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Vajrayoginī (Sanskrit:Vajrayoginī वज्रयोगिनी;Tibetan:རྡོ་རྗེ་རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ་,Wylie:rdo rje rnal ’byor ma,Dorjé Naljorma) is an important figure inBuddhism, especially revered inTibetan Buddhism. InVajrayana she is considered a femaleBuddha and aḍākiṇī. Vajrayoginī is often described with the epithetsarvabuddhaḍākiṇī, meaning "theḍākiṇī [who is the Essence] of all Buddhas". She is anAnuttarayoga Tantra meditational deity (iṣṭadevatā) and her practice includes methods for preventing ordinary death, intermediate state (bardo) and rebirth (samsara) by transforming them into paths to enlightenment, and for transforming all mundane daily experiences into higher spiritual paths.[1]
The origins of Vajrayoginī teachings date from between the 10th and 12th centuries, and draw inspiration from HinduShaiva tantras. She appears as the consort ofPadma Thotreng Tsal, and ofCakrasaṃvara, while in Vajrayoginī standalone practice, her inseparable consorts are represented by thekhatvanga (staff) on her left shoulder. The lineage of Vajrayoginī practice can be traced back to the original teachings ofVajradhara and is divided into three main lineages:Narokhachö,Maitrikhachö, andIndrakhachö.
Vajrayoginī's essence is "great passion" (maharaga), passion that is pure - free of ego’s deceptions and illusions. Because of her purity she is able to work for the well-being of others and for the destruction of all ego clinging. She is seen as being ideally suited for people with strong passions, providing the way to transform those passions into enlightened virtues.[1] She is visualized in the form of a naked 16-year-old female with red skin, a third eye of wisdom, and numerous other symbolic attributes such as acurved knife and either askull cup or adamaru. Her fierce yet blissful demeanor conveys numerous spiritual attributes.
Practices associated with her areChöd and theSix Yogas of Naropa. Her numerous temples in the Kathmandu Valley are revered as power places in bothNewar and Tibetan Buddhism. According to scholarMiranda E. Shaw, Vajrayoginī is "inarguably the supreme deity of the Tantric pantheon. No male Buddha, including her divine consort,Heruka Cakrasaṃvara, approaches her in metaphysical or practical import."[2]
Additionally and in the pantheon of female buddhas, the line ofKhenmos (abbesses) ofSamding Monastery inTibet have traditionally been seen as emanations ofVajravārāhī, which continues this specific lineage of femaletulkus to the present day.
Vajrayoginī's sādhanā originated between the tenth and twelfth centuries against the backdrop of HinduShaiva tantras.[3][4] The BuddhistYoginitantras that deal withyoginis anddakinis draw from Shaiva scriptures. TheChakrasaṃvara Tantra in particular contains numerous passages that were adapted from Shaiva sources. The text and its commentaries have revealed numerous attempts by Buddhists to enlarge and modify it, both to remove references toShaiva deities and to add more Buddhist technical terminology.[4]
In theChakrasaṃvara Tantra, Vajrayoginī appears as hisyab-yum consort,[5] to become a stand-alone practice ofAnuttarayoga Tantra in its own right.[6] The practice of Vajrayoginī belongs to the Mother Tantra (Wylie:ma rgyud) class of Anuttarayoga Tantras along with othertantras such as the Cakrasaṃvara andHevajra Tantras.
Vajrayana teaches that the two stages of the practice of Vajrayoginī (generation stage and completion stage) were originally taught byVajradhara. He manifested in the form ofHeruka to expound theRoot Tantra of Chakrasaṃvara, and it was in this tantra that he explained the practice of Vajrayoginī. All the many lineages of instructions on Vajrayoginī can be traced back to this original revelation. Of these lineages, there are three that are most commonly practiced: the Narokhachö lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī toNaropa; the Maitrikhachö lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī to Maitripa; and the Indrakhachö lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī to Indrabodhi.[7][8]
Vajrayoginī is visualized as a naked 16-year-old female with deep red skin, thethird eye of wisdom set vertically on her forehead, and unbound flowing hair. Vajrayoginī is generally depicted with the traditional accoutrements of aḍākiṇī, including akartika (avajra-handled flaying knife) in her right hand and akapala filled with blood in her left hand that she drinks from with upturned mouth. Her consortCakrasaṃvara is often symbolically depicted as akhaṭvāṅga on Vajrayoginī's left shoulder, when she is in "solitary hero" form. Vajrayoginī's khaṭvāṅga is marked with avajra and from it hangs adamaru drum, a bell, and a triple banner. Her extended right leg treads on the chest of redKālarātri, while her bent left leg treads on the forehead of blackBhairava, bending his head backward and pressing it into his back at the level of his heart. She wears a crown of five human skulls on her head and anecklace of fifty human skulls. She is depicted as standing in the center of a blazing fire of exalted wisdom. Her countenance shows both erotic and fierce features, "in the fullness of bliss, laughing and baring her fangs."[9]
