{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/tib/tsogyel.htm","path":"bud/tib/tsogyel.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/tsogyel.htm","text":"From: Thyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com\nNewsgroups: soc.religion.eastern\nDate: 24 May 1993 22:50:50 -0700\nWhat follows are materials received at a Nyingma Empowerment\nof Yeshe Tsogyel on May 4th, 1993, as well as some supplemental\nmaterials to aid in the understanding of the tradition as a whole.\nCompiled 930524, Tyagi Nagasiva\n---------------------------------------------------------\nContents [All reproduced without permission, capitalization intact.]\nA. Empowerment Readings\nB. Yeshe Tsogyel Awareness-spell\nC. Empowerment Handouts\nD. Supplemental Notes and Comments\n________________________________________\nA. Empowerment Readings:\n_________________________________________\n1.\nEmpowerment of Khando Chenmo Yeshe Tsogyel\nThe Female Tantric Buddha\nThe Practice of the Yeshe Tsogyel Awareness-spell encourages the\nStrong Laughter of the Dakinis as an aspect of one's existence. This\nmeans that one's circumstances become vivid with opportunities for\nPractices, and electric with the immanent possibilities of Liberation.\nWith this practice there is the innate encouragement to be vital and\nalive in each moment, to experience a nakedness of perception and the\ndynamic continuity of 'the inescapeability [sic] of *what is*'. The\nCompletion Phase Practice of Khandro Chenmo Yeshe Tsogyel is to\nrealize Transference of consciousness at the time of Death to the\nRealised Sphere of her own mind, known as 'o-kar Kang-ri - the Mountain\nof White Light.'\n2.\nWaning Moon and Yeshe Tsogyel Tsog-khorlo Envisionment\n>From within the Lucid Shining Emptiness of my own Being,\nI instantly arise in the Iridescent Form of the Great Enlightened Dakini;\nKhandro Chenmo Yeshe Tsogyel. My Gaze is at once Soft and Penetrating;\nCompassionate yet Playfully Wrathful, in token of my ability [to]\ninfuse all circumstances with vivid opportunities for Realisation.\nMy Wide Open Eyes Sparkle with the Electricity of Existence\nand Non-existence and communicate the immanence of Liberation\nfor all Yogis and Yoginis.\nMy mouth is open and my tongue is flickering.\nMy Strong Laughter overpowers all dualistic conceptions.\nMy hair is wound up in a Yogini's bun on top of my head\nand ornamented with a golden takdrol topped with a flaming skull.\nI am naked in token of utter lack of pretension and complete fearlessness.\nI am open to the entire universe and the inescapability of what is.\nI wear the six human bone cemetery ornaments\nto show that I have accomplished the six Tantric Vehicles;\nand, as the sign that I have passed beyond all relative constraints.\nI wear the Conch Yogini earrings, and Sit on a Tiger skin\nin display of my mastery of all Siddhis.\nIn my left hand I hold the skull bowl;\nsymbol of the Transformed emotions, and of Wisdom.\nThe white bone of the skull is the Male Quality of Spacious Passion.\nThe red frothing oceans of menstrual blood within the skull bowl\nis the Female Quality of Passionate Space.\nI cradle the Khatvangha trident in the crook of my left arm.\nThe three points of the khatvanga\npierce the fabric of attraction, aversion and indifference.\nThe secret Nature of the Khatvangha is Padhmasambhava\nwho is my Secret Inner Method nature.\nIn my right hand I hold the golden Five Pronged Wrathful Vajra,\nwith which I overpower all apparent phenomena in Bliss-Emptiness.\nI sit in the Dzogchen Yogini's posture: in Display of the natural condition,\nin which everything relaxes into its own condition of Primal Purity.\nMy right foot is extended in token of my ability\nto enter swiftly into Activity for the benefit\nof Everyone and Everything Everywhere.\n___________________________________________\nB. Yeshe Tsogyel Awareness-spell\nOM A'A HUNG BENDZRA GURU JNANA SAGARA\nBAM HA RI NI SA SIDDHI HUNG\n____________________________________________\n____________________________________________\nC. Empowerment Handouts\n____________________________________________\n1. Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche - biographic details\n[Bolds and italics not reproduced in either of these.]