I’d like to introduce my teacher – Naljorpa Ja’gyür Dorje – and I’d like to introduce my teacher Ngakma Métsal Wangmo.

We are honoured and moved to be here in this Vajrayana Kingdom; land of Guru Rinpoche, Yeshé Tsogyel, Tashi Chh’idren, Drükpa Künlegs, and Thangtong Gyalpo.

We are also honoured to be here representing the first gö kar chang lo (gos dKar lCang lo) or non-monastic, non-celibate Vajrayana sangha from the West. gö kar chang lo dé means the stream of those who wear white skirts and keep long, uncut hair, as opposed to the short hair and red skirts of the monastic sangha. We are a teaching couple within the Aro gTer and disciples of the Western-born Nyingma gTérton Zértsal Lingpa –

usually known as Ngak’chang Rinpoche, who teaches with his wife Khandro Déchen. They are the current lineage holders of the Aro gTér, a pure vision gTérma which primarily contains teachings from Dzogchen Long-dé – the series of space. Ngak’chang Rinpoche was recognised as the incarnation of Aro Yeshé – the son of the female mahasiddha and gTértön Khyungchen Aro Lingma who lived and practised in Southern Tibet from

1886 – 1923. In 1975 Düd’jom Rinpoche Jig’drèl Yeshé Dorje asked Ngak’chang Rinpoche to establish the gö kar chang lo’i dé, the non-monastic sangha of ngakpas and ngakmas, in the West – and he and Khandro Déchen have dedicated the last 40 years to doing so.. The current Düd’jom Rinpoche, Düd’jom Sang-gyé Pema Zhépa remembers Ngak’chang Rinpoche and the promise he made in 1975 – and expressed pleasure that he and Khandro Déchen’s work has led to the increased visibility of non-monastic ordained practitioners, and the foundation of a thriving gö kar chang lo’i dé in the West.

For the continuance of the lineages and teachings of Vajrayana, it’s clear that a coherent, sustainable, Vajrayana Buddhist culture will need to emerge over the next century – and although monasticism is the dominant form of this culture – Vajrayana is not a monoculture. Non-monastic traditions have also always been available, if less visible. If Vajrayana is to survive – both in the East and the West it needs to be seen in

its diversity, including the non-monastic heritage established by Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel. It is important that Dharma survives in its countries of origin but it is also important that Dharma takes root in the soil of western culture – as the need for it is increasingly evident

– particularly for the teachings of Vajrayana. There are already second and third generation Vajrayanists in the west who need the support of sangha and the guidance of Lamas. It is crucial that Dharma continues as a complete means of liberation, and that people are offered the

opportunity to realise nonduality. The style of ordination and practice within the non-monastic sanghas translates well to the West, with its emphasis on integration with daily life, careers, marriage, and families. There are a large number of committed practitioners in the West, and many more with a potential interest in practising, for whom monasticism is neither inspiring nor possible. The stream of ordained non-monastic

practice however, has a long history of being relegated to obscurity. In the 1980s for example, many academics held the view that Ngakpas were a fabrication, and then when their existence was conceded, we were told that there had never been Ngakmas – white skirt wearing, long haired ordained female practitioners like me. That is now also understood to have been mistaken with the emergence of photographs and study of great female gö-kar chang lo practitioners such as Ngakma Rigtsang of Pemakö, and the Ngakmas of Repkong for example. There have in fact been

monastic and non-monastic practitioners from the very inception of Dharma. The division of the sangha into ’dülwa’i dé (celibate Sutrayana practitioners) and ngak kyi dé (non-celibate Vajrayana practitioners) was not unique to Tibet. The ’dülwa’i dé and ngak kyi dé go back directly to Shakyamuni Buddha whose principle followers were not all of the ’dülwa’i dé. Dri’mèd Drakpa Vimalakirti) is one excellent example of a major non-celibate practitioner from this time. Dri’mèd Drakpa was a non-celibate practitioner – and it was he who defeated the great monastic scholar Shariputra in debate on the subject of emptiness. It could be said that Dri’mèd Drakpa was the prototype Mahasiddha, for not only was he non-

celibate – but he was also a householder and a businessman, thoroughly outwardly immersed in the world of commerce. That his attainment was unimpaired and unimpeded by his so-called ‘worldly’ involvement is the original and most powerful precedent for the non-monastic sangha. In

