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Obeisance to the non-human mother,' the Wisdom Dakini!2 If you follow the teachings of Machig, your body is offered to others. Other practices involve protecting the body, but Machig's instructions call for offering it. 'Phis biography was written by Machig herself, so there are no mistakes. Machig is the Wisdom Dakini, the heart-mind Mother of the Buddhas of the Three Times, dakini of the Vajra family.'


Mac hig's Former Life as Pandit Monlam Drub


For the benefit of sentient beings, a son was born to the Indian king Palwang Chug. The child was named Monlam Drub (sMon.Iam Grub). No one had to teach him reading and writing. By the age of five, if he just glanced at a book once, he knew it by heart. Everyone said that he must be an emanation of the Buddha. From ten until fifteen, he studied with Pandit Pitibhadra, who gave him the vows of a novice monk.' He was given the name Dondrub Zangpos at the time of his ordination. He studied grammar, logic, the Prajna Paramita,6 the Vinaya' and the Abhidharma.e I Iis teacher found him to be an exceptional student and taught him the Four Tantras.I He became equal to his teacher in these Tantras. Then Pitibhadra said to him: I can no longer be your teacher. You have gone beyond me. Now you must go to Chang Chog Zangling: there you will find Guru Ratna, a great siddha who has the capacity to manifest the mandala of Cakra Sambhava. He is learned and adorned with limitless accomplishments. He will be able to guide you to accomplishment on the secret path of mantra and cut you free from doubts. Then you will be able to help sentient beings.


lie went to Guru Ratna, who noticed his potential to eventually help others. Then Guru Ratna manifested the mandala of the sixty-four aspects of Cakra Sambhava10 in front of him and gave the four perfect empowerments." After this, due to the powers he had gained, Monlam Drub was able to go to all the Buddha realms without obstacles. I le stayed with Guru Ratna for three years, clearing up his doubts concerning Tantras and Sutras. He was especially accomplished in the visualization and perfection post-visualization stages.12

Then Guru Ratna said: "Go to Dorje Den, 13 and defeat the nonBuddhists there. You are the only one with the capacity to defeat them."

So he went to Dorje Den and defeated the non-Buddhists (in debate). As a result, 100,000 non-Buddhists became Buddhists. I ie stayed there for four years. Then Arya Tara advised him to go to Tibet in order to help the Tibetans. She asked him to hurry to complete his meditation, so that he would be ready to convert the Tibetans.

He had started to move north on a pilgrimage and one night he slept in a cemetery.14 The dakini of the cemetery was disturbed by his presence. She came to him in his sleep and said: "Don't you have anywhere else to sleep? Why do you have to sleep in my cemetery?"


She began to perform various miracles to disturb him, but he remained in an undisturbed state of meditation. The dakini was impressed and offered him her heart and promised to do whatever Monlam Drub told her to do. At the first blue light of dawn, fifteen goddesses, emanations of Damema, I I appeared and said: "Yogi, you must go to Potari cave in south India and then go to Tibet." I laving said this, they vanished into a rainbow.

Ile thought, "Now, I am still young enough to meditate and become accomplished in one practice, but with what method can I convert the "Tibetans?" While it was still quite dark, the great female emanation Mahamaya and fifteen goddesses came and advised him: "Go to Potari and do the practice of the five black semi-wrathful Mahamaya dakinis. You must go quickly to Tibet to convert beings there. So now practice very diligently." Saying this, they once again vanished into a rainbow.

When it was light, the cemetery dakini said: "I will take you to Potari. We will go by means of fast walking.""

They arrived quickly at the cave and Monlam Drub began to do the practice of the five Mahamaya Goddesses. In fourteen days he had obtained the ordinary siddhis.I I After a month, he met the five goddesses face to face because of his mind's accomplishment. They gave him the empowerment of the mandala of secret wisdom eye and encouraged him to go to subdue the Tibetans. Then they vanished into light and the light vanished into the body of Monlam Drub. After another month, Arya Tara appeared and instructed him to go to Tibet and then dissolved into his heart. On the third day of the waxing moon, the Guardian of Long Life gave him much advice and blessings. On the eighth day,

Avalokiteshvara, the deity of compassion, appeared and gave him advice for the future and blessing. On the tenth, the Padma Dakini18 appeared with a retinue of dakinis and questioned him about his understanding of the Dharma, and there was nothing he did not know. Then she opened the mandala of the union of the Horse-Headed One and the Pig-Headed One. 19 From the mandala he received instructions to go to Tibet. All of the dakinis of the mandala told him to go to Tibet. From the tenth to the fourteenth, all the dakinis appeared and told him to go to Tibet soon. On the fifteenth20 at the break of day, a dark-blue wrathful dakini wearing bone ornaments and holding a khatvanga staff" and a hooked knife22 appeared and said wrathfully: "Now you must promise to go to Tibet. I shall kill you, and your consciousness will enter me!"

So saying, she raised her knife to kill Monlam Drub and feigning to do so, his consciousness entered her and in this way he went to Tibet without obstacles. He was twenty at this time, and his body was potentiated so that it would not decay, in order that it would eventually benefit others.


Conception and Birth


In the area called Labchi Eli Gangwar the consciousness entered the womb of the mother on the fifteenth day of the fifth month of the Horse Year. The mother and father were from this area from the town of Tso Mer, "Lake of Mer." Machig's father was the local nobleman and head of the town, and was called Chokyi Dawa, "Moon of Dharma." Her mother's name was Bum Cham, "Great Noblewoman." Both parents were kind and came from rich families. They practiced the Dharma and encouraged others to do the same. They had faith in the Jewels and served the Sangha. The nobleman and his wife were always thinking about the Three Jewels and encouraged others to see things from the point of view of the Dharma. They were like Bodhisattvas for the five hundred families under them.

When the 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,23 surrounded her, in front of her, behind her, and to her 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,24 took out the heart and put it into 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 right25 and blew it. The sound resounded all over the world. In the middle of the conch was a luminous white "A".26

She said: "Now I will replace your heart with this white conch shell." Then, as she put it into Bum Cham's body, Bum Cham experienced the fivecolored lights coming from the heart of the dakini and dissolving into the top of her head. Light also came from the four dakinis and dissolved into her body. Then the four retinue dakinis dissolved into light and then into the dark blue central dakini, who seemed to dissolve into the sky, which was full of light. During these dreams the mother felt no fear, and in fact she felt no disturbance at all but rather she felt a blissful sensation. When her heart was taken out, she felt better than before. She felt no pain and felt joyful. Her body and mind were blissful. Her consciousness was clear.


Even after she woke up she felt great bliss. The next day at sunrise a girl called Aman, "Beneficial 'A'," from nearby, came. She said: "I have a very good dream that I am bringing you."

The mother took her into the big temple, and as they sat there, the girl said: "I have a nice dream to tell you. Your noble family has been improving for generations, and now again they will have fortune as great as the sky. They have accumulated a great deal of merit and are profound people." The mother thought: "I also had an unusual dream last night and even now I feel blissful and happy. I wonder what dream this girl has had?" She told the servant to prepare something nice to eat and asked Aman to tell her the dream.


The girl began, saying: "Last night, in the early morning hours, I dreamt that this house was three times bigger than it really is and it had big golden crescents on the roof, where three-layered umbrellas were spinning. They were three times larger than the normal ones. Each of the four sides of the house had a silver mirror hanging from it, as big and round as the moon; they were blowing in the wind and the light reflecting from them was illuminating the countryside. Then out of the sides of the house came four young girls saying they were dakinis. They were blowing white conch shells so loud it seemed the sound would be heard on all four continents.27 On each of the four corners were prayer flags28 blowing each in


their own direction. Under the eaves were many butter lamps burning brilliantly, illuminating everything. A red light was shining on the house from the sky in front. I was on the high part of the roof, and I asked one of the dakinis what she was doing there. She said that they were preparing the house of the mother. From inside the house temple came the sounds of musical instruments. I wondered who they were calling the mother. When I thought: 'Can I enter?' I had the feeling of entering and then I woke up. Afterwards I had many other good dreams." The mother already had a daughter of sixteen named Bumme. Bumme said:


"Last night I also saw a white light in the sky and it entered into my mother illuminating the whole house. Then a girl of eight, carrying a Vajra, appeared before me and said: 'Are you well, my sister?' I asked her where she came from, and she told me it was in India. Then I asked her who she was and she said: 'I am Tara, don't you recognize me?' I wondered if this was the truth, and then I tried to catch her but she ran into mother's lap and then I woke up.


After this there were many good signs. The mother, who was forty-eight at this time, had no wrinkles and began to look younger after the conception. Everyone was saying that she must be doing some good Dharma practice and receiving blessings and this was making her look young. She looked as young as Bumme. Bum Cham had many wonderful dreams and felt very light and blissful. At night she could see as though the countryside were illuminated, as though it were daytime. She could see into people's minds and understood their suffering. Everyone thought her dream must have a very special meaning.


On the twenty-fifth day of the Rabbit Month (the second month of the Sheep Year) Bum Cham began to hear the sound of A and HA RI NI SA29 coming from her womb. On the third day of the Dragon Month of the Year of the Sheep, she heard a voice from her womb.


The voice said: "Mother, prepare some new white cotton clothes. Keep them purified with incense and perfumed with myrrh." So Bum Cham did this, then on the third month of the Sheep Year, at dawn, the baby was born. The house became full of incense smoke that arose spontaneously, and rainbow light, a rain of flowers, and beautiful musical sounds came from the sky. All the people of the area were saying prayers and making offerings to the family gods.30


As soon as she was born, the baby stood in rainbow light and took the dancing position of Vajra Yogini.


She asked: "Mother, are you well?" and then said "A." On her tongue was a blazing red HR131 and it seemed to be turning. On her forehead was an eye radiating fine threads of rainbow-colored light.32 On top of her head was a white light emanating from an "A" the size of a joint of the little finger. Bumme took the baby onto her lap in the prepared cotton clothes. After a while the HRI dissolved into her tongue. They then tried to give her white butter mixed with sugar crystals, but she spat it out.


Then she looked into the sky with her three eyes. After a while the white light on her head was absorbed into her, as was the rainbow light coming from her third eye in her forehead.

She turned her gaze from the sky and lowered her neck a little and looked at her sister directly. After a while she made sucking sounds and then she ate the butter and sugar mixture. Then she turned and smiled at her mother and went to sleep on her sister's lap.

During the birth, Bum Cham had felt no pain and continued feeling well and joyful. The next morning the baby called Bumme by name. Then she said to her mother: "Bumme is very happy to have a beautiful sister with three eyes."

When they heard that the father was coming home, Bumme was afraid that he would be displeased with a baby with three eyes and suggested that they hide her. Bumme wrapped her up in the cotton clothes and hid her behind the door. The father, Chokyi Dawa, went into the temple to find the child because he had heard it had been born.

Bumme said to him: "Mother gave birth to a very bad girl with three eyes and we have thrown her out."

The father said: "Bring her here immediately." So Bumme went to get the baby and gave her to him. lie examined the baby very carefully and he said: "In her third eye there is a white 'A' so fine it looks as though it were written with a single hair. She has all the signs of a dakini.33 tier hands are webbed and her finger nails are a bit red and luminous like mother of pearl. OM AH HUM letters have appeared on them. Keep her at home, do not take her around the streets; take good care of her and do not tell anyone about her." Childhood and education

They looked after her well and she grew rapidly. When she was three she knew many mantras like

OM MANI PADME HUM and OM TARE TUTARE TORE S WA HA and TRI and OM GATE GATE PARA GATE PARA SAM GATE BODHI SWA HA


and HA RI NI SA,'4 and so on.


