (stag gzig) in Kham, and was given the name Dechen Khandro (bde chen mkha' 'gro) by Tokden Randrik (stogs ldan rang rig, d.1865), a local yogi. Her father’s name was Tamdrin Gon (rtam mgrin mgon, d.u.) and her mother’s was Tsokyi (mtsho skyid, d.u.). She had three brothers and three sisters.
At the age of seven, Ayu Khandro went to live with her aunt Dronkyi (sgron skyid, d.1865), a practitioner who lived in a cave near Tokden Randrik. She was betrothed at the age of thirteen to Apo Wangdo (a pho dbang rdo, d.1897), the son of a wealthy family, but she nevertheless remained with her aunt until 1856, when she was eighteen. There she helped her aunt with daily chores and learned to read and write with the help of one of the tokden’s students. At the age of thirteen she received her first empowerments and teachings, those of Rigdzin Longsel Nyingpo’s (rig 'dzin klong gsal snying po, 1625-1692) terma, Longsel Dorje Nyingpo (klong gsal rdo rje’i snying po).
At the age of fourteen Ayu Khandro went with her aunt and Tokden Rangrik to visit the great Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse' dbang po, 1820-1892) and Jamgon Kongtrul (jam mgon kong sprul, 1813-1899) at Khyentse Wangpo's monastery of Dzongsar (rdzong sar). Chokgyur Lingpa (mchog gyur gling pa, 1829-1870) was possibly there as well. During this journey Ayu Khandro received many instructions from these and other teachers and upon her return home she began the Longchen Nyingtik (klong chen snying thig) preliminary practices.
She visited Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo again when she was sixteen and received from him the name Tsewang Peldron (tshe dbang dpal sgron) and a number of teachings and empowerments, including his own recently-discovered treasure on White T?r?, The Heart Essence of the Sublime Lady of Immortality ('chi med 'phags ma'i snying thig). Again, on returning home, Ayu Khandro entered into retreat to put the teachings into immediate practice.
In the summer of her nineteenth year, Ayu Khandro was married to Apho Wangdo and moved in with him and his family, against her own wishes and those of her aunt. Within three years, however, Ayu Khandro became extremely ill and it was only when her husband told her that she could return to her cave and continue her religious life that she became better. Ayu Khandro continued to practice under the guidance of the tokden and her aunt until they both passed away in 1865. Grieving the loss of her mentors, she entered a three year retreat.
At the age of thirty, Ayu Khandro decided to begin travelling and practicing Chod (gchod). With several companions she went to meet and receive teachings from masters such as Nyala Pema Dudul (nyag bla pad ma bdud 'dul, 1816-1872) and Adzom Drukpa Drodul Pawo Dorje (a 'dzom 'brug pa 'gro 'dul dpa' bo rdo rje, 1842-1924), from whom she received the Tsokchen Dupa (tshogs chen 'dus pa) and a number of important Dzogchen instructions.
From Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo they also received several months of teachings in both Nyingma and Sarma traditions, such as the Khandro Sangwa Kundu (mkha' 'gro gsang ba kun 'du), and essential Dzogchen instructions such as the Nyingtik Yabzhi (snying thig ya bzhi). She learned chudlen (bcud len) and tummo (gtum mo) from Lhawang Gonpo (lha dbang mgon po, d.u.), a Chod practitioner she briefly travelled with.
At the age of thirty-two she received from Nyala Pema Dudul the Longsel Dorje Nyingpo, the instructions for the Yangti Nakpo (yang ti nag po) dark retreat, and the name Dorje Peldron (rdo rje dpal sgron). Nyala Pema Dudul also instructed her to continue to travel and practice Chod, which she did with her friend, a nun named Pema Yangkyi (pad ma yang skyid, 1837-1911). For the next decade Ayu Khandro moved across Kham, U-Tsang, Nepal, and Ngari, where she visited Mount Kailash, practicing Chod everywhere she went, visiting holy sites, and receiving instructions and initiations. Her companions changed throughout her journey. Only at the age of forty-three that she decided to journey back home.