\nNgakpa Chogyam Rinpoche is an English-born Lama, recognized as the second\nIncarnation of the Tantric Yogi 'a-Shul Pema Ledgen, by His Holiness Kyabje\nKhordong Terchen Tulku Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche (Holder of the Chang-Ter\nand Khordong-Ter Lineages of the Nyingma School).\nThe Nyingma are the oldest Tradition of Tantra in Tibet, and the one most\ndirectly associated with Padmasambhava (the Second Buddha who brought\nTantra to Tibet).\nThe Nyingma are the Holders of the Dzogchen Teaching - the most Direct\nand Essential Path of the Three Inner Tantras. The Inner Tantras of the\nNyingma are unique in the richness and simplicity of their View and Method,\nand Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche is becoming increasingly well known for his\nauthentic yet radical presentation of these Ancient Spiritual Treasure\nTeachings.\nKyabje Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche (Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche's Root Teacher -\nSpiritual Father) is one of the Great Tertons of this century. The Tertons\nare Revealers of the Hidden Spiritual Treasures of Padmasambhava,\nmystically sealed (through his Enlightened Mind-Mandate) to be Discover\n[sic] at future times. These Astonishing Teachings were Hidden for future\nDiscovery with the Intention that the Nyingma Tradition would never grow\nstale, but would continually address the current situation of people in\nthe world. Ter are encoded in the Secret Dakini Script of Khandro Yeshe\nTsogyel (the Enlightened Tibetan Woman - Yogini and mystic consort of\nPadmasambhava) and they come to light whenever the Tradition is in\ndanger of stagnating through the human cultural tendency to atrophication.\nTer re-vitalise the entire Tradition in terms of its poignant relevance\nto our times. The Tertons (Incarnations of the twenty-five Disciples of\nPadmasambhava) are predicted to appear at various times to reveal\nTeachings, and these Great Lamas are the living fire of the Nyingma School.\nBy making contact with such Lamas we are brought into Direct contact\nwith the Mind Speech and Presence of Padmasambhava as a potent personal\nreality; and this is seldom more true than in the case of Kyabje Chhimed\nRigdzin Rinpoche. Kyabje Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche (the Incarnation of\none of the twenty-five disciples, called Kye-chung Lotsa) is one of the\nfew major living Tertons; and has (in his present life as Terchen Zilngon\nLingpa) discovered many powerful and extraordinary Ter.\nIn his last life, he was known as Khalding Lingpa and in that life Ngakpa\nChogyam Rinpoche was a Heart-Son of this MahaSiddha and Great Terton\n(referred to earlier in this text as 'a-Shul Pema Legden). 'a-Shul Pema\nLegden was Khalding Lingpa's Visionary Artist and Ter-scribe and worked\nwith him very closely.\n'a-Shul Pema Legden, a monk-Yogi, was inpired to renounce his monastic\nvows late in life in order to spend his remaining years in the company of\na young wandering Yogini.\nHis Incarnation, Aro Yeshe, spent his short life as Togden in a Gar (Yogic\ntent encampment) on the Tibetan-Nepalese border, where he instructed his\ndisciples according to his own Visionary Revelations.\nIn this life, Rinpoche recognized his connection with the Tradition of\nPadmasambhava whilst still relatively young, but only in a rather abstract\nsense as all overt reminders were absent in his life. It took until he was\nfifteen before he met with the actuality of the Tibetan Tantric Tradition\nof the Wrathful Awareness-Beings in books of Thangka paintings. From that\ntime onward he sought out information on Tibet from as many available\nsources as he could determine. This eventually led him to travel to the\nHimalayas, where he received Tantric Teachings and Empowerments with\nLamas of each of the Tibetan Schools. This enabled him, not only to\ndevelop a profound appreciation for all the Schools but also to\nre-establish his link with the Nyingma White Tradition.