She liked to go into the shrine room and do prostrations and make offerings. When she was five, her mother began to teach her to read and write. All she had to do was show her, and she would remember everything. She became learned. Her mother got a lama to teach her the Dharma. By the time she was eight she could read two large volumes of Sutras in the time it took one adult professional reader to read half of a large volume.

I ler teacher told her parents that she was no ordinary girl; in fact she seemed to be a superior dakini and she had gone beyond him.

lie said: "Fier prajna bums like uncontrollable fire. So I have given her the name Sherab Dronme, 'Burning torch of Prajna'."

Her mother called her Dron Tsema. The local people called her Adron, "Torch of A." Everyone heard about the miraculous little girl, daughter of the noblewoman Bum Cham, and came to see her. Those who met her loved her very much and said that she must be an emanation of the Buddha.

Then her sister Bumme cut off her hair and took the vows of a nun from Geshe Aton and was given the name Tontso Rinchen Bum, "One Hundred Thousand Jewel Lakes," and she became very learned.


Audienc e with the king


The king ordered Machig and her family to appear before him. Everyone was very frightened, and with great commotion the whole family, twenty-five people in all, went to see the king. He had heard stories of the miraculous child and offered them all a big feast. Then they had an audience. Noble Bum Cham was so nervous during her audience that she could barely answer the king's questions. Then the people around the king said: "This child is not normal, she has three eyes."

He asked her if she knew how to read and write, and she said that she did, so he asked her to read a text, "The Noble Collection," in front of many learned men. After she had done so, they asked her if she understood what she was reading, and when she said that she did, they were all very impressed and said she must be an incarnation of the Wisdom Dakini. When the king looked at her closely he saw the "A" on her forehead and the other signs on her body. Then he asked her name and she said: "They call me Rinchen Dronme, 'Great Jewel Fire Torch; or Dron Tse or Adron, Torch of'A'." I le said: "If you join the name 'Dronme, 'Fire Torch, and the name of your birthplace, 'Lab, it will be auspicious. "'Me pandits, monks, and nuns, and Bumme, her sister, all agreed that it would be a good connection, so after that she was called Labdron, "Torch from Lab," and everyone far and wide had faith in her and loved her. The king took her old clothes and kept them" and gave her nice new ones. He gave the family three horses, food, thirty rolls of woolen cloth and many other supplies. He told her parents to keep her away from people who did bad things or she would be stained and that if they took good care of her she would be able to help the Tibetans.


Recitation of the Prajna Paramita Sutra


Then Machig and her mother and sister went to Namso Tsomer, "Upper and Lower Lakes," a place in Lhokha, in Southwestern U Province. They stayed there five years, reciting the Prajna Paramita Sutra3G as given by the Buddha. By the time Machig was ten, she could read four volumes a day and then her mother died. So her sister took her to see Geshe Aton and he said to her: "Your sister has all the signs of a dakini - I would like her to read one volume." So she read a condensed version of the Prajna Paramita Sutra in the time it takes to grind four kilos of tsampa (about half an hour). Geshe Aton was shocked, as even the best scholars were much slower, and they read six times as fast as ordinary people. So he said he would explain the meaning to them. They stayed there three years and he taught them about the Six Paramitas, the Ten Levels37 of the Bodhisattva Path, and the Five Paths.38 At the end she knew these even better than her teacher. So then Geshe Aton told her that he had taught her everything he knew and that she should go to Yoru Drathang Province to the place called Dra and there she would find a lama with omniscience39 who was also very learned and had many monks, and she should study with him.

So when she was sixteen, she went to Lama Drapa with her sister and he asked Bumme: "Is this the girl who is so good at reading?" She answered: "Yes, it is." So the lama said: "Now we will compare her with my own professional reader."40 This man read six times faster than average, but when he had finished four volumes she was on her twelfth. The lama was very surprised and said that she was at least twice as good as his reader and that now she should be his reader. Then Bumme said to Lapdron: "Shall we attain powers and go to the heavenly realm of the dakini?"41 She replied: "I will not go now. I have to help all sentient beings. But if you want to go you can meditate and go yourself to stay there. I will come after I have finished my work for sentient beings. So Bumme went and meditated for three years and then died leaving no body.42

Lama Drapa, the omniscient one, saw with his omniscient vision that Machig was a disciple who could help others. He gave her the empowerment of all the Prajna Paramita teachings and explained the meaning of each word very thoroughly and profoundly. She achieved realization and offered her realization to the lama, and he was delighted.

Ile said: "You can recite these texts by heart and you have gained mastery over the practice. I do not have this faculty, it is difficult for me." Then he gave her a red brocade hat that was white inside and had ten lotus folds and five colors of brocade at the back. He also gave her new clothes and shoes. He made a seat of three cushions43 topped with a new carpet and told her to sit there. Then the lama and everyone praised her, calling her "Small Hat Nun."


Ile requested her to stay for four years and be the reader for his monastery and she agreed to do so. Though she was very well dressed, she did not like going to town and wanted to stay at the monastery with her guru. She was kind to all the monks, and they had faith in her.


Initiation


People were talking about an Indian teacher called Phadampa Sangye44 who was asking about an Indian pandit from Potari who had been born in Tibet under the name of Lapdron. lie was trying to find her because he had had a vision of her. That night she had a dream in which a white da kini appeared and said to her: "A black Indian master is coming to see you." Lapdron asked: "Who is this Sadhu?"45 "His name is Phadampa," was the answer.

When she awoke, she thought that even though this was a dream perhaps it was true. As soon as she went outside, she met Phadampa and started to prostrate herself before him, but he stopped her and they touched foreheads instead .16 She said: "It is very wonderful that you are here."

I le replied: "It is more wonderful that you are here, born in Tibet." She asked: "How can I help sentient beings?" He replied:

Advising her thus, he departed. She returned to the monastery and resumed reading Sutras.

A lama called Kyo Zur Panchen Shakya Jung had a brother called Sonam Drapa, who was a master of all the Tantras and Sutras and who had many monks following him. Sonam Drapa came to see Machig by himself. He was feeling sad because of the lack of genuine Dharma practice in Tibet. He saw many people pretending to practice the Dharma when in fact they were thinking of worldly things.

He said to Machig: "You are very learned in the Prajna Paramita, but do you understand the real meaning of it?"" She replied: "Yes I do." He said: "Then explain it to me."

So she explained the ten levels of the Bodhisattva path and how to practice the five paths of the Bodhisattva, how to practice meditation. All of this she explained in detail.


Then he said: You are obviously very intelligent, but you do not seem to have made the teachings part of you. Everything you said was correct, but the most important thing to realize is: if you do not grasp with your mind, you will find a fresh state of being. If you let go of clinging, a state beyond all conceptions will be born. Then the fire of great Prajna will grow, Dark self-clinging ignorance will be conquered. The root teaching is to examine the movement of your own mind very carefully. Do this!48 Saying this, the lama went away.

She did as he had said, rereading her books in the light of what he had said. As she was reading, she came across a section called Du kyi Leu, about the nature of demons. She was profoundly affected by this teaching, and through it she reached a stable understanding. She became free from petty dualism and released the demon of self-cherishing. The sun of prajna arose, which stabilized the understanding that there is nothing which makes a person or thing what it is. Then she was free from even the slightest whisper of self-cherishing."


As a sign of her freedom from attachment, she stopped wearing nice clothes and wore the clothes that even beggars cast off. As a sign of her freedom from attachment to friends, she stayed with beggars who were in bad shape. Previously she had associated only with her teachers and monks and nuns. As a sign of her freedom from attachment to nice comfortable places, she would stay anywhere. Previously she would stay only in monasteries or in retreat huts, but now she would stay anywhere, even in lepers' houses. Whereas previously she would go only to meaningful places like her home or where her teachers were staying, now she wandered around anywhere. This was a sign of her freedom from attachment


to places.so Previously she had eaten only tasty food; now she would eat anything except meat. This was a sign of her freedom from attachment to food. Previously she had been happy when people complemented her, but now she was unmoved by praise. Not even a moment of unhappiness arose; she experienced pain and anxiety unflinchingly. Pain and pleasure, near and far, passion and aggression all were experienced as "one taste"" in the space of things as they really are.52 At this time she was still with Lama Drapa, with whom she had promised to stay for four years, but now the four years were up and she requested initiation. But Lama Drapa said: "I will not give you this empowerment, you had better go to Sonam Lama53 because in a previous life you made a prayer to meet him again and now there will be no obstacles. It has been prophesied that you will attain siddhis."


So he sent her on her way with a big piece of yak meat54 and a large piece of dark-red cloth, for her to give as an offering to the Lama Sonam. Before going, she went to her homeland, and her brother Sakya Gyaltsen gave her thirty bags of barley as well as meat and woolen loth to give as her empowerment fee.55 So she took all of this to Lama Sonam and told him Lama Drapa had sent her to him for initiation.


He could see she had the potential to help others and agreed to give her the empowerments. She received them with four friends and they were from the lineage of Phadampa Sangye. They received the empowerments into the four states of meditative concentration, 56 and introduction into the fundamental voidness of all things through the example of the sky. 17 When he was giving the Mahamaya em- powermentSB it was late at night, and as the stars were beginning to fade, hes' reached the point of transference of wisdom. Machig raised her body several feet from the ground and began doing the twenty-four dances of the


peaceful dakini60 and began teaching in Sanskrit. She entered the all-pervading state of the indestructible profound stabilized meditation of things as they are '61 and passed through the wall of the shrine-room and flew into a serlag tree over a pond containing a terrible naga.G2 This naga was so terrifying that no one even dared to look at the pond, but Machig stayed there in deep meditation. The nags was angry and a little frightened and so he called up his army of demons and they made many phantoms to scare her away, but instead of being afraid, she offered them her body. They could not devour her because she was egoless.63 They developed faith in her and offered her their hearts and protection for anyone in her lineage.

Then the Mahamaya dakini and her retinue appeared and gave her direct transmission" of the four empowerments while remaining in the sky before her. Mahamaya predicted that both human and non-human beings would be under her control and she would show them the path of the Bodhisattva. Next, an ocean of Cakra Sambhava dakinis appeared and gave her much wise counsel, and then the Buddhas of the Ten Directions appeared and told her to go to the cemetery springs without fear and to generate the thought for the illumination of all sentient beings.


The next morning, Arya Tara arrived and gave her one hundred empowerments to purify ignorance with heart essence.

She said to Lapdron: "Yogini, you and an emanation of the Buddha Sakyamuni called Topabhadra, who has come to Tibet, will join profound cognition and skillful means.65 You will go to the 108 cemeteries and springs and help sentient beings. Your teaching will shine like the sun in the sky and your followers will be non-retumers." Then she spoke of many things and gave advice for the future, and then vanished in Machig's internal space.


At the first light of dawn her friends and Lama Sonam went out to look for Machig as she had left the empowerment. They found her up a tree, naked, free from karmic misery, without shame, and beyond embarrassment.66 She did a prostration to the lama and said: "Those who make sincere prostrations67 to the lama will be purified of karmic stains."

Then she prostrated herself again and said: "The lama is the refuge from suffering."

Then her friends said that she had missed the empowerment, but the lama said: "You all received only the relative empowerment. This young girl received the absolute dharmata empowerment." The next morning, Machig offered a mandala and requested empowerment saying:

After she had made this mandala offering,70 Sonam Lama gave her all four empowerments and explained everything thoroughly. Machig absorbed and integrated everything into her being. A great faith in the lama was bom in her. Then from Lama Sha Marpa she received the Five Dharmas of Maitreya.71 He taught her the whole cycle of Bodhicitta.72 He taught her how to change sound .71 From Lama Beton she received the oral teachings of Dzog Chen." She practiced these teachings and gained mastery over them.


