Dombipa and Dombi Yogini. Drawing by the author Tantric women who are mentioned in the biographies of the great mahasiddhas as their spiritual wives or teachers share their spiritual achievement. Among them are the female partners of Dombipa, Ganthapa, Babhaha, Karbaripa, Saraha, Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Maitripa and others. Dombi Yogini. Drawing by the author
Lyudmila Klasanova
Women in Indian Tantric Buddhism, Part One
There are two Vajrayana paths that lead to the spiritual realization of women – the path of a nun (Skt. bhikshuni, Tib. gelongma) who has renounced worldly existence, and the path of a yogini (Tib. naljorma) who can perform spiritual practice in solitude or combine it with family life. In the Indian Tantric tradition, there […]
Chinnamunda
Chinnamunda (Tib. Uchema) is one of the most visually striking goddesses in the Vajrayana pantheon. Her name means “with a severed head.” She is regarded as a form of Vajrayogini and Vajravarahi and her Tibetan name is often found together with the names of the two goddesses: Dorje Naljorma (Vajrayogini Chinnamunda) and Dorje Phagmo Uchema […]
Nairatmya, Part Two
Nairatmya. From tibetshop.com The practice of the dakini Nairatmya was transmitted to Tibet and preserved in the Tengyur, the second part of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. In the Kagyu and Gelug schools, she appears mainly as a spiritual wife of the fierce protective deity Hevajra and very rarely as an independent deity. She is revered […]
Nairatmya, Part One
Nairatmya is a Vajrayana goddess who embodies the supreme Buddhahood. Her main role is as a wife of the Tantric meditational deity (Tib. yidam) Hevajra, but she also has an independent significance as a supreme dakini. Her Sanskrit name, as well as its Tibetan version, Dagmema, translates as “the one who realized the absence of […]
The Practice of Simhamukha
Featured image: Simkamukha fragment. From thangka-art.com Simhamukha is a supreme dakini in Tibetan Buddhism, who combines anthropomorphic and zoomorphic features. She is an wrathful emanation of Guhya Jnana Dakini (Tib. Sangwa Yeshe Khandroma) and is revered in the Nyingma school as one of Padmasambhava’s main teachers. In Hevajra Tantra, she appears as one of the […]
Simhamukha, the Lion-faced Dakini
Simhamukha is a wrathful goddess in Vajrayana Buddhism, whose name means “lion-faced.” Her Tibetan name Senge Dongma has the same meaning. She is considered a dakini who has attained the perfect state of Buddha. Although Simhamukha has the potential to manifest all enlightened activities, she is associated primarily with destructive or wrathful forces. The lion-faced […]
Yumka Dechen Gyalmo
Dechen Gyalmo (“The Queen of Great Bliss”) is a dakini and an emanation of the supreme Vajrayana goddess Vajrayogini (Tib. Dorje Naljorma). She is called Yumka (“Mother”) because of her role as a mother of all Buddhas and an incarnation of the Mahayana goddess Prajnaparamita. Yumka Dechen Gyalmo originated from the Longchen Nyingthig Cycle, discovered by […]
Krodhakali
Featured image art: Troma Nagmo. From dharmatreasures.com Krodhakali is a wrathful aspect of Vajrayogini, whose name means “the fierce Kali.” Her other Sanskrit names are Kalika, Krodheshwari, and Krishna Krodhini. Her Tibetan name Troma Nagmo means “the fierce black one.” In Tibet, she is also known as Phagmo Tronang, the “wrathful black Varahi”, which shows her […]
Maitridakini and Indradakini
Maitridakini and Indradakini Maitridakini, Tibet. From instabusters.net Maitridakini (Tib. Maitri Khacho) and Indradakini (Tib. Indra Khacho) are two manifestations of Vajrayogini (Tib. Dorje Naljorma), the supreme goddess in the pantheon of Vajrayana Buddhism. Just like her, they are perceived as an embodiment of complete Buddhahood in female form. Maitridakini is a Tantric goddess, originated from […]