Articles by alphabetic order
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 Ā Ī Ñ Ś Ū Ö Ō
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0


FEMALE IN TANTRIC BUDDHISM

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
1079.jpg




by Dr Sónia Gomes *



Dedication:


Much praise and gratitude to all the great masters, past, present, and future, who have kept the Dharma accessible. May it continue to flourish. May the merits of this academic paper bring benefit to all.


Sonia Gomes, Marketing and Communication PHD, Portuguese, founder, CEO & Owner of Spaso Zen Wellness Centers in Portugal. She is also the Organizer and Manager of Sorig Khang Porto – Portugal. She contributes on Buddhism and other issues related with female in www.levekunst.com.online magazine. International Advisor on a NGO - Lotus Heart (Estd:2074) in Nepal - working on Women health issues , female empowerment and Buddhist nuns in the Himalayas. Her interest lies in female empowerment, health and education, gender equity, the role of Women in Buddhism and its importance to the contemporary society. Mail: soniagomes@spasozen.com


ABSTRACT


Tantra arose at a time when Buddhism was expanding the social inclusiveness of its constituency, teachings, and path to liberation. Monastic Buddhism was flourishing, but Tantra opened a new path for lay participation and initiative. As one of the most spectacular systems that have been transmitted to us from ancient times, Tantra is assemblies of practical methods which guide the aspirant towards a spiritual state, making her overcome their own limitations that have been self-imposed in the process of the development of the personality. From the point of view of sacred outlook, women are the embodiment of the principle of emptiness. Taking the form at face value in a substantial way causes the observer to miss the essential nature of the form. That is why the “Dakini” is a symbol. When we see the symbolic nature of the Dakini, there is fresh insight about the nature of all phenomena. For these reasons, my paper speaks of the "feminine," not of the "female." When Dakinis are spoken of as "female," mistakes can be made in interpretation. Beauty, harmony, health, self-confidence, wisdom, personal development, complete happiness, perfection, overwhelming fulfillment, great success in all aspects of life, wonderful couple-relationships etc. all are accomplished naturally on the way of becoming a perfect woman or, in Tantric words, a “Dakini” or genuine manifestation of Shakti! Before being a ‘somebody’ (whatever your desires are), a person has feminine within. Getting to realize this amazing gift will awake all the hidden potentialities this extraordinary condition hides! The paper will focus on the “feminine” in Buddhist Tantrism.”

Keywords: Tantra; Tantric Buddhism; Dakini; Feminine; Shakti; sacred; Symbol; fulfillment; Women


TANTRIC BUDDHISM


Tantric Buddhism offers not a model of exploitation but one of complementarity and mutuality. Rather than offering a justification to oppress women or to use them sexually, Tantric texts encourage a sense of reliance upon women as a source of spiritual power. They express a sense of esteem and respect for women, which will be discussed in detail and evince a genuine concern for finding and showing the “proper deference toward religiously advanced, spiritually powerful women.”1


WOMEN IN TANTRIC BUDDHISM


The women of Tantric Buddhism and their divine counterparts are often called Dakinis, translatable as women who dance in space, or women who revel in the freedom of emptiness (figure 1). As their name suggests, these are not ladies who leave a heavily beaten path. At times their trail disappears into thin air where they took flight and embarked on their enlightenment adventures, but sometimes the trail resumes in the dense underbrush of ancient texts, amidst the tangled vines of Tibetan lineage histories, or among the members of the bonfires of fame of their renowned students. The traces of the women of Tantric Buddhism are sometimes obscure, enigmatic, even hidden and disguised, but they are accessible to anyone who discovers where to look for them. Once found, their traces are incandescent,


Miranda ShawPassionate Enlightenment “– Seeking the traces of Sky dancers – Chapter I FEMALE IN TANTRIC BUDDHISM 4

exhilarating, and provocative as they beckon to their seekers from a· spacious realm of sky like freedom. 2


IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN IN TANTRIC QUEST


The Tantras are gynocentric texts in which women are often the subjects of the discussion, it does not follow that women were the impassive objects of male observation or subjugation. In my view, since these texts were not created by men in isolation from women, they do not express exclusively male views. These views grew out of communal exploration and practice and proceed from the insights of both women and men. Indeed, many of the insights contained in Tantric writings can only find their source in practices done by women and men together. The texts openly present Tantra as a religious path on which the lives of women and men are closely intertwined. I contend that the extensive descriptions of the interactions and shared practices of women and men are in themselves sufficient evidence that the yogini Tantras are the products of circles consisting of both women and men. Therefore, I include women among the creators of the Tantras and conclude that the texts reflect the views and interests of women as well as those of men. Reading texts as repositories of the insights of both men and women, rather than approaching them as texts written solely by and for men, opens new avenues of interpretation. Passages on women can be examined for potential evidence of how women viewed and experienced their own lives.