From a lama called Yertingpa she received the pointing-out instruction of Mahamudra71 and the Six Yogas of Naropa 76 as well as the Vajra Varahi teachings and the Kalachakra mandala,77 and all about the songs of Mahamudra, the dohas.78 Then she received teachings in the three highest yanas77 and kept these in her heart.


Then she returned to Lama Drapa and thoroughly studied the five dharmas of Maitreya. He advised her to proceed to Central Tibet. So she traveled to Central Tibet to Lhasa and when she arrived she went to the temple called the Jowo.80 When she made offerings in the temple there were rainbows and musical sounds in the glorious sky and a rain of flowers and many other good signs. Everyone had great faith in Machig and listened to her teaching. Then she went to Dratang, and while she was there she met Phadampa, who was in Penyul Nyiphug. He had come to see her after a dakini told him where she was. He met her when she was making a pilgrimage to some local sacred spots. On seeing Phadampa she prostrated herself and then said: "Please advise me as to how to cut sentient beings free."

Phadampa replied: Then Machig and her two friends Jomo Kargoma and Jomo Chotso received from Phadampa Sangye many teachings: the empowerment of the Dharma of the Wheel of the Four Meditative States,83 the teaching on How to Open the Door to the Sky forTrans- ference,84 the Lapdron teachings from the Zhibyed school,85 explanations of the six methods of offering"G the body, the practice of the HUM in the Zhibyed tradition,87 the Red teaching,88 the three teachings on PHAT,B9 the Teaching of the Blue Lotus,90 Mahamaya teachings," the female deity with Two Faces,92 the Deep Path of the Kagyu Guru Yoga, the Practice of the Great Transference,93 the Teachings on the Illusory Body, Dreams, and Bardo94 (the time between births), the Eight Teachings on the Very Secret Chod to be done at one time in a big charnel ground.95 They received everything; there was nothing more to give. She took it all into her heart.


Afterwards she praised Phadampa Sangye thus: "All-knowing, all-seeing father, the heart son of the Buddhas of the Three Times, Protector of all sentient beings, I prostrate myself to your phantom body." I laving made this praise she stayed there for three years.

Then she went to stay in her father's district for six months. At that time Phadampa said:

There is a prophecy in an ancient text that during the Kali Yuga98 following the death of the Buddha, there would be much disagreement about the teachings of the Buddha. At that time in the Northern Snow Country (Tibet) an emanation of the Mother of the Buddhas, the Dharmakaya dakini who would be called Dronme, "Fire Torch," would appear to resolve these arguments.

Another prophecy in the root Tantra of Manjushri'" states that during a time after the death of the Buddha in the Kali Yuga when much confusion manifested, an emanation of the Great Prajna Mind called Lapdronma would appear in the Northern Snow Country. She would explain the meaning of unborn heart essence.100

Phadampa said that she would meditate in towns, cities, mountains and cemeteries and her teaching would spread widely. She would see that four nonBuddhist dakinis were planning to be born to take over Tibet, and therefore she would manifest four dakinis to conquer them and help sentient beings. The first of the Buddhist dakinis was Machig Zama of Latho. She benefited others through the Lam dre101 teaching. The next was Camtro Chungma from "I'ritsham. She benefited others through Dzog Chen. The third was Sheldza Dromnema, who benefited others through the signs of Mahamudra.102 The fourth was from Lablung and called Labdron and she benefited others through the teaching of offering one's flesh and blood to quell four demons.


The four non-Buddhist dakinis were Barwa Garmo of Barpu, Chomo Namkha of Tholung, Shalmo of Tsang, and Zhangmo Lhatri of Lading. The Buddhist dakinis conquered all of these and transformed them into Wisdom Dakinis who could benefit sentient beings.


When Machig was thirteen, her mother passed into the dimension of the sky, and when she was sixteen her father died and was reborn in India and helped many sentient beings.


When she was twenty, her sister left no body and passed into the Land of the Dakinis to join her mother. Her eldest brother, Sakya Gyaltsen, became very learned, a master in debate and mantra practice and had the signs of practice in his body. 103 Her younger brother, Pal O Tride, became an official after his father and served the causes of the Buddha. Machig's return to Sonam Dargye marks the end of the first part of her life.


Marriage To Topabhadra


The second part of Machig's life is a description of what she accomplished. Lama Drapa had two patrons, a wealthy woman, Lhamo Dronma, and her husband. They requested him to send Machig to read the Prajna Paramita Sutra at their house, saying they would offer her whatever they could in return. The lama agreed and told Lapdron: "Go and stay with them for a month and read the Prajna Paramita Sutra thirty times, and they will give you riches." She checked with Sonam Lama and he said: "You should go. You have a positive connection with these people from previous lives."

Since she had been advised to go by both of her teachers she decided to go, and then that very night she had a dream of a red dakini with only one eye in her forehead.


This dakini said: "The Indian Topabhadra and you, Yogini, should make a union of skillful means and profound cognition.

This will benefit sentient beings and stabilize your realization. " 104 Early in the morning a small blue dakini appeared and said: "You should make a union with Topabhadra - this will create a lineage and will cause the teachings to spread. You will reach beyond the ten levels of the Bodhisattva Path. " Then they disappeared.

Next, seven white women appeared and said: "You have a good connection with Topabhadra. Do not be ashamed, act!" She thought in her dream: "Is this a prophecy or the trick of malevolent spirits?" But when she tried to ask the dakini she had already vanished, and the next morning at dawn a white girl riding a white mule was seen approaching. When she arrived she said: "Machig, Great Secret Wisdom Dakini, Vajra Demon Subduer, you, Great Woman, are invited! " Machig said: "Where are you from and who are you?"

The girl dismounted and prostrated herself and said: "I have come because Topabhadra requested me to come and get you. Vajra Demon Subduer, Dorje Dudulma, leader of the Secret Wisdom Dakinis!"

Then Machig asked: "Who is this Topabhadra and what is his lineage?" She answered: "He is from India, a place called Kosala. His father is from the Shakya family and he is called Ratna Siddhi. His mothers name is Samati. The lama himself is an emanation from the skull of the Buddha, hence his name which means just that. Externally he is learned in all the Sutras. Internally he is accomplished in all the'I'antras and he has achieved the power of Chakra Sambhava. Ile is an accomplished yogi. At the moment he is in Tibet at Lhchung


and he sent me to invite you there. Please come with me riding on this mule." They left the next day early in the morning, and about noon they reached Selrong, "Cleansing Village," and met a lama there called Sherab Bum, who was very learned in the Sutras and was surrounded by three hundred monks. Fie was teaching the Prajna Paramita. She went to see him and the geshe105 and the learned people asked her: "Are you the daughter of Dawa Gyaltsen called Lapdron, who was born with three eyes?"

Machig replied: "Yes, I am." The lama said: "Everyone says you are a great dakini and very learned in the Prajna Paramita, so let's have a debate!" She agreed and she debated with the seven best geshes. No one could match her, and all of the monks agreed she must be an emanation of the Wisdom Dakini, as they had heard. They asked her to go to have an audience with Sherab Bum, but to wait while they made preparation.

Then twenty-five monks came out playing musical instruments and carrying incense, and they escorted her to Sherab Bum, who appeared in the form of the Red Manjushri.101 As she began to prostrate herself before him he stopped her and stood up, saying: "Machig Lapdron, come here!"

Nearby they made a pile of three cushions and asked her to sit there. When the lama looked at her he saw the White Tara and they talked a little about the teachings of the Buddha. Then Machig asked him to give her some explanation of the teachings.'I'he lama said: "I don't have any teachings you do not already know." Machig replied: "it doesn't matter: to make a Dharma connection any teaching is fine."

So he taught on the twelve stages of interdependent causation,107 for twelve days. She recognized these as pertinent teachings and all the Dharma appeared as auspicious and bore fruit.

After this, she went on to Ehchung, and when she arrived she went up onto the roof of her patrons' house and from there she saw a brown-skinned yogi with bloodshot eyes, doing the self-empowerment in the mandala of Cakra Sambhava. He spoke to her, asking, in the Indian language: "Aren't you tired from your journey?"

She replied: "Yogi, when you were coming from India didn't you get confused?" With that, she turned around and went into the shrine-room and started to read the Prajna Paramita Sutra. While she was staying there, they would discuss the Dharma sometimes, and Topabhadra told her stories about India. After she had been there seventeen days, on the eighth Tibetan day at about eleven o'clock in the evening, they came together, unifying profound cognition and skillful means.

Because of them, the room was filled with a bright rainbow light. The woman whose house Machig was staying in, Lhamo Dron, saw the light and, fearing the butter lamps on the shrine had set the house on fire, came upstairs to see what was happening. When she opened the door, she saw nothing except a room full of light and red and white spheres of light,108 the size of the moon, stuck closely together in the middle of the room, shining. She was afraid and fell into a deep sleep. In the morning, she woke up and saw Topabhadra coming out of Machig's room.

She felt unhappy and went downstairs. She brought them breakfast in Machig's room and said to them: "Last night I saw you and 'Ibpabhadra. Did he disturb you? I came into your room thinking the shrine had caught fire." Machig said jokingly: "Ordinary prophecies are created by tricky demons. When a man and woman come together this is of karmic causes. You were chased by demons, how could this benefit sentient beings?"

Then after seven days Topabhadra went on a pilgrimage and Machig continued her reading of the Prajna Paramita. When she finished, the patrons offered her many things and then escorted her back to Lama Drapa. Lhamo Dron did not tell anyone what she had seen, not even her husband. She kept it a secret, because she realized they were not two ordinary people. She had great faith in them.

Then Lapdron's lama, Drapa, told her to stay with Topabhadra because it would be beneficial to sentient beings and she had no reason to be sad. Then she went to Lama Sonam with many offerings and told him about meeting Topa at Ehchung. Ile said: "You are not breaking any vows.'I'opabhadra is not from a bad lineage. So marry him and make a family and create your lineage. You have to stay with him; you have a karmic connection and there are good signs. It will help many sentient beings. I had a very nice dream about you last night. I saw your future. Now is a good time for you to stay together." She received more teachings and prophecies and decided to stay with'Ibpabhadra.


So when Machig was twenty-three, she went with Topabhadra to Central'l'ibet, and when she was twenty-four, she gave birth to a son. She called him Drubpa, which means "fulfilled," because with him all the prophecies had been fulfilled. The people of the area started gossiping about her, saying that she had been a good nun but now she had fallen. So they decided to move. They went to Dragpo and stayed in a place called Nyangpo.

'T'hen when she was twenty-five and they were in Kongpo, she had another son, called Drub Se. They also called him Kongpa Kyab, which means "Kongpo Refuge." When Machig was thirty years old, they moved to Nalai Dradolgo, .the Five Passes at the Summit of the Beautiful Dol," a place in the province of Lho Kha, and here a daughter was born. They called her Drub Chungma, "Accomplished Little Girl," and they thought that she was a dakini and also named her after her birthplace, calling her Laduma, "She who comes from the Mountain Pass."


Return to Her Lamas


When Machig was thirty-four, they went to Panyul Langtang, a valley just north of Lhasa, and then when she was thirty-five, after receiving prophecies from the dakinis, she appeared to be tired of samsara and left her children there with her husband and went to Lab to see her two lamas. 101

She asked Sonam Lama for the empowerment of the five Goddesses of the Heart of Vajra Varahi,10 and before the ceremony sang this song to him: Lama Sonam felt happy and gave her all empowerments, recognizing her to be a dakini. After that she did the visualization practice of the dakini, practiced all the Vajrayana teachings and was able to read, write and debate these teachings. Then he gave her the secret name Dorjeying Phyugma, "Woman Rich in Indestructible Space."