\nLamas of the White Tradition take Tantric rather than Sutric ordination,\nand are therefore not required to be celibate or abstemious. Their vows\nare primarily Internal, but among their various external commitments is\ntheir characteristic sign of having un-cut hair. White Tradition Lamas\nare called Ngakpas (or Ngakmas in the case of women). The word 'Ngakpa'\nliterally means: Mantra man, and indicates someone who has gained the\npower of mantra (Awareness-spell) through Practice.\nRinpoche took his Ngakpa ordination and Empowerments (in which he received\nhis robes) from Kyabje Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche in 1978 and was acknowledged\nas a Spiritual Son. Although Kyabje Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche recognised him\nimmediately as 'a-Shul Pema Legden, he waited until 1988 before letting\nRinpoche know due to the time having previously been inauspicious. It was at\nthis later time also that Rinpoche was Empowered with the authority to wear\nthe Tak-drol ornament (Liberation on Wearing) in his hair in recognition of\nhis ability.\nWhilst in the Himalayas, he undertook several long solitary retreats and\nfollowed the instruction to practice in wild and fearful places. He\npracticed under the guidance of several Lamas who were highly accomplished\nTantric Adepts and Masters of Dzogchen. Through his training he underwent\nvarious terrifying ordeals during the Practice of Chod (the charnal-ground\nPractice of Cutting Attachment to both subtle and overt reference points -\nthe personal demons that devour our life-energy life energy [sic].\nIn 1983, he returned to Britain to be able to help people interested follow\nthe Path of the Nyingma White Tradition. In returning, he determined to make\nit possible for ordinary people to practice in an urban Western context.\nHe was initially requested to Teach at the Lam-rim Buddhist Centre in Wales\nby his old friend Ven. Ani Tsultrim Zangmo la - who had received nuns' robes\nfrom H.H. Gyalwa Karmapa in the early 1960's. From the first public Teaching\nenthusiastic requests came for him to Teach regularly in Cardiff, Wales.\nWithin a year a group of personal students gathered around him and\n\"Sang-ngak-cho-dzong\" was established.\nThis name was given to Rinpoche and his students by His Holiness Kyabje\nJigdrel Yeshe Dorje Dudjom Rinpoche (the late Supreme Head of the Nyingma\nSchool) and means: Secret Awareness-spell Fortress. \"Sang-ngak-cho-dzong\"\nhas become a highly individual association of people enthusiastically\ncommitted to the establishment of the Nyingma White Tradition in the West.\nThey study and Practice under the guidance of Rinpoche (who has devised\nan Apprenticeship programme for their training) and integrate the Practice\nof the Nyingma Inner Tantras with their everyday working and family\nlives. Rinpoche has evolved a fiercely gleeful approach, combined\nwith a humorous sensitivity to life-issues of people in the West.\nRinpoche is the author of 'Rainbow of Liberated Energy' (1986), and\n'Journey into Vastness' (1989).\nHe is currently engaged with the writing of his third book, entitled:\n'Wearing the Body of Visions', which deals with the Visionary Practices\nof the Kye-rim phase of Inner Tantra.\nHe has contributed several chapters to books on the psychology/Buddhism\ninterface (notably 'Space in Mind') and given interviews to a variety of\nmagazines in the spheres of Buddhism, psychology, shamanism, health,\nalternative medicine, spirituality and creativity. He has a variety of\nmedia appearances (notably in the Observer and the BBC Television\ndocumentary: 'The Lotus and the Leek'; a film on Tibetan Buddhism in\nWales). Rinpoche has given a number of key-note addresses at\ninternational conferences, such as the British Psychological Society\n(1986) and SEN/Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (1990).\nAn unusual aspect of Rinpoche's Teaching, is that he has committed himself\nto working with a relatively small number of personal students (called\nApprentices) for whom he gives Apprentice Retreats.