Miranda ShawPassionate Enlightenment “– Seeking the traces of Sky dancers – Chapter I

Since women are their indispensable allies in the Tantric quest, male practitioners must seek them out and court their favor 3.

According to the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra:4 “My female messengers are everywhere; They bestow all the spiritual attainments By gazing, touching, kissing, and embracing. The most excellent place for yogis is Wherever there is a gathering of yoginis; There all the magical powers will be attained by all those blissful ones. Because this is a path upon which they must cooperate with women, men may travel afar to find their female counterparts, in order to undertake the practices that increase bliss: Enjoyment and magical powers are attained At places where female adepts ((flikinfs) reside. There you should stay, recite mantras, Feast, and frolic together.”

These passages exemplify the playful and celebratory ambience of the Tantras. The spirit of carefree joyousness and festivity surrounding the companionship of men and women is the antithesis of the ponderous mood of male domination attributed to this literature. i


Miranda ShawPassionate Enlightenment “ - Women in Tantric TheoryChapter 3 4 Gray, David B. “The Cakrasamvara Tantra: Its History, Interpretation, and Practice in India and Tibet” , Santa Clara University, Religion Compass 1/6 (2007): 695–710 http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/chakrasamvara-tantra%20its%20history.pdf FEMALE IN TANTRIC BUDDHISM 6

Women must discover the divine female essence within themselves. This should inspire self-respect, confidence, and the "Divine pride"5 that is necessary to traverse the Tantric path. Divine pride, or remembering one's ultimate identity as a deity, is qualitatively different from arrogance, for it is not motivated by a sense of deficiency or compensatory self-aggrandizement. This pride is an antidote to self-doubt and discouragement and an expression of the pure Tantric view. When a woman reclaims her divine identity, she does not need to seek outer sources of approval, for a bottomless reservoir of self-esteem emanates from the depths of her own being.


VAJRAYOGINI – And it´s relation with women identity


Perhaps the foremost female Buddha is Vajrayogini. She is blood red and has loosely flowing black hair; she is dancing, wears bone ornaments, and brandishes a skull-cup brimming with ambrosia. She is beautiful, passionate, and untamed. Sometimes this supreme liberator tramples corpses underfoot , and sometimes she soars in the sky. Vajrayogini often appears alone, but sometimes she is portrayed with a retinue of yoginis, and occasionally she has a male partner. The identification of human women and goddesses is often voiced by a female deity. For instance, in the Vajrayogini repeatedly states that she reveals herself in and through women. She claims that all forms of female embodiment including supernatural beings, women of all castes and forms of livelihood, female relatives, and female animals-participate in her divinity and announces:


5 Miranda Shaw – “Passionate Enlightenment “Women in Tantric Theory” – Chapter 3


Wherever in the world a female body is seen, that should be recognized as my holy body.” 6 For women, the relationship with Vajrayogini is one of identity. The presence of female Buddhas in the iconography of enlightenment affirms that a woman can attain Buddhahood in her present lifetime, in her present female body. While a woman's relationship with Vajrayogini is one of identity, for a man it is primarily one of devotion that he must extend to women as her living representatives. Devotion to goddesses like Vajrayogini should be expressed as respect for women, while respect for women provides a way of measuring devotion to a goddess.7 Identification with divine female role models gave women an unassailable basis for self-confidence, namely, the "Divine pride"8 (The anthropomorphism of the infinite Being. Jung called it Divine Archetype)9 that comes from awakening one's innate divinity. The presence of divine female exemplars who openly rejoice in their femaleness, free from shame and fear, seems to have empowered women to speak the truth fearlessly, to be physically and mentally adventurous, and to be argumentative and aggressive when it suited them. In the Tantric biographies, women freely and without apology reprimand men who need to be recalled to a direct vision of reality, by challenging his prejudices, shattering a cherished illusion, or puncturing an inflated self-image.