Then she went to Lama Dra to show him her understanding of the twelve nidhanas, and the lama replied that she was a great dakini, someone hard to find and rare. He told her she was a great woman siddha. "'

Then she asked him to confer the Bodhisattva vows on her. He said: "You do not need the Bodhisattva vows or the five precepts. You are a great woman Dharma practitioner and the Mother of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. You are accomplished in your understanding of the Sutras and you have the great eye. You are the kindest mother who treats all sentient beings as your own children. You are the Great Mother, treasury of all the Dharma, you do not need teaching on Bodhicitta. I am like a star near the moon, but I am your teacher, so as an auspicious sign I will give you these vows."

When the lama was doing this she saw him as the Buddha Sakyamuni; on his right was Manjushri, and on his left Avalokitesvara, and Vajrapani12 was in front of him. She prostrated herself and said:

Seeing this, she took the Bodhisattva and Upaseka vows and Lama Dra advised her to go to the Copper-Colored Mountain, Zangri Khangmar. She said: "First I want to see Phadampa and then I will go to Zangri." The lama agreed that she should do that.

So when she arrived in "l'ingri, Phadampa, intuitively knowing she was coming, came out to meet her. When they met, she asked him for some special teaching. He replied: "I do not have more advice than I have already given you. But the lineage of the Prajna Paramita Sutra is powerful and can remove hindrances in one's life and cause extraordinary powers."

She said: "Please give me that teaching!" So they made a big mandala and offered the outer, inner and secret mandalas to all the lamas. They also offered incense and music, and invoked wisdom. Then he gave her the empowerments and she kept them in her heart. Furthermore, he gave her blessings and told her prophecies and they remained together for a month and thirteen days. She received many empowerments and teachings of the llpadesha series" 3 and teachings on making the prana enter the central channel, 14 tummo,"3 Yantra Yoga, 116 and pranayama. "7 Then he told her to go to 108 cemeteries and to the Copper-Colored Mountain because it would benefit sentient beings.

Then she left Tingri and went to Tang Lha and the great snow mountain of Jomo Jechen. She went on a pilgrimage and then to 108 secret places and headed south to Mon where she stayed and meditated; then she descended to the Copper-Colored Mountain and the Red I louse, where she settled down when she was thirty-seven. The local guardian spirits came to her and asked for Bodhisattva vows and promised not to disturb sentient beings.

A nun called Chotso, a woman called Dardron and a man called Kadrag came to Machig because they had had a divination done which predicted that they would die that year. They came to Machig and asked for an empowerment. She gave them the Magyu Dhadro Negyur,"R and then they made many feast offerings. This reversed this negative situation and everyone began to talk about the famous Lapdron. By the time she was forty, her accomplishments were known all over'Tibet. She helped many people. All the Dharmapalas and Lokapalas and the King of Nagas came and received Bodhisattva vows and Upaseka vows and promised to protect her lineage. For twenty-one days she taught them about taking refuge and Bodhicitta. The seven dakinis protecting her sphere surrounded her every day and most people could see them.

Then a lama, Chuba Lotsawa, arrived accompanied by eighteen people, and another, Jartiba Yartiwa, with twenty-five people, and a great teacher, Tolungpa, with thirty-five students, to challenge Machig to a debate. But no one could defeat her. They all believed in her after that and she taught them. They believed her to be Arya Tara. All the scholars had faith in her, and many monks and lamas were taught by her and she became even more famous.

A great siddha, Pamting, came to her and she explained her understanding until he no longer felt confusion arise. The siddha was very happy and said: "It is auspicious that an emanation of the goddess has been born in Tibet. Great Being, you have brought happiness to sentient beings and non-humans. I offer you my salutations, and admiration."

Then Machig asked him for a dharma connection and he gave her a clear explanation of the Mahamudra teaching and the "Abhidharma Kosha"119 and without resting, taught the famous Mahamudra Lineage of the Three Turnings of the Unstained Mirror, "120 and Machig received all these teachings and kept them well in her heart.

Then the fame of the very special dharma of the Mahamudra Chod spread,121 and it was said that this teaching that she taught could cure 424 sicknesses and could not be obstructed by the 80,000 obstructing spirits.


Meeting with Tara


When Machig was forty-one, she entered the cave of Pugzang at the end of spring. While there, she received from Tara very rare teachings and initiations into the mandala of the Five Dhyani Buddhas yab-yum. Tara manifested as the consort of the Five Buddhas, and they gave this prophecy to her: Strive to continue this teaching. It contains instructions of transforming the five passions, conquering the five Maras, entering into the five wisdoms and achieving empowerment from the Five Dhyani


Buddhas.122 This teaching has been manifested for all sentient beings so you, yogini, keep this rare teaching well. Make it the essence of your practice and enter into the stages of visualization and post-visualization with this mantra. Then, through your children, your lineage will continue like a string of pearls, one right after the other. After ten generations the lineage of your family will be interrupted. You will become the Vajra Demon Subduer Dakini, the chief of all dakinis. You hold the secret consort, the khatavanga, you hold the secret protection mantras, and the lineage.


Then Machig praised the Five Dhyani Buddhas and Tara and said: "You have been very kind to me and have given me power. I am just a weak, stupid woman, but now I have become someone who can benefit others because of your grace." Tara smiled and looked at the other dakinis and said: "Oh yogini, you have accomplished everything that you were supposed to accomplish of the teachings ofTripitaka124 and'Iantra. Now I am demonstrating to you that you are the incarnation of Prajna Paramita, Vajradhatu Consort, Source of all understanding of the Dharma. Do not be discouraged."


Then Machig said: "How can I know that we are not the same? Why am I the source of all understanding of the Dharma? Where is the Great Mother now? "125 Tara said: "Listen, yogini, your past is cleared from your heart but I will explain it to you. The Great Mother is the void state of all the dharmas which we call Mother of all Creation. The Mother is the Mother of the Buddhas of the Three Times, the dharmata of the Absolute State, beyond all obstructions, the pure essence of egoless voidness-prajna. But accordingly, the Great Mother who is the object of offerings and accumulation of merit, by the energy of the prayers and invocations of sentient beings and by means of the luminosity of the voidness of the egolessness of things as they are, became a sphere (tig le) of yellow-red light which manifested as the Great Mother in a palace of pure vision, surrounded by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions. She had one face and four arms and was a golden color. She sat in the lotus position and in her heart was the orange letter MUM in a bead of light.


"She had all of the signs of perfection and lived in the Tushita heaven.126 From my heart came a dark-green light which entered into the heart of the Great Mother and made her heart function. Rays of light spread out from her heart and accumulated the wisdom and blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in all directions, and then this empowered light was reabsorbed back into the heart of the Great Mother. Then from there a dark-blue dakini with one face and four hands came forth. From her came the Vajradhatu dakini and infinite


manifestations of the body, speech, and mind - accomplishments which multiplied, and the essence of her mind became Dorje Dudulma, the Vajra Demon Subduer, who has one face, two hands and a pig's head coming out of the side of her head. She has power over all the dakinis, and the three worlds tremble under her. She activates all powerful beings and is the source of energy for all the dakinis. Dorje Dudulma incarnated many times to help sentient beings. She studied the 7hpitaka and did much good for sentient beings. In the end she became you in Tibet! "'


Then Machig said: "Great Noble Mother, everything that you have said is clear. Tell me, if I spread the Vajrayana teachings you have given me, will that benefit beings and increase?"


Tara replied: "It would not be good to teach the important points of the supreme Vajra publicly, but please feel free to teach it and practice it secretly. Teach it to suitable people, help them to develop it and reach liberation. You will be particularly benefited by uniting the Teaching of the Four Mudras127 and the meaningful view of the Heart of the Prajna Paramita. Just as the Buddha prophesied, this is the time to conquer all humans and non-humans in Tibet. Yogini, your teachings will spread and you will attain a stable state of enlightenment."

As she said this, immeasurable light rays spread from her heart above, below, and everywhere. All the lights then dissolved into Machig's heart. Then Tara and her retinue all vanished into the sky, which was full of light. At the same time dawn broke.

As Machig traveled down to the Copper-Colored Mountain, she was welcomed on the road as she arrived at the 'Red House" by two black protectors wearing black capes.


Reunion with Her Children


When she was forty-two years old, one night she had a dream that she was in a beautiful garden full of flowers. On the ground was a huge flower with petals of many different colors. It was producing its own light rays. On top was Lama Sonam, white in color, emanating rainbow light. Above him was Phadampa Sangye, and above him was Vajradhara. On his right was Red Manjushri, on the left was Arya Deva 128 and behind was Sukha Siddhi.'29 In front was Arya Tara.


They were all wearing the Sambogakaya ornaments and were untouchable because of the light they were emanating. They were all empowering her at once. She achieved great powers in her body, speech and mind, and they gave her many transmissions so that she could teach others. In the four directions, four white dakinis sounded white conch shells that could be heard on the four continents. Then she woke up.


The next day when the sun had just struck the mountain peaks, her husband, Topabhadra, brought her her younger son and her daughter. Then Machig and "Iopabhadra compared their realizations and each told the other about their practice. They sang songs to each other and Topabhadra left for India. The younger son, Drub Se, who was fifteen at this time, knew well his father's lineage of Cakra Sambhava, Akshobhya Vajra Vijaya,'30 the Black Horse-headed Wrathful Deity131 practices. The daughter, a dakini, aged ten, was accomplished in the practice of the Red Tara, the many armed Avalokitesvara,132 the Sutras and the Prajna Paramita.


Then Drub Se became ill and went mad. In order to cure all the suffering and hindrances caused by the sickness, Machig advised him to do the practice of the "Precious Lamp Which Overcomes All Suf- fering.133 She told him to go to stay in a cemetery for a week. After doing this he not only overcame his illness, but also gained some special understanding. Then she gave him the complete series on the "Precious Lamp Which Overcomes All Suffering" and he mastered all this knowledge. Then she invited Phadampa Sangye to Dwang Ri so that he could give vows to her son. She prepared many offerings and did him great honor.

When it came time to name him, Machig said: "I will give him a name," and she said: "I Iis father's name is Topa, and since he became crazy and mad and then overcame his madness, and then met with you, Dampa, the essence Lama of the Three Times, from whom he received vows and gained all his wisdom, we will call him Tonyon Samdrub, which means 'Mad Son of Topabhadra, Accomplished Meditator.' He will follow my tradition and will be important. Before he came, I had a dream of four dakinis blowing four conch shells and this sound spread everywhere."

Phadampa Sangye then gave Tonyon Samdrub the heart instruction of Manjushri, the five Taras and the Five Mahamaya Dakinis, all the profound Guru Yoga practices, and the method of liberation the six aggregates and not leaving a body at the time of death.

Then, having made feast offerings to Phadampa Sangye, she went to Lab. Tonyon Samdrub had great faith in Phadampa Rinpoche and used to say: "Phadampa Rinpoche is my father."

He praised Phadampa and Machig three times a day and three times a night for many days and so everyone called Phadampa his father. Then the elder son, Drubpa, chose his wife from the family of Goya in the country called Ahrawa. He was not a Dharma practitioner.

