Vajrayogini

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Painted 19th century Tibetan mandala of the Naropa tradition, Vajrayogini stands in the center of two crossed red triangles, Rubin Museum of Art
Painted 19th century Tibetan mandala of the Naropa tradition, Vajrayogini stands in the center of two crossed red triangles, Rubin Museum of Art
Chakrasamvara wth Vajravarahi
Chakrasamvara wth Vajravarahi
Tibetan Board Carving of Varjayogini Dakini
Tibetan Board Carving of Varjayogini Dakini

Vajrayogini or Vajravarahi (Tibetan: Dorje Naljorma, English: the Vajra yogini; also Tibetan: Dorje Phagmo, Wylie: rdo-rje phag-mo, English: the Vajra Sow) is a dakini, a tantric Buddhist ishta-deva (Tib. yidam). Her sadhana (practice) originated in India between the 10th and 12th century. It evolved from the Chakrasamvara sadhana, where Vajrayogini appears as his yab-yum consort, to become a stand-alone practice of anuttarayoga tantra in its own right.[1]

Vajrayogini is often associated with triumph over ignorance as well as with abandonment (one of her hidden aspects is Varuni[citation needed], Hindu goddess of alcohol and intoxication). Vajrayogini is key to the advanced sadhana of Chöd. Vajrayogini is visualized as the translucent, deep red form of a 16 years old female with the third eye of wisdom set vertically on her forehead. Iconographically, Vajrayogini, like most of the Dakini, is often signified with the investiture of Digambar. She is often pictured with a sow and is an important deity for tantric initiation, especially for new initiates -- Vajrayogini's practice is said to be well-suited to those with strong desirous attachment, and to those living in the current "degenerate age". Her consort is Chakrasamvara, who is often depicted as a spear on Vajrayogini's shoulder. The seven-headed form of Vajrayogini is similar to the Hindu goddess Chinnamasta.[2] Vajrayogini is the yidam that a meditator identifies with when practicing Six yogas of Naropa

In Tibet the abbess of Samding monastery, on the shores of the Yamdrok Tso Lake near Gyantse, was traditionally a tulku of Dorje Phagmo.[3] The current incarnation resides in Lhasa.[4]

Contents

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ English (2002)
  2. ^ Bernard, Elizabeth Anne (2000). Chinnamasta: The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric (Buddhist Tradition). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-8120817487. 
  3. ^ Tashi Tsering, A Preliminary Reconstruction of the Successive Reincarnations of Samding Dorje Phagmo; The Foremost Woman Incarnation of Tibet , Youmtsho - Journal of Tibetan Women's Studies, no. 1, pp.20-53.
  4. ^ Pamela Logan, Tulkus in Tibet, Harvard Asia Quarterly, Vol. VIII, No. 1. Winter 2004.

[edit] References

  • English, Elizabeth (2002). Vajrayogini: Her Visualizations, Rituals, & Forms. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-329-X

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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