India the ’dülwa’i dé were associated with the Sthaviras, and the ngak kyi dé were contained within a division of the Mahasanghikas, they both possessed authentic lineages which can be traced back to Shakyamuni Buddha - although they differed in their emphases with regard to practise. A century after Shakyamuni Buddha’s parinirvana a schism became evident at the Vaisali Council between the views of the Sthaviras and the Mahasanghikas. The Sthaviras maintained that liberation from cyclic entrapment necessitated male rebirth and becoming a monk. In

contradistinction, the Mahasanghikas held that enlightenment was available to men and women; and to celibate and non-celibate alike. Their view was based upon the beginningless nondual nature of each individual, and this precluded any sense in which any human existence could be seen as lacking in the primary qualification for liberation. The Mahasanghika sangha was thus the womb of Mahayana and in that tradition it was

eminently possible for non-celibate men and women to be fully fledged practitioners rather than suffering relegation to an inferior position in relation to monasticism. The next historical development—the epoch of the Mahasiddhas—occurred in Northern India between the 3rd and 13th Centuries. This period is crucial with regard to the development of the Ngak kyi dé in Tibet. The Mahasiddha tradition was founded on the

revelations of Mahayana Sutras of the Madhyamaka, Cittamatra, and Yogachara philosophical trends, but their meditational methodologies differed radically from the methodologies which paralleled them in the monastic institutions. The Mahasiddhas (Drüpchen -) were ‘masters of

accomplishment’. A Mahasiddha can be defined as a person who practises drüpthab – method of accomplishment) and who attains both nondual realisation and paranormal capacities. The methodology of the Mahasiddhas arose from visionary revelations. These revelations were the Tantras

which were received from Buddha Shakyamuni manifesting in the form of various Sambhogakaya Yidams. The word drüpthab is often mistaken to mean a liturgical text or chant manual which accompanies the practice of visualisation and mantra. This is indeed a form of drüpthab, the major form of drüpthab - but drüpthab has a wider meaning. Drüpthab means ‘method of accomplishment’, and the genius of the Mahasiddhas lay in the fact that

their teaching conjured with essential Vajrayana principles in relation to the individual and the individual’s predilections. A thief who became the disciple of a Mahasiddha was instructed to steal the entire phenomenal universe in his mind. An indolent was given recumbent practices. Whatever the orientation—be the person a glutton, wastrel, prostitute, king, moron, musician, arrow maker, —all a person required was devotion to the teacher and utter willingness to apply the exact nature of the drüpthab. This Mahasiddha tradition—which existed in parallel to the

monastic tradition in India, was brought to Tibet in the 8th Century by Buddha Padmasambhava who established two wings of ordained practice – the monastic sangha and non-monastic sangha. These two sanghas existed in parallel with each other and were equally respected as pillars of religion in Tibet. There were also significant numbers of female practitioners at this time including the female disciples of Padmasambhava,

renowned teachers in their own right. Yeshé Tsogyel alone is considered to have had over three thousand female disciples in Tibet after Padmasambhava departed – and these were all Ngak kyi dé practitioners. This tradition of ordained non-monastic female teachers continues today in gTérmas such as ours, which also places great emphasis on the methods of the Mahasiddhas. In the Aro gTérma the advanced psychology expressed in the lives and teachings of the Mahasiddhas are explored in the drüpthabs of the 84 Mahasiddhas as visualisation and mantra practices. There

are more female mahasiddhas here than are listed in eth usually cited set of 84, they come from the revealed treasures of Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér – the originator of a small gTérma nested within the Aro gTér. Here, the drüpthabs and their associated hagiographies, bring out the principle and function of individual life in the process of liberation and are uniquely suited to practice in a secular Western context. The Aro gTér also

contains sKu-mNyé – a Dzogchen long-dé cycle of 111 psycho-physical practices for realising non-duality, an exercise and meditation system that supports regular short solitary retreats that can be integrated into family and working commitments. But arguably the most important aspect of the gTérma is the mKha’ ’gro dPa bo nyi zLa me long rGyud – the tantra of the mirror that reflects the sun and moon of the khandros and pawos –

an essential teaching on vajra romance as an approach to the nondual state of liberated awareness. Family environments in which kindness, openness and an enthusiasm for life are exemplified, are needed for there to be peace and harmony in the world and for these qualities to exist

as examples for children, men and women need greater respect and appreciation for each other. According to the teachings of the Khandro dPa’wo

Nyida Mélong Gyüd for a Ngakpa, one of the most important vows is never to disparage women. For Ngakpas, women are the source of wisdom, and the practice of a Ngakpa is to see the phenomenal world as female – as wisdom-display. When the world is seen as the scintillating dance of the khandros, the inner khandro is incited. The vow for a Ngakma is to regard the entire phenomenal world as male – as method-display. Men and women who enter into this reality, relate with each other through appreciation of the dance of inner and outer qualities. When we waken to the nature

of our inner qualities, we are able to mirror each other. We are able to undermine each other’s conditioning rather than entrenching each other in dualistic patterns. If we can catch the reflection of our inner qualities before we have begun to concretise them, then romantic relationship is the most remarkable opportunity that life has to offer. The Khandro Pawo teachings provide the methodology for realising this opportunity.

That is why Ja’gyür is my teacher. And why Métsal is mine. We have so much more to say about the go-kar chang lo de, and in particular about the wealth of teachings and practices of the Aro gTér, the emphasis that is placed on the Arts and creativity that extends into all aspects of life for example, and importantly the emphasis that is placed on female teachers and teaching couples – so we hope we get a chance to talk with many of you over the course of the conference. Thank you.