Machig noticed that'Ionyon Samdrub was a very good disciple and gave him complete instructions and advice in the practice of the Prajna Paramita and the Empowerment of the Dharma Wheel of the Four Samadhis, and the "Instructions on Recognizing the Consciousness through the Red Knife." Fie also received hundreds of empowerments of the dakini of the MotherTantras and hundreds of initiations in torma.I35 So he received all these teachings and initiations and trained himself and matured and practiced visualization. After four months his practice and realization became stable. Then he practiced the post-meditation practices, and after four months there were signs, and he had attained the power of the visualization and post-visualization practices. At this point s he transmitted to him the understanding she had of Mahamudra and he mastered this also. When he was sixteen, Machig said: "Now go to practice on the Snow Mountain of Sampo (Shangpo Gangri). You have a good connection with that place." He left with three friends, and they walked for a month before they arrived. The morning they arrived at Shampo, they were making a feast offering and Machig appeared there miraculously. She asked: "Are you tired?" He said: "No, thank you. We are honored by your visit."

'T'hen she gave him the greatest initiation of her lineages and the initiation of the Five Dhyani Buddhas, and the Five Secret Vajra Varahi. The initiations were perfectly performed. She stayed there in the cave for seven days. Many dakas and dakinis were present. The son saw his mother become Vajra Varahi, and there was a rain of flowers, rainbows, and many miraculous signs. Machig ordered a local guardian called Shambo not to disturb her son's practice and he promised to assist Tonyon. She ordered a Padma Dakini called Drimima, which means "Without Obstacles," to serve Tonyon and provide everything necessary for his retreat. Drimima promised to do this.

Machig said to her son: "Practice for thirteen years and aggregations, manifestations, dimensions in space, objects and subjects of the sense will manifest as mandalas of the deity. Try to stabilize the pure vision of illumination. Don't worry about your livelihood, there are those who will serve you." So he entered the cave and made a seat of kusha grass136 and sat in the position of Vairocana.137 The door was sealed and no one else entered. Then Machig disappeared into the sky with a retinue of dakinis in the direction of Zangri. After three months, he had a vision of hunger and thirst. He remembered that his mother had said that someone would feed him, but he saw no one who could help him and feed him. But he thought: "This place has been empowered by my mother. I should be able to remain with just the food of meditation empowered by my mother. It would be impossible for me to die of hunger." A while later a red lady appeared on a ray of sunlight. She was very elegantly dressed and was bringing a bowl of nectar for him to drink. She said: "Practitioner, drink this and reach the depths of your practice."


He drank the bowl full of nectar and it had a wonderful taste, and afterwards bliss spread through his whole body. He lost his desire for worldly food, and he thought: "Probably this is a Wisdom Dakini. This is a sign of progress in practice." 'Then the dakini said: "I was ordered by Machig to bring you what you need. I am not your teacher, so do not tell me the signs of your progress. Keep it hidden in the space of'suchness.' You still have the desire to tell everyone the signs of your practice. Observe your mind well. When you have doubts or decisions to make, use your own innate knowledge,' 38 do not go to others. Unite your way of seeing"', with your way of behaving."

As she said this, the light stopped shining and disappeared. Every three years she came back and gave him this amrita. After five years Machig sent a yogi to check up on Tonyon and see if he was dead or alive. The yogi arrived outside the cave. "Tonyon!" he called out. "Ah." was the response.

"Your mother sent me to see if you are hungry or cold. Do you have any difficulties you cannot overcome?" "Aren't you tired? I am glad to know my mother is alive and well. I am living on the food of meditation - How could I be hungry? I have the clothes of the inner heat, and because of this I have overcome attachment to warm clothes. My visions are great companions, so I do not miss my friends. Everything that I see is full of light, so I have no attachment to places," said Tonyon from inside the cave. Then the yogi went back and told all of this to Machig. She was happy and she said: "Oh, he has this ability."

The disciples of Machig became as limitless as the sky. They came from Central Tibet, Amdo, Kham and even Nepal. Great gurus, scholars, monks, kings, noblemen, ministers, queens, princes, ambassadors, common people, lepers, and beggars, all went to Machig, bowed and received teaching from her. Eventually her fame spread to India.


Challenge From the Pandits


Then pandits in Bodhgaya heard of her, and they held a meeting to discuss her. They said: "All true Dharma comes from Dorje Den (Bodhagaya), but this teaching called the Mahamudra Chod did not start in Bodhagaya, even though Mahamudra did. This teaching has spread from Tibet to Nepal. Even the Nepalis are going to receive teaching from this woman with three eyes; she teaches the Chod which they claim can overcome the forty sicknesses and the 80,000 obstructions. This three-eyed woman claims to be an incarnation of the Prajna Paramita Dakini, but more likely she is an emanation of bad demons. It will probably be difficult to conquer her, and it is difficult to know by what means we should do so. But if we do not, she will destroy all of Tibet and then invade India. We must send a party to check up on her."


Everyone agreed that since she was probably a dangerous black magician, they should send their most erudite and powerful siddhas. So a party of three accomplished yogis flew, like hawks in search of little birds, to Tibet. They arrived the next morning as the sun was rising. They circled the Copper-Colored Mountain, and then Machig's cook, Sonam Gyam saw them.

She said to Machig: "There are three people on our roof terrace. They are dark and have deep-set eyes and are wearing black capes. They are not from around here, maybe they are Nepalese."

Machig said: They are magical travelers from India, make a place for them to sit. Seats of three cushions were prepared and then they were motioned to enter, with hand signals. They came in and sat down.

Machig spoke to them in the Indian language, saying: "Are you well? How was your trip? What's new in India these days?"

They were shocked to hear her speaking their language and asked her how it was that she knew their native tongue.

She answered: "Many of my previous lifetimes were spent in India." They asked: "Do you remember your previous lifetimes?" She said: "Yes I remember them all."

So they said: "Well, if you remember them, why don't you tell us about them?" "I will, but first I will gather all my disciples from all over Tibet and Nepal and find translators. Then everyone can hear; otherwise only you will be able to understand," replied Machig.

So she sent messengers who could do magical walking, all over Tibet and Nepal to inform her disciples. Meanwhile she housed the three pandits in her guest house and had their needs looked after.

In a month, people arrived bringing a month's supplies in accordance with the instructions of the messengers. There were 500,573 people and four translators who had been to India and knew several languages. Machig taught the Dharma to everyone and provided for the 70,000 monks and nuns. The debate between Machig and the Indians was translated. No matter how hard they tried, they could not defeat Machig in debate.

Finally the Indians said: "All Dharma teaching comes from India originally; there is no Dharma teaching native to Tibet." Machig said: "That is true. All the Buddhas and their teachings have come from India. So why don't you tell us about each one, what teachings they gave, and what kinds of disciples they had?" 'T'hen the Indians said: "We don't know. If you do, why don't you tell us about them?"

So for seven days she spoke of all the Buddhas, their teachings and their disciples.

Then the Indians said: "All right, since you can remember all this from your previous lives, why don't you tell us about what you are teaching now?" Machig said: "Listen to me, everyone! The Indians do not have faith in me or my teachings; that is why they have sent these three pandits here. These three could try to benefit from my teachings, but instead they just keep asking me about my past lives and my lineage. If I do not tell them my past lives, they won't believe in me, and even my own disciples will begi n to have doubts. So now I will have to clear this up once and for all... "

Everyone listened as she explained how at the beginning of her life she had studied all the Buddhas' teachings and using that as a base she had written the Mahamudra Chod and explained the meaning of it. Then she explained what she had realized and how she had integrated these things into herself. She told of her human teachers and what she had learned from them, and her superhuman teachers like Arya Tara and what she had received from them. She also spoke of the future of her teachings and her teacher's prophecies.

Then she told the story of her life like this:


From the moment Arya Tara was inspired to help sentient beings and became the Prajna Paramita until my birth as Dorjeying kyi Wang Chug, I have had 107 lives. This birth started in India where I was born as the pandit Monlam Drub. There, by the blessings of Arya Tara, I left that body in the cave of Potari. That body is still there! The flesh is in marvelous condition and has not decayed at all. You three should go there and burn the body. The smoke will smell like red sandalwood. It will perfume the whole area. There will be the sound of musical instruments, rainbow light, and showers of many kinds of flowers.

"After the cremation you will find relief images of the Five Buddhas united with their consorts on the skull. Each vertebra will be a stupa. Each tooth will be a conch-shape spiraling to the right. A white AH will be on the chin bone. On the right shoulder blade will be the Darmakaya dakini. On the pelvic bone will be Avalokitesvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani, and the hip bones will be the Green and White Tara. The heart will be a Buddha. At the center of the rib cage you will find Vajradhara. All the other bones will become numerous ringsel,140 the size of nuts, in the five colors. "

Then the pandits said: "What if it does not happen as you have said it will happen?" Machig replied: "If it doesn't happen just as I have said, everything I have said until now, including my teachings, is false! So you pandits go now and see, the signs will be there. Now half of my benefit for sentient beings is finished. I am fifty-two years old. When I am ninety-nine I will be instantaneously born in a heavenly realm by means of transference.""'

Everyone believed her without a doubt. She requested Phadampa Sangye to go with the pandits to India and to bring back one of the relics for the Tibetans. So they all went to Bodhgaya by means of fast walking. They arrived in Bodhgaya and told the pandits everything that had happened. They all said: "Let's go to Patari and see what happens." So fifty-two pandits went to Potari and found the body, and everything happened just as Machig had said it would. So the Indians proclaimed that Machig was the incarnation of the Great Mother. They began saying that in a place like Tibet there could not be students adapted to her level, and that if she stayed there she would just fade away into a rainbow for lack of suitable students. So they decided they must invite her to India immediately.

The skull with the Five Buddhas and the five dakinis was taken to Bodhgaya. Phadampa took the heart to Tibet. The pandits all returned to Tibet. They made offerings, circumambulated and prostrated themselves before her, and then said: "Machig, you are a phantom body from the Great Mother's heart. We have brought you this statue of the Buddha."

Everyone in the three worlds who saw it received blessings. Phadampa was told to keep it. The faith of the Indians and the Tibetans was greatly increased. The practice of Chod spread through- outTibet and into India.

The Indians kept insisting that Machig come to India, but she said: "Going to India will not do much good. I am destined to help the Tibetans. I will not go to India in this life. India is the land of the Buddhas, and it is where the Dharma was first taught. Now it is time to bring the Dharma from India to Tibet, not from Tibet to India. I have had many lifetimes in India and have many Dharma connections there. This time I have been born in Tibet, and here I am teaching the Mahamudra Chod which has not been taught in India. This beggar woman would like to show you Indians this Tibetan way of practicing the Dharma: the Chod."

Machig sent some of her most important teachings, medium, long, and short, to India. They were teachings that had come from her own heart. She taught them to the three pandits and they took them to India. All the Indians that heard about her believed in her. In this way Dharma teaching was brought from Tibet to India, for the first time.

Then the lineage of those dharmas that had been born in her heart passed to her sons and daughter. There were 116 people holding this lineage which had come from Machig. There were three main lin eages. The first was called Gyud tab, the lineage of the Sutric teachings from the Buddha, to Manjushri, to Nagarjuna, then to Aryadeva, Aryadeva Brahmin, Phadampa, Chos Shyka Yeshe, then to Sonam Lama, Uncle Khudbon, and Machig. The second lineage was from Yum Chenmo

(the Great Mother) to Tara, to Sukha Siddhi, to Brahmin Aryadeva, then on to the Phadampa Sangye, Sonam Lama and then to Mach 1g. This was called Sherab Gyu and discussed the Prajna Paramita Sutra doctrine. The third lineage, called the Zungjug, descended from the Great Mother, to Buddha Sakyamuni, to Arya Tara, to Manjushri Arya Deva, Phadampa Sangye, Sonam Lama to Machig. All of the above were oral teachings.