6 Candamaharosana Tantra - translation by Christopher S. George 7 Miranda ShawPassionate Enlightenment “Women in Tantric Theory” – Chapter 3

Tantra in Tibet: The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra - Tsoṅ-kha-pa Blo-bzaṅgrags-pa

9 Carl Jung “Special Phenomenology Part IV- Psyche & Symbol


THE DAKINI


Two pervasive paradigms have prevailed, sometimes facilitating understanding, but finally inhibiting an appropriate explanation of the Dakini in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition. The first, prevailing model is that of the anima in Jungian psychology, an archetype of the feminine closely associated with the unconscious, embedded in the psyche of the male. The second, more recent model derives from feminist sources, which treat the Dakini as a female goddess figure who may be, on the one hand, a creation of patriarchal fantasy or, on the other, a remnant of some pre patriarchal past who champions women in androcentric settings. Each of these paradigms has obscured an accurate understanding of the Dakini in her Tibetan sense. Is probably mutually beneficial for the Dakini lore to be made more explicit in Western Tibetan Buddhism. Dakinis represent the domains conventionally attributed to women, such as embodiment, sexuality, nurture and sustenance, and relationship. But for Dakinis, these domains are transmuted into realms that are not merely conventional but are much more profound than the concerns of daily existence. When Dakinis take human form as teachers and yoginis, they deal with many issues that may prove obstacles to ordinary women, such as discrimination, rape, social limitation, and abuse. But these Dakini women serve as models for how obstacles may be turned into enlightenment. In short, the Dakini lore provides genuine support for women practitioners, whether Eastern or Western, to develop confidence, perseverance, and inspiration in their meditation practice. But this lore also provides support to the spiritual journeys of men, showing the locus of wisdom in realms that male practitioners often ignore. FEMALE IN TANTRIC BUDDHISM 9


DIFFERENT VIEWS


June Campbell's “Traveller in Space”10 critiqued Tibetan Buddhist patriarchal monastic and religious systems, demonstrating that women have been systematically excluded from Tibetan religion, serving only in marginal observer roles. She criticized the patriarchal matrix of power in which young boy tulkus are taken from their mothers' arms at a young age to be enthroned, raised, and trained by an exclusively male monastic establishment. Human women are removed from any actual influence in these young lamas' lives; instead, they are replaced by an abstract "feminine principle," manifesting as mythical Dakinis or Great Mothers and remaining ethereal and idealized, sought after by lamas "in Preparation for their own damaged selves." Campbell critiqued Tibetan notions of the Dakini, remarking that she is "the secret, hidden and mystical quality of absolute insight required by men.

Miranda Shaw's Passionate Enlightenment reassessed women's historical role in the formative years of Indian Vajrayana. A l - though her focus is primarily Indian Buddhist, her work has often conflated Indian and Tibetan, and Hindu and Buddhist, sources. The result is a depiction of a medieval Indian gynocentric cult in which women have a monopoly on certain spiritual potentials and are ritually primary while men are derivative. This is the reason, she wrote, that "worship of women (stripuja)" is shared by tantric Hindus and Buddhists. The theoretical basis of this is

10 June Campbell's “Traveller in SpaceGender, Identity and Tibetan Buddhism

that "women are embodiments of goddesses and that worship of women is a form of devotion explicitly required by female deities." For Miranda Shaw, the Tibetan version of the Dakinl is a cultural remnant of the pre patriarchal period of tantric Buddhism in India. She suggested that women played pivotal roles in the founding of tantric Buddhism in India, serving as gurus and ritual specialists with circles of male disciples. As Buddhism spread to Tibet, women no longer played ritual or teaching roles. Instead, as Shaw argued, Tibet shaped the Dakinl symbol into an abstract patriarchal ideal who serves the spiritual paths of male yogins only, in betrayal of her historical roots.

A common theme in Tibetan tantric lore is the superior spiritual potentialities of women. Women are, by virtue of their female bodies, sacred incarnations of wisdom to be respected by all tantric practitioners. Padmasambhava spoke of men's and women's equal suitability for enlightenment, noting that if women have strong aspiration, they have higher spiritual potential. Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche was heard to say that women are more likely than men to attain the rainbow body through the practice of Dzogchen11. There are a number of reasons for this. Having overcome more daunting hard-ships than men, women have superior spiritual stamina and momentum. Embodying wisdom, they have greater potential for openness and intuitive qualities. But the pitfalls for women are also uniquely difficult, and developing such religious potential entails overcoming emotionality, ego-clinging, and habitual patterns just as it does for men.

11 http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Ayu_Khandro

When study turns to the ritual and yogic dimensions of Vajrayana Buddhism, there is greater evidence of women's participation. Especially in Tibet's oral traditions, the influence of women has been evident, in storytelling, poetry, and both secular and religious songs. Examples can be found especially in the songs of Milarepa12, the siddhas, and the music of the Cho and Shije traditions.


ARE YOU THIS WOMAN? WHO IS SHE, THEN?