\nHe also gives Open Teaching Retreats in order to introduce wider audiences\nto the methods of the Nyingma Inner Tantras. Rinpoche travels widely at\nthe invitation of various institutions and individuals and is keen to\nestablish links between his Tradition and the Arts. He is enthusiastically\nengaged in making available the powerful Teachings that have long been\nobscured by both cultural and academic barriers, and in making it possible\nfor people to integrate their Practice with the life-styles that are common\nin the West.\nHe is a Tantric artist, calligrapher, poet, singer and healer. His\ncalligraphies have been exhibited at a number of galleries and have been\ncommissioned for the covers of several books and magazines. In 1989, he\nwas awarded a Doctorate (by the International Nyingma Society, founded by\nHis Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche) in Tibetan Tantric Psychology. In November\n1990 Rinpoche Discovered a Crystal Sphere (Shel-kar) buried in the sacred\nhill of Swayambhu (Katmandu, Nepal). This Miraculous Object was\nsubsequently validated as Ter of Padmasambhava by both His Holiness\nDilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and His Holiness Kyabje Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche.\nRinpoche is a personal friend and Vajra-brother of Lama Sonam Sangpo\nRinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. With his Vajra-Brothers, he shares\nthe wish that in these difficult times all those who Teach the precious\nVajrayana Traditions should work together to encourage harmony and\nenthusiasm for the Spacious-Passion of the Teachings.\nRinpoche's work is to present the Essence of the Tantric View of Life as a:\ndynamic yet subtle; spacious yet grounded path - free of the current\nspiritual biases toward: fantasy, 'meaningful' cosiness, thirst for\nintensity, or the spiritualisation of neurosise. [sic]\n\"If you were to fall to your death from a very great height;\nit would be a shame not to enjoy the view as you fell,\nor to appreciate the wind in your hair\nand the warmth of the sun in your face.\nTo Practice Tantra is to Ride the Tiger of Crazy Wisdom:\nto plummet into Wisdom-Fire, and emerge\nWearing the Body of Visions!\"\nNgakpa Chogyam Rinpoche\n2. 'Friends of Sang-ngak-cho-dzong'\n\"Sang-ngak-cho-dzong\" was named by His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche.\nIt is an association of those who follow the Nyingma White Tradition\nunder the guidance of Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche. The purpose of becoming\na 'Friend of Sang-ngak-cho-dzong' is to be able to remain in contact with\nNgakpa Chogyam Rinpoche without becoming an Apprentice (see\nApprenticeship Information and Application Form).\nThe White Tradition\nThe White Lineages of the Nyingma School are sometimes known as the\nhouse-holder or nonmonastic traditions. These are the Lineages that\nowe their inspiration to Padmasambhava (the Tantric Buddha) and touch,\nmore than any other, on integration with everyday life. Many great Siddhas\nin these Linneages have been nomads or farmers. There have been great\nTeachers who have been illiterate, yet who have bequeathed Teachings\nwhich have occupied scholars for centuries. Many important Lamas of\nthis Tradition (men and women) have been family people, whose family\nlives have demonstrated the Essence of the Teaching in its most profound\nrespects. The Inner Tantra Teachings and practice-style of the White\nTradition could obviously be of immense benefit to us in the West today;\nbut sadly it is not widely known or made available.\nInner Tantra\nThe Inner Tantras of the Nyingma School provide profound methods for\nrealisation in one life-time. The Maha-yoga and Anu-yoga provide methods\nwhich transform the energy of the individual through Vision and Inner Sound;\nand Ati-yoga, enables us (through direct introduction by the Lama) to\nexplode the confines of conventional reality. Within the Yogic Lineages\nof the White Tradition there exist a startling variety of psycho-physical\nmethods which are brilliant in their simplicity and dynamic effectiveness.\nThis rich vibrant tradition needs to be preserved. The lives of the Lamas\nof this tradition (especially those who are now old) need to be recorded\nand their inspirational Teaching-stories related. To provide information\none the White Tradition, and the Teaching work of Rinpoche, we publish\n'Hidden Word'.