The Vajrayana lineage passed from Vajradhara, to Tara, to Machig directly. Before her there had been no such lineage. The oral lineage of 100 empowerments and 100 offerings went to Tonyon Samdrub, her elder son, and from him to Gangpa Mugsang, then to Drubchenpa, then to Kadrubchenpo, then to Kyeme Gamtso, and then to Manmay Rinpoche, and then to Rechen Shon, and then to Sonam Dorje.

The lineage coming from the Buddha, she gave to her younger son, Gyalwa Dondrub, and he kept it in his heart.

To her own daughter, her three main women disciples, and Ku gom Cho Kyi Sengye, she gave a mixture of the Sutric and the secret teachings and Dharma teachings that had been born in her heart. Also the mother tantras and the four empowerments of the dakinis, the secret path of Guru Yoga and the visualization of Avalokitesvara, Manjushri, and Vajrapani, the Tantra of Mahamaya and the

special teachings on how to meditate on Avalokitesvara and many other practices. They all integrated the teachings into their hearts. As if from inside a cave, all these teachings issued forth from the Prajna Paramita, she advised her disciples Dode Nag gi Wang chug and Grol de Gyalwa'i Jungne. She taught all this to her sixteen main disciples, and she had 1,263 accomplished ones who received the fruit of the practice and helped others. About 433 lepers were cured by the practice she taught, and they became as well as before. Countless people were helped. She passed away to the land of the dakinis at the age of ninety-nine. Notes


Prologue


1 See Keith Dowman, Sky Dancer, pp. 86-7.


Biography


I "Non-human" in this case indicates someone beyond the average human, not inhuman or sub-human, but rather superhuman. Mother in this case refers to one who not only gives birth to and nourishes children, but gives birth to wisdom, supreme Matrix.

2 Wisdom Dakini: see Introduction, pp. 103-18.

3 Vajra family: see Introduction, p. 105.

4 Upaseka vows contain five precepts: (i) not to kill, (ii) not to lie, (iii) not to steal, (iv) not to take intoxicants, and (v) not to commit adultery.

5 The giving of a name signifies a significant change in the identity of the person. A name change signifies the rebirth of a person into a new state. In the Tibetan tradition, a new name is given whenever the disciple takes a significant step such as taking vows or receiving important initiations . 6 See n. 10, p. 280.

7 Vinaya: the code of behavior derived from the words of the Buddha, describing the conduct of a nun or monk. A series of rules created by the Buddha to guide the monastic community toward illumination.

8 Abhidharma (Tibetan: mNgon par mdzod): the body of the Buddha's teaching which has been described as Buddhist psychology or metaphysics or cosmogonics. The teachings which describe the nature of the mind. See Trungpa, Glimpses of Abhidharma.

9 The FourTantras: (i) bya (Sanskrit: kriya), (ii) I (Sanskrit: carya), (iii) rnal 'byor (Sanskrit: yoga), (iv) bla na med (Sanskrit: anuttara). The first, kriya yoga, is based on purification through external ritual acts such as making offerings, recitation, purificatory rituals and baths, and wearing of clean white clothes, and eating white vegetarian foods. Carya yoga is a balance of external acts with internal yoga. The third, yoga tantra, aims at the unification of bliss and emptiness, with more weight given to the internal practices. The anuttara tantras provide a method to hold the mind (sems) under control. (See Tucci,

Religions of Tibet.)

10 See n. 74, p. 287

11 See n. 80, p. 288.

12 See n. 67, p. 286-7.

13 Dorje Den: Bodhgaya, the "Vajra Throne," place of the Buddha's final illumination. Now a small village near Gaya, in the province of Bihar, India. 14 Cemeteries are places that invoke the fear of the transition from life to death. Encountering dakinis in situations which represent transition is a common motif. A fear of fixation is presented by the Dakini and it must be dealt with in order that spiritual progress can continue, and this encounter is created by the appearance of a dakini.

In this case, the dakini is subdued and becomes his servant. When such an encounter has been successfully worked with, the experience serves to fuel further progress. Monlam Drub's method was not to enter into battle but to remain in an egoless state of meditation. This method is similar to that described in the hexagram "Breakthrough" in the I Ching: "If evil is branded, it thinks of weapons, and if we do it the favour of fighting against it blow for blow, we lose in the end because thus we ourselves get entangled in hatred and passion. Therefore it is important to begin at home, to be on our guard in our own persons against faults we have branded. In this way, finding no opponent, the sharp edges of the weapons of evil become dulled. For the same reason, we should not combat our own faults directly. As long as we wrestle with them, they continue to be victorious. Finally, the best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good" (I Ching, trans. Wilhelm and Baynes, p. 167).


15 Damema (bDag med ma): the consort of Hevajra, not to be confused with Damema the wife of Marpa the Translator. Literally this means "Egoless Woman."


16 rKang mgyogs: a means of running very fast, not really touching the ground, accomplished by yogic breath control. Madame Alexandra David-Neel describes this phenomenon in her book Magic and Mystery of Tibet, p. 146. See also 'The Meeting with Dhampa Sangje,' The One Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, p. 606.

17 The ordinary siddhis include the power to pass through walls, to transform stones into gold, to walk on water without sinking, to enter fire without being burned, to melt snow with one's body heat in extreme cold, to travel to a fardistant cosmos in a few seconds, to fly in the sky, and walk through rocks and mountains, extraordinary abilities to read minds and know the future, and the development of all the senses far beyond their ordinary capacities. One can also radiate beams of light from the body, and stand in sunlight without casting a shadow, make one's body vanish, and other so-called miracles. 18 See Introduction, p. 105-6.

19 rTa mgrin and rDo rje phag mo (Hayagriva and Vajra Varahi).

20 The Tibetan year is organized around a lunar calendar. The cycle begins with the new moon in February. Each month begins with the new moon on the first and the full moon on the fifteenth. The auspicious days vary, but the tenth is dedicated to Padma Sambhava and the twenty-fifth to the dakini and the twentyninth to the Protectors and the Guardians of the Teachings. The eighth is the day


of Tara and Mahakala.

21 Khatvanga: see Introduction, pp. 111-112.

22 See Introduction, p. 109.

23 Skull cup: see Introduction, pp. 110-111.

24 Here we see the dakini principle in what seems to be a destructive and aggressive aspect, but which actually leads to greater good. It is not so much destructive as actively transformative. It is an impersonal force which strikes the recipient invasively, both here and later with Monlam Drub, against his or her will, forcing a transformation which might seem negative from the point of view of the rational consciousness, but here we see it brings forth a greater vision and bliss and makes it possible for the mother to receive the strong dakini energy of Machig Lapdron.

25 Shells which spiral to the right are considered to be very sacred by Tibetans because they are unusual and Buddhists always circumambulate from the right (clockwise).

26 "A" is said to be the sound which expresses the primordial state of knowledge. It is the last letter of the Tibetan alphabet and the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet. The white "A" represents primordial luminosity, that the fundamental nature of everything is light.

27 The four continents surround the central Mount Meru, which is the center of the universe. To the East is Videha, crescent-shaped; to the South is Jambuvipa, shaped like a cone, point downward; to the West is Godaniya, circular in shape; to the North is Uttarakuru, square in shape. The central mountain (Tibetan: Rirab Lhunpo) is surrounded by seven rings of water and seven rings of golden mountains; beyond these are the four continents, and the world as we know it is Jambuvipa (Dsambu Ling). Growing up through the center of the mountain is a

tree bursting into fruit and blossom at the top. The mountain is occupied by gods and demi-gods each of whom looks after the continent that he faces. 28 Prayer flags are cotton banners of all colors, hung along horizontal strings, or a long banner is hung vertically on a pole. Mantras and prayers are printed on them with ink from wood blocks. They are placed everywhere one might need

encouragement and protection, such as around any sacred or religious place, springs and mountain passes, homes, etc. They are said to put prayers into the wind and carry blessings and protection.

29 HA RI NI SA: the seed syllables of the dakinis which surround Dorje Phagmo (Vajra Varahi).

30 As the Tibetans see themselves as being under constant threat from possible spirit-attacks, they have various and multiple gods and methods to protect themselves. See Tucci, Religions of Tibet, pp. 187-90.

31 The bija, or seed syllable, of Vajra Yogini and Avalokitesvara. See n. 5, p. 279.

32 The third eye is that which sees beyond two, i.e. beyond dualistic vision. The third eye lies between the two eyes in the middle of the forehead. It is associated with psychic powers and greater vision. All esoteric traditions recognize the existence of this center, which must be opened through various meditation practices.

33 The signs of a dakini are considered secret and are not to be vulgarized by publication. However, they are actual signs on the body of a woman, for example moles in certain places. In The Blue Annals, trans. Roerich, pp. 220-1, there is a description of the signs of a Padma dakini, which I will include here as they give an idea of the kinds of signs there are: "On her navel there was the image of the red lotus with three roots; between her breasts, an image of rosaries of precious stone, reaching down the navel, and on each of her shoulders - images of the swastika. At the back of her ears she had coils similar to those of a conch or lotus. Under the tongue there was the image of a sword of the colour of the utpala flower marked with the letter 7AM (symbolizing the first syllable of Tara's name). Between her eyebrows she had the image of a banner with the Sun and the Moon on it."

34 OM MANI PADME HUM is the mantra of Avalokitesvara, OM TARE TURARE TURF, S WA HA is the mantra of Arya Tara, OM GATE GATE PARA GATE PARA SAM GATE BODHI SWA HA is the Buddha's mantra.

35 Tibetans believe that clothes pick up the vibrations of the wearer and places they are worn, and so the clothes of any great person are revered. This is also why you see Tibetans wearing huge woolen coats and winter robes in their pilgrimages to India. The clothes are thought to pick up the blessings of the place, and therefore they want to wear in India what they wear at home in the mountains.

36 Teachings on the nature of the Prajna Paramita. See n. 10, p. 280.

37 Ten levels of the Bodhisattva path: (i) the joyful One, (ii) the Stainless One, (iii) the Illumining One, (iv) the Flaming One, (v) the One Difficult to Conquer, (vi) the One Who Is Present, (vii) the One Who Goes Far, (viii) the Unshakeable One, (ix) Good Intellect, and (x) Cloud of Dharma. These are levels through which the Boddhisattva passes before reaching complete illumination. See sGampopa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, ch. 19.

38 The Five Paths: (i) preparation, (ii) application, (iii) seeing, (iv) practice, (v) fulfillment. (See sGampopa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, pp. 232-8.)

39 Tibetan: ngo shes.

40 Professional reader: there is a tradition in Buddhism whereby the laity or a monastery invite a monk or group of monks to their house or monastery to read a certain text, once or a number of times. The purpose is to remind the householder of the teachings so that he accumulates merit.

41 Heavenly realm of the dakini: a dimension which incorporates the dakini energy into which embodied dakinis pass at the time of death and from which they come when they are born.

42 There are two ways that the body can disappear at the time of death: the Body of Illusion (sgyu lus), and the the rainbow body (Ja' lus). Considering the lineage in which Bumme studied, it is most likely that she took the Body of Illusion. In this case luminosity and prang are united in yeshe (ye shes) (wisdom), and while the being is still in the defiled karmic body, this body can perform many kinds of

miracles for the good of others. Finally at the moment of death the subtle prana of wisdom joins with luminosity ('od gsal), and the vajra body (rdo rje sku) is achieved. At this point the karmic body, made of gross elements, disappears and the corpse disappears into what might be called "cosmic particles." The rainbow body, on the other hand, is accomplished by means of the "great transference." The practices of trekchod ('khregs chod) followed by thogyal (thod rgyal),

precede this transference. At the fourth and ultimate stage of thogyal the substance of the body, which is a combination of the elements, is refined and transferred into the subtle form of these elements, which is luminous colored light. Only the hair and fingernails, which are the impurities of the body, remain behind. However, the person doesn't actually die, but transfers into a body of

light, or rainbow form. This body is active and can be seen by those with clarity of vision. The rainbow body is only manifested by practitioners of Dzog Chen schools (both Nyingma and Bonpo traditions), whereas the Body of Illusion is manifested in other lineages. For further explanation see Tucci, The Religions of Tibet.

