Dakini's Warm Breath (Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism) by Judith Simmer-Brown

Dakini's Warm Breath (Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism) by Judith Simmer-Brown

Author:Judith Simmer-Brown [Simmer-Brown, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Shambhala
Published: 2002-12-09T16:00:00+00:00


The conventions regarding human ḍākinīs developed in an oral tradition of ḍākinī lore that has never been systematized or formalized. There is no definitive list of human characteristics that identify a ḍākinī. However, from observation we can distinguish five general ways in which humans may be considered ḍākinīs.17 The first, most determinative way concerns auspicious birth. A ḍākinī may be born with characteristic physical marks, or she may be the recognized rebirth of a previous incarnation, as in the case of Ven. Khandro Rinpoche. Contrary to certain Mahāyāna teachings that considered a male body necessary for enlightenment,18 Vajrayāna developed female versions of the thirty-two auspicious body marks by which an incarnate ḍākinī could be recognized. Though it occurred rarely, it is said that tülkus would sometimes choose the female body for rebirth and continue their compassionate activity as women.19

Second, great women tantric gurus in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition are also called ḍākinīs by virtue of their excellent realization and manifestation. This title has been applied to remarkable yoginīs such as Yeshe Tsogyal, Machik Lapdrön, Niguma, and Sukhasiddhi, all of whom initiated new cycles of teachings and were venerated because of their great realization. Their ḍākinī qualities are generally described as parallel with the three bodies of buddhahood.20

Third, human women are called ḍākinīs when they are the mothers, sisters, or consorts of incarnate lamas. Considering mothers to be ḍākinīs parallels Buddhism’s veneration of the mother of the Buddha, Mahāmāya, whose special characteristics are praised in the Lalitavistara accounts.21 Such special mothers are also considered emanations of the Great Mother Prajñāpāramitā. Sisters are often considered female counterparts of their realized brothers and may be given equivalent training and recognition. Consorts are considered ḍākinīs out of respect for their intimacy with the lama, but also because it is possible that together they practice the spiritual yoga of sexual union (karmamudrā). More will be said about this practice in the sections to follow.

The fourth category of human ḍākinī is that associated with the practices of the great ḍākinī yidams such as Vajrayoginī or Vajravārāhī, or the great sādhanas of the heruka and ḍākinī in union (yuga-naddha, yab-yum). A woman is a ḍākinī if she participates in tantric rituals such as the performance of the sādhana or the tantric feast (gaṇacakra, tsok-khor) that honors these yidams. For that matter, any tantric practitioner, whether male or female, who carries the Vajrayāna commitments especially of the practice of the feminine yidam is also considered an embodied ḍākinī, foiling the notion that only women can be considered human ḍākinīs.

Finally, subsuming all categories, every woman is understood to be a ḍākinī manifestation by virtue of having a female body, which is said to be an emanation of emptiness and wisdom. Tantric precepts are tied to this understanding of women, and it is considered a violation to disparage women in any way, especially to denigrate their spiritual qualities or the purity of their bodies. While these precepts may reverse patriarchal cultural attitudes toward women prevalent in India and Tibet, their intent is to propagate sacred outlook with regard to the female gender.



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