Dakini Teachings: A Collection of Padmasambhavas Advice to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal by Padmasambhava

Dakini Teachings: A Collection of Padmasambhavas Advice to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal Reviews

• 
  Scott

  I got this book because I got curious about dakinis, female deities that originated in India, but are now widely adored in Tibet.
  
  Tulku Urgyen wrote an introduction which, though short, is packed with information about Tibetan deities. Basically, all these multiplicities of gods are inter-emanating. "The real wisdom Dakini is the empty quality of luminous wakefulness," Urgyen writes.
  
  He says perception is the "male" aspect of our consciousness, but notes that the "empty" quality within our perception is a "female" quality. "Thus the great mother of Dharmakaya [Prajnaparamita] is the basis for all the dakinis."
  
  There are three roots to Tibetan spiritual practice, Urgyen says, Guru, Yidam and Dakini. The guru is the teacher. The yidam is the deity which one visualizes oneself to be. The dakini is the protector.
  
  Yeshe Tsogyal, the consort of Padmasambhava, is also his manifestation as one of the five dakini emanations of Vajra Yogini.
  
  Urgyen classifies dakinis into 3 groups: Wisdom-, activity- and mundane-dakinis. The wisdom dakinis are Prajnaparamita, Vajra Varahi and her 5 emanations, and Arya Tara. These three are emanations of the primordial ground of emanation, the empty quality within all perceptions, aka Samantabhadri. Her dharmakaya (truth body) emanation is Prajnaparamita; her sambhogakaya (luminous body) emanation is Vajravarahi; her nirmanakaya (physical) emanation is Arya Tara, who emanates as Yeshe Tsogyal.
  
  Urgyen adds that the mundane dakinis dwell in 64 specific locations: 32 major sacred areas, 24 minor sacred valleys, and the 8 charnel grounds. But these 64 locations also refer to centers of our physical bodies, where the dakinis dwell as energies.
• 
  Mike S

  This is the best book I've come across that describes the proper approach to meditation and spiritual development using Tibetan Buddhism as taught by Padmasambhava, aka Rinpoche or Padmakara. The chapters are jam packed with information, fast paced, and often fascinating.
• 
  Mike

  The "Secret Teachings" are the best advice for experiential practice I've yet to find. Taken in concert with recent re-readings of other classical texts, The Dakini Teachings gets uprated to five stars!
• 
  Aura

  I'm done with it. Best guide on how to understand that you are not doing your spiritual practice well no matter what you're doing. F**k off, really.
• 
  Deborah Fassel

  Full of wisdom and profound teachings.
• 
  Mani Raj

  it's really nice!