43 The status of a person in Tibet was indicated by the number of cushions they were given to sit on. The more important the person the higher the seat or throne. This is why the thrones of "high" lamas were literally very high, sometimes well over the heads of persons standing on the floor. A seat of three cushions is considered to be very respectful.

44 Pha dam pa sangs rgyas: see n. 24, p. 281-282.

45 Sadhu: an Indian word for a religious ascetic or yogi, someone who has left behind the concerns of a householder's life in order to follow the spiritual path. Usually sadhus have no fixed abode and wear rags or robes of saffron color, or they may even be naked.

46This is how equals greet each other to express mutual respect and affection.

47 The esoteric teachings constantly stress the difference between intellectual understanding and personal integration with the meaning of the teachings. (See The Life and Teachings of Naropa, trans. Guenther, pp. 24-5, for a very similar passage except that the challenger is a dakini.)

48 This passage incorporates the fundamentals of the philosophy behind the Chod practice, the idea being that if we stop grasping, then from under the neurotic clinging the already existing joyful refreshed state of mind emerges.

49 Dag med rtogs pa, the stabilized realization that there is not a permanent soul or self.

50 This passage indicates the principles behind the lifestyles of the followers of Machig Lapdron, the "Chodpas," who were wandering practitioners, and who lived in cemeteries and frightening places. Chodpas were not afraid of contamination from what society considered "bad." Nor were they attached to the things which everyone else considered "desirable." They were called in to handle the dead bodies when there were epidemics in Tibet because they were immune to contamination.

51 See n. 60, p. 286.

52 chos nyid kyi dbyings: altogether this phrase means: The space of dharmas as they are," or "the space of suchness." The space (dbyings) of moment points in the process of perception (dharma) as they are (ta).

53 Sonam Lama: see n. 24, p. 281-2.

54 Because Tibet is at such a high altitude, the growing season is very short and there are few legumes or vegetables that grow there, so the diet of the Tibetans has always been very dependent on meat as a source of protein. Also the Buddha did not teach strict vegetarianism, but rather that all meat one eats should have passed through at least three hands before a Buddhist should consume it. A Buddhist should never eat anything that has been killed for him or her, or

encourage anything to be killed. The Tantric approach, which is what is being referred to here, is that, if a Tantric practitioner eats the meat of an animal with awareness and transcendent insight into the true nature of reality, this creates a connection between the animal and the yogi, and therefore the animal will have a much better chance of reaching a higher rebirth than if it had not been killed and offered to the yogi or yogini. Also the consuming of meat and wine is, and

always has been, since the days of Indian Tantra, an integral part of the Tantric Buddhist feast offering. It symbolizes going beyond the limitations of vows and conventional "goodness," and transformation of poison and dangerous

substances into a means for enlightenment. "Therefore a big piece of meat would be an appropriate offering for a Tantric initiation.

55 The empowerment fee is a traditional way of expressing gratitude to one's teacher. It is not traditionally a stated amount, but there is the assumption that a fairly sizable offering will be made as a gesture of recognizing the immeasurable value of the teachings. Theoretically it is given not because the teacher desires material wealth, but as an act which benefits the giver. For

example, when Marpa offered Naropa his hard-earned gold, Naropa said, " 'I do not need it; all that is here is gold', and touching the ground with his big toe, turned it all to gold" (p. 105, The Life and Teachings of Naropa, trans. Guenther). 56 Chos dbang sems la bskur ba ba'i zab pa'i ting nge 'dzin gyis dbang bzhi: the initiation into the four states of meditative concentration that bring one to the state of Dharma dhatu (chos dbyings). The space (dhatu) of moment points in the process of perception (dharma).

57 Nam mkha'sgo 'byed bya ba'i shin to byin.rlabs the ba'i byin rlabs kyis dbang bskur: literally, "Initiation into the Door to the Sky, Blessing of the Great Blessing."

58 sGyu 'phrul chen mo dbang.

59 Ye shes dbab.

60 According to Professor Namkhai Norbu this actually sometimes happens at this point in the initiation because the energy which enters from the guru and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas activates the internal energy of the initiate. These dances are the movements of enlightened energy in its pacific form. 61 Chos nyid la rtogs.pa med pa rdo rje Ita bu'i ting nge 'dzin.

62 If we understand the serpentine underwater Nagas as a manifestation of Machig's unconscious, as part of her own mind, this assumption being based on the idea that our environment is a manifestation of our karma and our own projection, this encounter with the underworld character of the naga is very interesting. The reaction of the naga, who is both afraid and angry, is like the reaction of the unconscious to an unwelcome visitation. The unconscious, full of powerful fury and fear of loss, attacks the intruding consciousness. The archetypal tree, guarded by monsters, is described as follows by Esther Harding

in Woman's Mysteries: "The moon tree is frequently represented as guarded or attacked by animals or monsters ... The serpent, however, is associated with the moon for another reason. Snakes live in dark holes, they are cold-blooded and inaccessible to human feeling. For these reasons they have always been considered to be related to the underworld, and to the shades of the dead" (p. 63). The tree is a symbol of individuation in Jungian psychology, and since she flies (transcendence) to the top of the tree, if interpreted psychologically it could

mean that at this point she has completed her individuation process. The direct transmission in the tree is a turning point in her life, her spiritual coming of age. Up until this point she has been in training, but after this she becomes aware of her future as a teacher and that she will not remain alone, but will meet a consort and have children. (See n. 13, p. 280.)

63 Since demons (a projection of the ego) can only harm someone with something to defend, they cannot disturb someone who has no territory (i.e. ego) to defend. This is the philosophical basis of the Chod teachings. 64 These deities exist independently of our beliefs, and therefore, when a person is properly prepared and open, a direct transmission may occur instead of through a guru. (See n. 80, pp. 288-289)

65 This is the way of referring to the marriage of a yogini and a yogi. Profound cognition (prajna) represents the female, and skillful means (upaya) the male. 66 The naked state of the mind in its awareness of itself, not clothed with confusion, is sometimes expressed by a yogini's or yogi's literal nakedness. This also expresses going beyond conventional limitations into spontaneous wisdom with actions beyond repetitive patterns and therefore sometimes called crazy wisdom, an epithet of many mahasiddhas (sdrub tobs). This craziness is not,

however, to be confused with the craziness of suffering, confused and deluded people, as it is an expression of clarity: "The naked body represents truth, the truth that goes deeper than social custom. Witches worship naked for several reasons: as a way of establishing closeness and dropping social masks, because power is most easily raised that way, and because the human body is itself sacred. Nakedness is a sign that a Witch's loyalty is to the truth, before any ideology or any comforting illusion" (Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, p. 83). Machig

has progressed from a child prodigy nun to a naked yogini, who has gone beyond the constrictions of the collective imperatives.

67 Prostrations, whether full-length, or with only the head, hands and knees touching the floor, are a way of expressing devotion and overcoming pride. 68 Skandas (phung po) make up the body of aggregation, or literally "heaps," There are five: (i) form (gzugs), (ii) sensory perception (tshor), (iii) conceptualization ('du shes), (iv) habitual impulses ('du byed), (v) consciousness (rnam shes).


69 Eight consciousnesses: (i) the storehouse consciousness which is the instigator of all mental activities, Alayavijnana (kun gzhi); (ii) nyon yid, the subconscious which has a more active involvement than Alaya; (iii) the other six are the five senses plus the consciousness which is aware of the five senses.

70 A mandala offering is a symbolic offering of a mandala of the universe. It can be made through symbolic objects or just through the imagination. Here three levels of mandalas have been offered: outer, inner, and secret.

71 The Five Dharmas of Maitreya were written by Asanga (Mind Only "Yogacara" School).

72 Bodhicitta, the thought of enlightenment for all sentient beings, is the basis of the Mahayana teachings.

73 sGra 'gyur skor: a practice using sound as its method.

74 rDzog chen po'i skor: see n. 28, pp. 281-2 above, and Introduction.

75 Phyag rgya chen po brda. In order that the disciple may understand the true natural mind after preparation, the guru grants the disciple a pointing-out instruction, or demonstration. This may be a blow, a smile, a remark, the showing of an object, a gesture, etc. In this way the natural state of the mind is understood.

76 The Six Yogas of Naropa is a doctrine significant especially to the Kagyu (bKa 'bryud) school, from the Indian yogi Naropa. These doctrines entered Tibet through his Tibetan disciple Marpa. They are: (i) gtum mo; the yoga which manifests its results in a rise of body temperature so significant that practitioners can live at high altitudes in winter with no clothes or heat, (ii) rgyu lus, illusory body, (iii) rmi lam, dream yoga, (iv) 'od gsal, clear light, (v) 'pho ba, transference to other forms of existence, (vi) bar do, after-death yoga.

77 The Kalachakra is literally the "Wheel of Time," a famous Tantra first revealed at dPal Idan 'bras spungs (Sri Dhanyakataka in East India) and emphasized by the Jonangpa (Jo nang pa) school. It is a mystical teaching kept in Shambhala, a spiritual kingdom to the northeast of India, which treats the dimension of time as a Tantric practice, and which was allegedly taught by the Buddha in Kalapa, the capital of Shambhala.

78 A doha is a kind of song or mystical poetry originating with the Indian siddhas. They are cryptic verses often difficult to understand, describing the doctrines and meditation experiences. (See The Royal Song of Saraha, trans. Guenther, containing many dohas and Guenther 's explanations, and translated commentaries.)

79 Maha Yoga Tantra, Anu Yoga Tantra, and Ati Yoga Tantra. (See Tucci, The Religions of Tibet.)

80 This temple houses the image of Sakyamuni Buddha, said to have been brought to Tibet by the Chinese wife of Songtsen Gampo (Srong btsan sgam.po) at the time of the first diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet (seventh century). It is held in great reverence by Tibetans and many miraculous occurrences are attributed to it.

81 Four Prajnas, the profound cognition from (i) listening, (ii) thinking about, (iii) meditating on, (iv) understanding.

82 Three doors to liberations: (i) Voidness, Sunyata (stong pa nyid), (ii) Unconditionedness (mtshan ma med pa), (iii) Passionlessness (smon pa med pa).

83 Chos dbang sems, the oral explanation of the preliminary experiences (nyams) of the true sense of the Empowerment of Dharma (chos dbang).

84 The method of leaving the body through the top of the head at the time of death (Nam mkha' sgo 'byed kyi ngo sprod 'pho ba).

85 Lap sgron ma'i zhi byed.

86 gCod tshogs drug gi gdams pa rnams.

87 Zhi byed hum skor.

88 dMar khrid skor gsum.

89 Phat chos skor gsum.

90 Authapall'i brda chos.

91 sGyu 'phrul chen.mo.

92 Jo mo zhal gnyid ma.

93 bKa' brgyud bla ma'i rnal 'byor zab lam 'pho ba grong 'jug gi gdam pa dung sems 'dren pa'i gnad kyi shag pa'i lam.

94 sGyu lus rmi lam dang bardo 'byongs cig char du ston pa'i phra thig gis man nag gi gnad.