\n'Hidden Word' the journal.\n'Friends of Sang-ngak-cho-dzong' are on our mailing list, and always find\nout when and where courses or retreats given by Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche\nwill be held; well in advance. You will also receive a copy of our journal\n'Hidden Word' which is produced twice a year. 'Hidden Word' is the journal\nof \"Sang-ngak-cho-dzong\". It provides information on the White Tradition\nof the Nyingma School (White Lineages of the Kagyud and Sakya Schools,\noccasionally, will also be featured).\nRinpoche is dedicated to the establishment of a White Tradition of Ngakphang\n& Nalphang Practitioners based upon integration with life as it's lived for\nmost people in our times. 'Hidden Word' contains occasional Teachings given\nby Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche, and by his Tsa-wa'i Lama - H.H. Kyabje Khordong\nTerchen Tulku Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche. 'Hidden Word' contains occasional\ninterviews with Rinpoche's Vajra Brothers and Sister: Sonam Sangpo Rinpoche,\nTharchin Rinpoche and Khandro Tendzin Dolkar. Each edition contains an\ninterview and/or Teaching with Ngakpa Chogyam Rinpoche.\nIt will contain information from rare sources; together with illustrations,\nline drawings and photographs of the Tradition.\nParticipation.\nAs a 'Friend of Sang-ngak-cho-dzong' you will be actively supporting the\nmany objectives of establishing this Ancient Tradition in a manner that can\nbe accessed for the benefit of people with jobs and families. These aims\ninclude Teacher-training programmes, which will enable more people to\nhave access to Western Lamas within this Tradition.\nWe are at this time engaged in the task of raising the necessary funds for\nestablishing a retreat place, which will be called \"Tigers' Nest\" after\nthe meditation cave where Padmasambhava manifersted [sic] Dorje Trollo.\n(This will become the permanent home for this style of Teaching and\nPractice.) Any contributions, therefore, are warmly welcomed - however\nsmall. Charitable status is currently in process of application and\nshould be obtained by the end of 1992.\nAnnual Subscription Sliding scale, dependant [sic] upon income:\nU.K. P10-P100 / U.S.A. $20-$200 / Germany DM35-DM350\nDonations (regular or one-off) of larger sums by generous benefactors\nare very much welcomed. Such sums could facilitate many important\nprojects that we are as yet unable to undertake.\nPlease do not send foreign currency in the post.\nPlease send subscription (CHEQUE/ INTERNATIONAL MONEY ORDER) to\nRevd. Ngakchung Nordzin Lhamo\nThe Administrative Secretary,\n'Sang-ngak-cho-dzong'\n5, Court Close,\nWhitchurch, Cardiff Cf4 1JR\nWales, U.K.\ntelephone: 0222 620332\nFor information on the Apprenticeship Programme, please write to:\nRinchen Khandro,\nThe Apprenticeship Secretary,\n14, Wickham Gardens,\nLondon SE4 1LY\nEngland.\nOr, in the U.S.A. to:\nLisa Grant\n1020 Stannage Street\nAlbany, California 94760.\nTelephone: (415) 526-7510.\nLocal contact for the Teachings of Ngakpa Rinpoche in the U.S.A.\nPlease send a large Stamped Addressed Envelope if writing within the U.K.\nor U.S.A. - (or a large Self-Addressed Envelope with international reply\ncoupons if writing to the U.K. and in need of a reply.)\n____________________________________________\nD. Supplemental Notes and Comments [My comments are in brackets. - Tyagi]:\n____________________________________________\n\"Yeshe Tsogyel... Tib., lit. 'Princess of the Wisdom Lake,' 757-817;\nintimate companion of Padmasambhava and the most important female\nfigure in the tradition of the Nyingmapa school. Named for a miracle\nthat occurred at the time of her birth, the rising of a nearby lake....\nPadmasambhava took her as his consort and transmitted to her\nparticularly the teachings of the *phurba* cycle. Yeshe Tsogyel\ncodified countless of her guru's teachings in *terma* texts and\nalso composed his biography. In the last part of her life she was\nactive mainly in east Tibet. She is venerated up to the present\nday as a *dakini*.