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    Yeshe Tsogyal

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    38 views13 pages

    Rita Gross On Yeshe Tsogyal

    Uploaded by

    Ivette Vargas
    Yeshe Tsogyal

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 13
    Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet Edited by Janice D. Willis Snow Lion Publications Ithaca, New York 10 Feminine Grownd accurate pictures of the Tibetan woman's social weed. Though fc portraits we may get beter (and cern fll) pi {ure of Tibeun society as a whole Following Dr. Ass esy come two pieces which cus on ‘Tibetan ns. My own essay, Tibewn An's The Nun's Life in Tibet! is itended both as a challenge othe overly lic and idealized picture of Buddhist monastery ely ‘ester travelers ad thee “caita-centered view” of Tibet's monastic institutions; and as a counterbalance which aims at Jnicatng the varity and Next ofthe forms of religious practice actually observed in Tibet, especially as these relate to the practices of five trent century Tibetan ans. ‘The concluding esay, by Karma Lekshe Tsomo, nt only {informs us about such issues asthe current status ofthe nun's cfiation in Tibean Buddhism, but alo provides us with 4 descriptive analysis of « numberof comtemporary Tibean tuunnris in Tndia and Nepal “io yeas have gone by since this project was first begun. ave learns ot from my pare ini Ts may hope thatthe reader will ikewise prot from i | 1. Yeshe Teogyel: Enlightened Consort, Great Teacher, Female Role Model Rita M. Gross ‘Recently, two English translations of Yeshe Teogye’s biogra- phy have been published." They constitute an imporant = source for those interested in Tibetan Vairayna Buddhism who do not read Tibetan, Yeshe Tsogyel, probably Tibet's most influential end famous female religious teacher and one of the ‘world’s mos significant female religious exemplars, lived in the eighth century C.E. An important teacher in her own ight, she was also in her early lif, the student of Paskmasambhave as well as one of his principal consort until he left Tibet. Pad- ‘masambhava is a semi-legendary figure, the first great tantric master to come from India to Tibet to teach Vajraydna Buddhism ‘This text isso provocative and intriguing that scholars and theologians with many interests can profitably study it, thereby ‘enriching their reflections and thei scholarship, I come to this text a8 an historian of religions, a feminist theologian, and a practitioner of Vajraydn Buddhism. Iam primarily interested inthe texts hagiography and I will be using tin the way the hagiography traditionally fonctions—as inspiration to student practitioners who look to the great teachers as role model, 12 Feminine Ground However, many of my concerns and conclusions are not tadi- ‘ional ‘The tet is both dificult and provocative. Despite many years of the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism, I often found the text difficult because ofthe ineviable Vajrayana technical language that preserves the inner secrets ofthe oral tradition ‘while revealing the outer level of information, If this tet is ficult for someone with some access to Vajraina orl tra- dition, T do not know wha it would be like for someone with line knowledge, especially practical knowledge, of Tibetan Vai ‘aydna Buddhisin. At times, when Teogye’s various practices ‘and initiations ae described, the text may read to an outsider like the book of Leviticus. On the other hand, in terms of the sheer story line T have never read a similar story and find it quite fascinating, ‘Anyone familar with the basic mythic outline ofthe hero's lif and with the lif of Siddhartha Gautama and other great ‘Buddhist exemplars will immediately recogaize that Tsgyel’s lifestory manifests those patterns. In addition, the biography is characterized by a strong element of the kind of sacred his- ‘ory typical of Tibetan historical writing. fn sacred history the story is told from the point of view of enlightenment and nar- srs the emergence of primordally enlightened mind into phe- ‘nomena realty. Thus many events in Trgyel’s biography are told on two levels—on a mythic” level narating the lie of | ‘great human religious tacher and on the level of sacred history" narrating how enlightenment manifested in the form, of Togyel. These two forms of the story can seem far apart snd the "sacred history” i often based on esoteric concept, ‘Toogye's biography is divided into eight chapters. Their tes, parephrsed or quoted from Tarthang Talk's translation, summarize well her lif history. (1) “Yeshe Taogyel sees that the time has come for her to teach and spear in the world”— ‘which narrates, on the esoteric level, the story of her concep- tion. (2) “The arrival and manifestation of Yeshe Tzogye! in the land of Tibet""—which narrates Togyel's exoterie human ‘conception and birth, (3) "Yeshe Teogyel recognizes the im- Yishe Tiogel 13, permanence of al things and relies upon a teacher”"—which narrates Tiogyel’s filed attempts to aveid conventional mar- riage, her sullring within conventional marriage, and her even- ‘wal