95 'Phrul gcod bka' rgya ma'iman ngag dur khrod chen mo'i dmigs bya gdan thog gcig bu gcod pa'i gdams pa b'rgyad

96 'rDo rje bdud 'dul chen mo

97 Maha Sukha.

98 Kali Yuga: this present degenerate age or epoch. We have degenerated from the Golden Age through the Silver Age and the Copper Age, and are now in our most degenerate (spiritually and morally) Iron Age, which will become worse and worse with things getting faster and faster until the end of the Yuga when evil will have spread to such an extent that it will reach the sacred kingdom of Shambhala, at which time the kings of Shambhala will muster an army and the tides will be reversed. This is to happen about three hundred years from now. 99 Youthful or wrathful deities; 'Jam dpal 'rtsa ba'i gyud kyi rgyal po. 100 sKye med snying po.

101 Lam 'bras: based on the teachings of Virupa, a collection of Annutara Tantras, particularly connected to the Tantric deity Hevajra, called rpo.rje tshig rkang. Lamdre is a commentary on this and this teaching, which literally means 'the path and fruit,' is the basis of the Sakya lineage.

102 Phag rgya chen po'i brda. The natural state is often spoken of in the Mahamudra teaching. As is stated in the "Song of Mahamudra" byTilopa: (C.C. Chang, Teachings of Tibetan Yoga, p. 25.)

103 When the practices are effective there are certain signs that appear in the body, such as inner heat, blissful sensations, and feeling very light.

104 A way of referring to sexual intercourse between a yogini (profound cognition) and a yogi (skillful means). This is sexual contact, considered a powerful part of the path. It is the energy which circulates because of the sexual intercourse, especially the activation of the rtsa, Hung and thig le (the subtle nerves, life force vibration and the essences of male (semen) and female (menstrual blood)) which opens areas of consciousness previously closed off to the practitioner. In the biography of Yeshe Tsogyel the necessity of finding a

suitable partner is explained in this way: "Now, girl without a consort, a partner of skillful means, there is no way that you can experience the mysteries ofTantra. It is rather like this: if a pot is unfired, it will not bear usage; in an area without wood a fire will not burn; if there is no moisture to sustain growth, it is useless to plant a seedling" (Keith Dowman Sky Dancer).

In order to activate our energy and test our development we sometimes need to enter into relationship with an external partner. This is quite the reverse of the usual process wherein we enter into a marriage before we have a chance to prepare ourselves spiritually, as was the case for Nangsa Obum. Machig has such doubts that she seeks several confirmations from her

teachers before she is sure she will enter into this partnership. Machig also bore children and she went through a series of pregnancies in rapid succession in very primitive conditions. Her intellectual understanding of surrendering one's selfish desires for the benefit of others, as one must do as a mother, must have been severely tested in this time. (This is also the basis of the offering of the body in Chod.) Without this experience she probably would not have become as mature or as compassionate a woman as she was.

105 Geshe (dge shes) is a title for the highest degree of learning in Tibet. It is the Tibetan equivalent of a Doctor of Divinity. Literally it means "virtue knowledge," and it takes from ten to twenty-five years of study to attain this degree. 106 The Deity of Intellect and Learning, who carries a sword which cuts off the root of wrong view and unstable emotionality.

107 rThen 'brel yan lag bcu gnyis, the twelve stages in the process of a karmic act, begining with its conception and going through the process of solidifying the thought and action and finally its death. This process is often pictured around the edge of the Tibetan Wheel of Life. The twelve stages are (i) ignorance, (ii) associations or imprints, (iii) consciousness, (iv) name and form, (v) the six sense organs (five senses and the consciousness of the senses), (vi) contact, (vii) feeling, (viii) desire, (ix) sensual enthrallment, (x) procreation, (xi) birth, (xii) old age and death.

108 This is the joining of the white drop (thig le) (masculine) and the red blood drop (thig le) (feminine) at the heart. Progressive meditation on these follows a similar pattern to that of the Four Empowerments: at the end the two points join together, which is the most important moment, the activation or light ('od gsal), which radiates by itself and is beyond duality, an infinite radiance, radiant voidness. Obviously, through yogic practices they had transformed their energy into the red and the white essence and manifested luminosity through their development of the Four Empowerments.

109 The text is painfully brief in explaining this important decision but here again we see that she is guided by the dakinis in making the transition from one phase of her life to the next. It appears that she was not meant to continue her role as mother beyond the time her children absolutely needed her (she left when her youngest was four, after ten years with Topabhadra). Later on when she connects with them again it is in the role of a teacher not a mother. Perhaps it was necessary for these children to be born so that her lineage could be

continued by them as her guru told her, but it was not necessary for her to raise them, otherwise she would not have had this guidance from the dakini. It is moving to see Topabhadra's understanding of the situation. When he brings them back, rather than recriminations, he offers her his understanding gained in the years they have been apart and she takes over the role of giving them a spiritual education.

Another interesting expression here is that she "appeared" to be tired of the cycles of transmigration (samsara). This implies that she was not actually tired but gave that as her excuse, because her real reason, i.e. communication with the dakini, either could not be revealed or understood, or should not be revealed. This brings up the whole question of secrecy involved with the dakini principle. The vogue in our society now is "honesty," meaning telling

everything that you are thinking or experiencing, to almost anyone. This is not the case in the relationship to the dakini, or when dealing with spiritual practices. Many profound spiritual changes can only be developed in silence. This is the reason why almost all literature based on the dakinis' communication is secret. To reveal the secrets is to invoke the wrath of the dakinis, which manifests as obstacles in spiritual development. This principle is echoed by M.L. Von Franz in her lectures on The Feminine in Fairytales:

"There are things not even discussed by oneself - they must be left in the twilight and must not be looked at too exactly. There are secret things of the soul that can only grow in the dark - the clear sun of consciousness bums the life away. In mythology there are such fairies, trolls, etc., even good ones, who have been struck by a ray from the sun and petrified. They have to live in the twilight, and if they are struck by the sun's rays, they turn into stone" (p. 90).

The reason for the secrecy of the Vajrayana teachings is not to try to make a "secret society" but because, if the lid is left off, the perfume es capes. It is for this reason that the dakini escapes definition, appears in many forms and must remain in the twilight zone along with the "secret" teachings that the dakinis preside over.

110 Phag mo thugs sgrub Iha inga.

111 Siddha (drub thob): one who has achieved both the ordinary and extraordinary powers, an accomplished yogi or yogini.

112 Vajrapani is a Tantric Protector.

113 Upadesha (Man ngag sde): the most advanced of the Dzog Chen teachings. It is divided into Khregs.chod, wherein the individual recognizes innate awareness (rig pa), followed by thod rgal, which uses specific postures and meditation techniques, and only thog rgal practices develop the capacity to experience wisdom (ye shes) and pure light. The ultimate result of these practices is the manifestation of the body of light at the time of death, when the physical and mental spaces dissolve into light. See Tucci, Religions of Tibet, pp. 85-7.

114 If the Yogi succeeds in getting the prana into the central channel, discursive thought stops, and he or she enters the meditative state. (See n. 6, p. 279.)

115 glum mo: the inner heat practice based on control of the prana, which allows one to stay in very cold places with little or no clothing.

116 Yantra Yoga: the physical movements with co-ordinated breathing which untie the knots in the subtle nerves, make the prana flow smoothly, and most importantly create deep even breathing which leads into meditation. It also contains exercises for the development of inner heat and can be used for healing imbalances which cause illness. Namkhai Norbu has published a text of Vairocana on this subject accompanied by a commentary called Khrul 'khor nyi z1a kha sbyor.

117 Pranayama: breathing practices which bring the prana and therefore the mind (which is greatly influenced by the prana) under control. 118 Ma rgyud mkha' 'gro gnas 'gyur, a dakini sadhana of the Mother Tantra lineage.


119 Mngon pa'i bzhad par gyas pa mdzod.

120 Phyag rgya chen po snyen rgyud dri med me long skor 'gsum.

121 Chos phyag rgya chen. po'i gcod.

122 See Introduction, pp. 105-107.

123 See Introduction, pp. 99-102.

124 Tripitaka - the Sutras, the Vinaya and the Abhidharma (Buddhist psychology), the Hinayana teachings.

125 See Introduction, pp. 105-107.

126 A heavenly realm where the Buddha was allegedly dwelling before his birth in Lumbini, India.

127 The Four Mudras are a progressive path toward the fourth mudra called Mahamudra (Phyag rgya chen bo) the Great Seal of the Great Movement. The first is the "Dharmamudra," which is the understanding of what a teacher is saying when the Dharma is explained, the understanding of the nature of reality (dharma). The second, the "Karmamudra," has to do with the practices involving

physical contact, the sexual practices. (See The Life and Teachings of Naropa, trans. Guenther.) The third, the "Samayamudra," involves keeping the promises, or vows, of doing the visualizations and mantras given during empowerments. Then finally there is the "Mahamudra," the unification of everything in a state of Sunyata (Phyag) and freedom from worldliness (rgya); chen po means the

unification in one state of these two functions. (See The Teachings of Tibetan Yoga, trans. C.C. Chang; Wang Chug Dorje, The Mahamudra Experience: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance.)

128 Arya Deva - disciple of Nagarjuna, founder of the Madyamika school of Mahayana philosophy.


129 "Dews ngodrub," a dakini.

130 rDo rje rnam rgyal.

131 A wrathful purification deity.

132 Thugs rje chen po kha sal pa. When the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara reached enlightenment and was leaving the world, he turned to look down and saw so much suffering that his head split into many pieces and he grew a thousand arms and used these heads and arms to help sentient beings.

133 Rin po che'i sgron me.

134 sGrol tshogs drug gdams.pa lhag lus med pa.

135 Torma (gTor ma) :these are offerings made of roasted barley flour or rice mixed with butter moulded into shapes symbolizing jewels or elixir. They are used in rituals to appease opposing energies and please invoked deities. The art of torma making and the rituals accompanying their offering comprise a central part ofTibetan rituals, and there are hundreds of kinds of torma and rituals involved with offering them.

136 Kusha grass: the kind of grass that the Buddha sat on when he achieved illumination. This grass is also given the night before certain initiations and placed under the pillow and the dreams of the initiate are told to the lama the next day before the initiation.

137 See n. 38, p. 283-284.

138 Rigpa (rig pa) is the pure intelligence which is actualization of the uncreated luminous void which is without origin and yet exists.

139 The way of seeing, dawa (lta ba) is very important in the Dzog Chen teachings. The dawa is the most important aspect of the teaching, because to do practice without correct view is a meaningless activity. When the view is put into action this is the way of behaving (spyod).

140 Ringsel (ring bsril) are small spherical relics, usually white, though sometimes manifesting the five colors, which emerge from the ashes of great teachers after their death or from sacred places such as Buddha statues or stupas. It is said that they are brought forth by the devotion of the disciples, and that even when a very very advanced practitioner dies, if there are no devoted

disciples, there will be no ringsel. There are also cases of ringsel appearing after the ashes or bits of bones have been collected and kept for some time. Someone might have some remnants and keep them very devotedly and carefully, and after some time, look at them and they may have turned into ringsel. Ringsel

also have the ability to reproduce. One of them may grow bigger and bumps may appear on the side and the bumps become small ringsel. In 1970, the stupa of Swayambhu in Kathmandu produced ringsel on the eastern side of the stupa.

There were thousands all over the ground and all the monastery, including the highest lama, who almost never left his room, were outside picking them up. 141 Phowa (pho ba) practice involves shooting the consciousness out of the top of the head at the time of death and directing it to where you want it to go - to a Buddhafield or the Darmakaya, etc.