The following year after her return, Ayu Khandro’s ex-husband and other acquaintances began building her a meditation hut. She also went to visit and receive more teachings from Adzom Drukpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul. In 1885 her hut was completed and she entered into a seven year retreat, focusing on the practice of dark retreat. In 1891, seven months before the end of her retreat, she is said to have experienced a vision of a group of ??kin? in a tikle carrying Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo inside another tikle; she took this as an omen of the impending death of her teacher. She thus cut short her retreat and went to visit the lama, who clarified all questions and doubts she had about her practice, and told her to return to her dark retreat. In 1892, Ayu Khandro received news of her teacher’s death and decided to commit the rest of her life to retreat. By the end of her life she had spent more than fifty years in dark retreat, although she also made time to give teachings to numerous students.
In 1894 her mother died, and in 1897, her ex-husband also died. Her travelling companion, Pema Yangkyi, came to visit her in 1900 and told her the miraculous stories of one of her other former travelling companions who had attained the rainbow body ('ja' lus) while practicing at Mount Kailash. Pema Yangkyi stayed with Ayu Khandro for a year and then travelled to Mount Khawa Karpo (kha ba dkar po), where she became a famous teacher and also is said to have attained the rainbow body. Ayu Khandro was also visited by Pema Yangkyi’s students and those of her other former companions, to whom she gave as much advice and teaching as possible.
In 1951 Namkhai Norbu (nam mkha'i nor bu, b.1938) visited Ayu Khandro for just over two months and received from her Jamyang Khyentse’s Khandro Sangwa Kundu, the Chod practice of Dzinba Rangdrol ('dzin pa rang grol), Longchen Nyingtik, Yangti and Nyala Pema Dudul’s Tsedrub Gongdu (tse sgrub dgongs 'dus), amongst others. He requested and received from her the Sakya Vajrayogin? N?ro Kechari initiation and commentary, as she was considered a manifestation of this deity.
During this stay, Namkhai Norbu recorded notes on her life story, which she recounted to him. He later composed these into a biography, without which there would be little documentation left of her existence, as is the case with numerous Tibetan Buddhist female practitioners.
In 1953, apparently having lived to the age of one hundred and fifteen, Ayu Khandro passed away. For the few weeks before her death she spent most of her time seeing anyone who wanted to speak to her and gave away her valuable possessions, such as a precious statue of Padmasambhava which she gave to Adzom Gyelse Gyurme Dorje (a 'dzom rgyal sras 'gyur med rdo rje, 1895-1959), the son of Adzom Drukpa, and a small statue of Jamyang Khyentse, made by his own hand, which she left for Namkhai Norbu. After her death, it is said she remained in meditation for two weeks and by the end of the two weeks her body had shrunk to a fraction of its original size, a sign of her accomplishment of Dzogchen practice.
Sources
Allione, Tsultrim. 1984. “A-yu Khadro”, in Women of Wisdom. London: Penguin Group, pp.233-264.
Namkhai Norbu. 1986. The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. New York; Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp.113-114.
Namkhai Norbu and Michael Katz. 2002. Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light. New York: Snow Lion Publications, pp.130-131.
Joona Repo
June 2011
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Delog Dawa Drolma
H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche wrote about his mother Delog Dawa Drolma in a book entitled "Delog: Journey to Realms Beyond Death". "Delog" means one who has crossed the threshold of death and returned to tell about it. Delog Dawa Drolma was a woman renowned as one of the great realisation holders of Vajrayana Buddhism in the 20th century. Being a Delog meant that she lay without any vital sign of breath, pulse, or warmth for five days. During that time the link between her mind and body was released and her consciousness journeyed to other realms of existence.
What she saw in her journeys engendered in her a limitless compassion for sentient beings. She experienced the almost unimaginable contrast between existence within the pure display of enlightened mind and existence within samsaric delusion and ignorance.
In the account of her journeys, accompanied by Tara, the places she visited were: the Copper-Coloured Mountain (the Pure Land of Padmasambhava), the six impure realms of Being, the Potala Mountain (the Pure Land of Avalokiteshvara), and Yulokod (the Pure Land of Tara). She passed away in 1941, in her mid-30s. Her body remained in meditation posture for some days, then collapsed, indicating that the consciousness had left. She was cremated on the roof of her house. Rainbows appeared, and five vultures, which in Vajrayana Buddhism symbolise the supreme perspective of the realised yogin, circled overhead.
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Jomo Menmo is a female practitioner who had teachings passed to her directly by a vision of Vajravarahi herself. Her biography is quite interesting to read and her teachings are still transmitted within the Nyingma tradition now.