Woman is the Creator of the Universe; the Universe is her form. Woman is the foundation of the world.... There is no prayer equal to a woman, There is not, nor has been, nor will be any yoga to compare with a woman, no mystical formula nor asceticism to match a woman” Shakti-Sangama Tantra II.52 13

As one of the most spectacular systems that have been transmitted to us from ancient times, Tantra is assemblies of practical methods which guide the aspirant towards a spiritual state, making her overcome their own limitations that have been self-imposed in the process of the development of the personality. Many questions asked by philosophers throughout the ages have been answered by Tantra in a natural way. What is surprising is that these answers are

12 http://promienie.net/images/dharma/books/milarepa_100000-songs.pdf https://pt.scribd.com/doc/93359582/Shakti-Sangam-Tantra-Kali-Khanda

valid also for spiritual seekers. This is a unique fact which makes the Tantra system a priceless gift coming from antiquity to the modern age, (which is full of unprecedented serious problems.)

Beauty, harmony, health, self-confidence, wisdom, personal development, complete happiness, perfection, overwhelming fulfillment, great success in all aspects of life, wonderful couple-relationships etc. are all coming naturally on the way of becoming a perfect woman or, in Tantric words, a genuine manifestation of Shakti! Before being a ‘somebody’ (whatever your desires are) you are a woman. Getting to realize this amazing gift will awake all the hidden potentialities this extraordinary condition hides!

Awareness of the Sacred Feminine will aid us to appreciate the feminine nature in women and men. Awareness of a Universal Motherhood will help us to respect the earth and Mother Nature. Awareness of the Feminine Principle will help us honor women’s bio-physical and emotional passages through life, and to help all people (women particularly) to attain healthy self-esteem. And this awareness will encourage all persons to find inner balance and peace, thereby increasing respect and tolerance of each other – which ultimately will promote greater world harmony. From a planetary level, it means respecting and healing our Mother Earth. From a cultural standpoint, it means revivifying the archetype of the Goddess through entertainment and the arts and using language that gives equal emphasis to the pronouns “she” and “her”. In the societal sense, it means re-creating the role of Priestess, and respecting the contribution of women in business, science, art and politics, as well as the home and community. In a religious view, it means offering

ceremony and service that reaffirms our connection to the divine, the Goddess, the earth and each other. In the human sense, honoring the Sacred Feminine means especially valuing the innate worth of woman’s mind, body and soul, as well as appreciating the “feminine” qualities in the male character.


CONCLUSION


In response, the Feminine is awakening in the hearts of women all around the world. Women are coming together in groups and in circles to heal their wounds, and to release their Sacred Power that has remained hidden for far too long. Our planet is in crisis – that is unmistakable. As women we need to ask the big questions. What is my purpose? Why am I here? What is this life all about? In order to deeply touch the Heart of the Sacred Feminine – we have to embody it. We have to touch Her deep within our own bodies and by doing so She flows out into our lives and into the world. The loss of feminine energy is a serious problem for men. The absence or repression of the feminine aspects in a man reduces his emotional depth and is a source of discontent, loneliness, and a feeling of meaninglessness. Like the ancient Yogini’s who embody the 64 arts of Sacred Embodiment, I make deep aspirations for women as embodying Sacred Activism of a unique kind, their Sacred Work manifesting their love through their enlightened contributions in a world that needs the restoration of the Feminine values of Sharing, Caring, Collaboration and Oneness.


ENDNOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY:


SHAW, Miranda – “Passionate Enlightenment” – Princeton Paperbacks SIMMER-BROWN, Judith – “Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism” – Shambala Publications GRAY, David B. “The Cakrasamvara Tantra: Its History, Interpretation, and Practice in India and Tibet”, Santa Clara University, Religion Compass 1/6 (2007): 695–710

CAMPBELL`S, June - “Traveller in SpaceGender, Identity and Tibetan Buddhism – The Athlone Press KLEIN, Anne Caroline - Meeting The Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists, And The Art Of The SelfSnow Lion Publications COAKLEY, Eneli - Women in Vajrayāna Buddhism -The embodiment of wisdom and enlightenment in traditionally male-oriented Buddhism - http://hdl.handle.net/10822/557694 TSOṄ-KHA-PA, Blo-bzaṅ-grags-pa - Tantra in Tibet: The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra

JUNG, Carl - “ Special Phenomenology Part IV- Psyche & Symbol


NETGRAPHY:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Buddhism http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/chakrasamvara-tantra%20its%20history.pdf http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/Ayu_Khandro

http://promienie.net/images/dharma/books/milarepa_100000-songs.pdf

https://pt.scribd.com/doc/93359582/Shakti-Sangam-Tantra-Kali-Khanda





Source