Each aspect of Vajrayoginī's form and mandala is designed to convey a spiritual meaning. For example, her young age of 16 signifies the prime of youth, the potential for new beginnings and the unhindered purity of a fresh mind. Her brilliant red-colored body symbolizes the blazing of hertummo (candali) or "inner fire" of spiritual transformation as well as life force (Shakti), blood of birth and menstrual blood.[9] The lack of clothing on her is not meant to be sexual but rather signifies the shedding of worldly concerns, ego and illusions. Her single face symbolizes that she has realized that all phenomena are of one nature in emptiness. Her two arms symbolize her realization of the two truths. Her three eyes represent her ability to see everything in the past, present and future. She looks upward toward the Pure Dākiṇī Land, demonstrating her attainment of outer and inner Pure Dākiṇī Land, and indicating that she leads her followers to these attainments. The curved driguk knife in her right hand shows her power to cut the continuum of the delusions and obstacles of her followers and of all living beings. Drinking the blood from the kapala in her left hand symbolizes her experience of supreme bliss.[10]
Vajrayoginī is a female deity and although she is sometimes visualized as simply Vajrayoginī, in a collection of hersādhanās she is visualized in an alternate form in over two thirds of the practices.[11] Her other forms includeVajravārāhī (Wylie:rdo-rje phag-mo "Vajra Sow") andKrodikali (alt.Krodhakali,Kālikā,Krodheśvarī,Krishna Krodhini, TibetanTröma Nakmo;Wylie:khros ma nag mo, "Wrathful Lady", "Fierce Black One").[12][13]
In her form as Vajravārāhī "the Vajra Sow", she is often pictured with a sow's head on the side of her own as an ornament and in one form has the head of a sow herself. Vajrayoginī is often associated with triumph over ignorance, the pig being associated with ignorance in Buddhism. This sow head relates to the origins of Vajravārāhī from the Hindu sow-faced goddessVārāhī.[14]
The severed-headed form of Vajrayoginī is similar to the Indian goddessChinnamasta, who is recognized by both Hindus and Buddhists.[15]
Vajrayoginī acts as ameditation deity, or theyab-yum consort of such a deity, inVajrayāna Buddhism. She appears in amaṇḍala that is visualized by the practitioner according to asādhanā describing the practice of the particular tantra. There are several collections containing sādhanās associated with Vajrayoginī including one collection, theGuhyasamayasādhanamālā, containing only Vajrayoginī sādhanās and comprising forty-six works by various authors.[16]
Theyidam that a meditator identifies with when practicing theSix Yogas of Nāropa is Vajrayoginī and she is an important deity for tantric initiation, especially for new initiates as Vajrayoginī's practice is said to be well-suited to those with strong desirous attachment, and to those living in the current "degenerate age". As Vajravārāhī, her consort isChakrasaṃvara (Tib. Khorlo Demchog), who is often depicted symbolically as akhaṭvāṇga on her left shoulder. In this form she is also the consort of Jinasagara (Tib. Gyalwa Gyatso), the redAvalokiteśvara (Tib. Chenrezig).
Vajrayoginī is a key figure in the advancedTibetan Buddhist practice ofChöd, where she appears in her Kālikā (Standard Tibetan:Khros ma nag mo) or Vajravārāhī (Tibetan:rDo rje phag mo) forms.
Vajrayoginī also appears in versions ofGuru yoga in theKagyu school ofTibetan Buddhism. In one popular system the practitioner worships theirguru in the form ofMilarepa, whilst visualizing themself as Vajrayoginī.[17]
The purpose of visualizing Vajrayoginī is to gain realizations of generation stagetantra, in which the practitioner mentally visualises themself as theiryidam or meditational deity and their surroundings as the Deity'smaṇḍala. The purpose of generation stage is to overcome ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions, which are said inVajrayana Buddhism to be the obstructions to liberation (Skt.nirvāṇa) andenlightenment.[18]
In the Kathmandu valley of Nepal there are several important Newar temples dedicated to different forms of Vajrayogini. These temples are important power places of Nepalese Vajrayana Buddhism[19] and are also important pilgrimage places for Tibetan Buddhists. These temples include theSankhu Vajrayogini temple,Vidhyeshvari Vajrayogini temple, Parping Vajrayogini temple, and theGuhyeshwari temple.
The femaletulku who was the abbess ofSamding Monastery, on the shores of theYamdrok Tso Lake, nearGyantse, Tibet was traditionally anirmāṇakāya emanation of Vajravārāhī (Tibetan:Dorje Phagmo).[20] Thelineage started in the 15th century with the princess ofGungthang,Chökyi Drönma (Wylie:Chos-kyi sgron-me)(1422–1455).[21] She became known as Samding Dorje Pagmo (Wylie:bSam-lding rDo-rje phag-mo) and began a line of femaletulkus, reincarnatelamas.Charles Alfred Bell met the tulku in 1920 and took photographs of her, calling herDorje Pamo in his book.[22][23] The current incarnation, the 12th of this line, resides inLhasa.[24]
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