Jomo Menmo (jo mo sman mo) was born in southern Tibet, near a meditation cave of Padmasambhava's called Zarmolung (gzar mo lung) in Eyul (e yul). Her father was a tantrika of the Dak (dwags) clan named Dorje Gyelpo (rdo rje rgyal po) and her mother was Pema Peldzom (pad+ma dpal 'dzom). Her parents named her Pema Tsokyi (padma mtsho skyid). Although her father was a man of some means, when she was five her mother died and her father remarried, after which Pema Tsokyi was sent to tend animals.
According to her hagiography, when Pema Tsokyi was thirteen, while watching her cattle one afternoon in a high pasture named Ezarmolung (e gzar mo lung), near a Padmasambhava cave named Khyungchen Dingwaidrag (khyung chen lding ba'i brag), she fell asleep and had a short dream. In it a melodious voice called to her and woke her up. The entrance of a cave then opened before her, and, inside, she saw a group of terrifying ??kin? in the midst of a charnal ground. The leader of the group was Vajrav?rah?, who spoke to her, saying: "Enter, daughter of a good family!" The deity then extracted a small book from the rock behind her and placed it on the girl's head, conveying the full empowerment and the realization it taught. Holding the book in her hand she said: "This book contains the instructions of the Gathering of all the ??kin?'s Secrets (mkha' 'gro gsang ba kun 'dus). If you practice it in utmost secrecy, you will obtain the supreme accomplishment." Pema Tsokyi was then transformed into a fully realized yogini, and the ??kin?s vanished.
Pema Tsokyi found few people willing to believe the authenticity of her visions and the new teachings she was advocating, and she soon earned the nicknamed "Jomo Menmo," meaning "the girl possessed by a menmo spirit." She left her valley and went to Layak Pangdrong (la yag spang grong) in western Lodrak. There she encountered Guru Chowang (gu ru chos dbang, 1212 - d.1270), the great Nyingma treasure revealer.
Claiming that Jomo Menmo had been prophesied by Padmasambhava as one of five women who were destined as his partners in sexual yoga, Guru Chowang took her as a consort, his "secret seal of action" (gsang ba'i las rgya). Through their practice it is said that the psychic knots of his subtle body were unraveled and he was able to decode his recent revelation, the Kabgye Sangwa Yongdzog (bka' brgyad gsang ba yong rdzogs).
Jomo Menmo remained with Guru Chowang for a brief period, during which he gave her essential instruction on maturation and liberation (smin grol). Guru Chowang then advised her, saying:
"The time has not yet come for you to propagate the profound treasure, the Khandro Lekbam (mkha' 'gro'i glegs bam) that you received during your previous incarnation as Yeshe Tsogyel; better that you should practice it yourself in utmost secrecy. Roam the regions of U and Tsang, and benefit beings, employing a secret method of establishing all you meet in great bliss. Ultimately you will attain the accomplishment of the ??kin? without relinquishing your body."
Jomo Menmo then set out with two female companions, making her way to Dingri in Lato, practicing the "secret method of benefiting beings" (sbas tshul gyi 'gro don) until she reached the age of thirty-six. One of the many men she is said to have benefitted through the practice of sexual yoga was the important early Kagyu master Pema Dorje, commonly known as Ling Repa, or Lingje Repa (pad+ma rdo rje; gling ras pa; gling rje ras pa, 1128-1188). Given the conflict in dates, this would not have been possible. It does, however, indicate the importance the tradition has placed on her legend and the attempts made to elevate her status and contribution.
According to the hagiography written by Jamgon Kongtrul, on the tenth day of the seventh month, Jomo Menmo and her two companions performed a feast offering on the summit of Drak Lhari (sbrags lha ri) in U. All three then ascended into the sky and flew to Padmasambhava's pure land, Zangdok Pelri (zangs mdog dpal ri).
In the nineteenth century Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo claimed to rediscover Jomo Menmo's treasures, based on his identification as the reincarnation of Guru Chowang. Jamgon Kongtrul thus included the Gathering of all the ??kin?'s Secrets in the Rinchen Terdzod (rin chen gter mdzod), for which composed his hagiography of her.
Sources
Dudjom Rinpoche. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Translated by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein. Boston: Wisdom, 2002, pp. 771-774.
'Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas. 2007. Gter ston brgya rtsa. In Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo, vol. 1, pp. 404-696. New Delhi: Shechen, p. 538-543.
Alexander Gardner
August 2010