\"\n_The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen_, by Fischer-Schreiber,\nEhrhard, and Diener, transl. by Michael Kohn, Shambhala Pubs. Inc., 1991;\npage 253.\n\"Phurba... Tib., lit. 'nail, wedge'; a dagger for subduing demons\nintroduced into the ritual of Tibetan Buddhism by Padmasambhava.\nAs a system for the direct transmutaton of negative forces, it plays\na central role in a system of meditative practice that was transmitted\nby Yeshe Tsogyel. The actual *phurba* is a three-edged knife with a\nhandle in the shape of half of a *dorje*....\n\"The origin of the *phurba* is associated with a long Tantra presented\nby Padmasambhava at the beginning of his journey to Tibet. A deity\npersonified as a *phurba* plays an important role as a *yidam* in the\nSakyapa and Nyingmapa schools;...\" Ibid, page 170.\n\"Dakini...Skt.; in Indian folk belief, a female demon to be found in the\ncompany of gods; in Vajrayana Buddhism, the inspiring power of\nconsciousness, usually depicted in the iconography as a wrathful\nnaked female figure (forms of manifestation). As semiwrathful or\nwrathful *yidam*, the dakini has the task of integrating the powers\nliberated by the practitioner in the process of visualization\n(*sadhana*). In Tibetan, *dakini* is translated as *khadroma*.\n*Kha* means 'celestial space,' emptiness (*shunyata*) become\nan image; *dro* has the meaning of walking and moving about;\n*ma* indicates the feminine gender in substantive form. Thus the\n*khadroma* is a female figure that moves on the highest level\nof reality; her nakedness symbolizes knowledge of truth unveiled.\nThe homeland of the *dakinis* is said to be the mystic realm of\nUrgyen [aka Shambhala].\" Ibid, page 50.\n\"Yidam... Tib., lit. 'firm mind'; in Vajrayana Buddhism, a term for a\npersonal deity, whose nature corresponds to the individual\npsychological makeup of the practitioner. *Yidams* are manifestations\nof the *sambhogakhaya* [buddha-body of delight] and are visualized\nin meditative practice (*sadhana*), i.e. perceived with the inner eye.\nThey can take on either a peaceful or wrathful form of manifestation....\n\"Tibetan Buddhism does not particularly regard *yidam* as protective\ndeities (as the personal deities...are regarded in Hindu Tantra); rather\ntheir function is as an aid in the transformative process in which the\npractitioner comes to acknowledge his or her own basic personality\nstructure. The *yidams* also serve to bring the practitioner to a\nsense of ultimate connection with the traditional lineage whose\nteaching he or she follows....\n\"In the Tibetan pantheon, male and female deities are also represented\nin union (*yab-yum*), as, for example, the male deities Chakrasamvara\nand Vajrabhairava with their consorts....\" Ibid, page 253.\n\"Following many trials, Tsogyel eventually received full initiation\ninto the Tantra and was transformed into a 'Sky-walker,' a female adept\nof the highest order. Padmasambhava said to her, 'The basis for realizing\nenlightenment is a human body. Male or female, there is no great\ndifference. But if she develops the mind bent on enlightenment, the\nwoman's body is better.\n\"For many years thereafter, Tsogyel worked for the good of all - feeding\nthe hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, instructing the\nignorant, and 'giving her sexual parts to the lustful.'...\n\"Tsogyel also married a leper and served him as a model wife. She died at\na great age, and is now venerated as Tibet's top female Tantric master.\"\n_Lust For Enlightenment: Buddhism and Sex_, by John Stevens, Shambhala\nPubs. Inc., 1990; pages 70-72.\n**************** - FIN - OM MANI PADME HUM - FIN -*****************\nCompleted in dedication to Kali-Ma, Queen of Dakinis, on this day, 930524.\nThyagi@HouseofKaos.Abyss.com\nTyagi Nagasiva\nHouse of kaOS\n871 Ironwood Drive\nSan Jose, CA 95125-2815\n=============================================================================\n--\nBarry Kapke, director | \"All that we are | INTERNET: dharma@netcom.com\nDharmaNet International | is the result of | FIDONET: 1:125/33.0\nP.O. Box 4951 | what we have thought.\" | BBS: (510) 836-4717\nBerkeley, CA 94704-4951 | (BUDDHA) | VOICEMAIL: (510) 465-7403","title":"Nyingma Empowerment","type":"page"}