union with her guru, Padmasembhava, (8) “Yeshe Tsogyel asks her teacher for instruction in the Dharma”"—which nat- sates Tsogyel’s early training and her acquisition, by buying hhim out of slavery, of principal consort, Atsara Sale. (5) “The ‘manner in which TBogye did her practices""—which narrates ‘Tog!’ solitary three-year practice in a caveat the snow line of a Himalayan mountain, the incredible austerity and dis cipline of those years, and the sexual and ather fantasies that ‘were part of her experience in those years. (6) “A summary ofthe auspicious signs which occurred as Yeshe Tyogyel prac- ‘iced and the sidihis she manifested after achieving realiza- tion." (7) “The manner in which Yeshe Tsogyel acted to ben ft sentient beings”—which narrates Thogy!’s enlightened compassionate sctivtes throughout her life. Finally, 8) “How ‘Yeshe TBogyel reached her goal, achieved Bucdhahood and en- tered the expanse of all that is." Out of the wealth of her story Ihave chosen to focus here on Taogyel's relational ie, ‘specially focusing on how her relational life intersects with hher practice and her eventual achievement of enlightenment and Buddhahood. Iniilly Thad thought I would focus only ‘on her relationships as consort, but I found her relationships with women so interesting that T also want to include them in my discussion, ‘In my reading, the single most dominant theme inthe story ‘of Thogyt’s relational fe sth single-mindedness with which ‘relationships are seen, not as ends in themselves, but as as ‘or detriments on the path of practice wo Tugyel's even rel- zation of Buddhahood. When Tsogyel is portrayed as consort to Padmasimbhava the emphasis is on how the relationship fosters her spiritual taining and development, not on thet hypothetical erotic relationship or on how she meets Pade ‘masambhava’s needs. Similarly her relationships with various ‘other consors foster her own spiritual development aswell as ‘theirs. They are not primarily ervic encounters to meet quasi 14 Feminine Grond intinetual needs, The consort-atonship develops both part: pers in thei spirituality which, though no different from or- inary physical existence, nevertheless pushes people beyond conventional habitual patterns into luminous awareness of the sacredness inherent in ordinary experience. Her relationships with women were similarly oriented to practice and realiza- tion. Tsogyel is sen either as the discoverer and teacher of talented female practitioners or a sster-adept of other highly developed women. In several episdes of her biography Tsogyel and other female adepts mect, share teachings with one a other, and delight in each other's dharmic company. ‘This overarching theme in Tsogyel’s relational life is fore- shadowed already in the esoteric story of her conception— “Tyogye! saw the need for beings tobe taught and manifested in the world:"5 Seen from the viewpoint of enlightenment narrated in sored history, hogyel is a multilayered being. Her Dhamakiya manifestation is Samantabhadsi—primondial ‘Buddhahood; her Sambhogahiya manifestation i Vara ‘one ofthe most important yi dam-s (personal, non theistic dei- es) of Tiber; in the Nirmanahaya, the apparition-body of ar slinary human form, she is Yeshe Togye, eighth century Tibet- fan woman, great teacher, enlightened consort. Seen from the other side, this Tibetan woman who exerted herself on the path of practice and atained Buddhahood in a single lifetime ‘manifests the inherent Sumblogakiva and Dkarmalaiva quali- ties of al beings and all experience. To appreciate Tsogyel’s lite, i is necessary always to read and heat the story on many’ levels at once, especially on the levels of both myth and sa cred history ‘According tothe narrative of her prehistory, Thogyel, asa Jady-merchant appeared before a previous Buddha and ex- pressed her vow never to be reborn except to benefit beings. ‘Eventually she became the (Hindu) Goddess Ganga, revered Sakyarmuni Buddha and became the (Hindu) Goddess Saras- vad. Then, according tothe text, Paimasambhava reflected, “Now isthe time for the Goddess Sarasati to manifest and hhelp me spread the Mantrayina teachings,”” which led to Yeske Tiopel 15 ‘Togye!’s human conception and birth. At the same time, on another level, her Samblogakiva level, Tsogyel is quintessen. tilly understood as the speech emanation of Varaviraht (a slightly more esoteric form of Vajrayogini). Vajavarahr, Uke ‘ost runs and i dams, takes five emanations: body, speech, ‘mind, quality and action. Padmasambhava, who “worked appropriate and mystic consorts in order to spread the Mantrayana doctrine,” had consorts who were emana> tions ofeach of these five aspects of Vajravrahi. In addition, there was sith “essence dain” who was also an important consort, as well as “appropriate and mystic consorts more ‘numerous than the sesame seeds it would take to fll he four walls of a house” Tyogye is the speech emanation and one ‘of two major consorts. Some ofthe other consort are impor. ‘tant in the unfolding of Toogye’s relational life-history. Having seen the need for Tyogyel's manifestation in the ‘world, the gun and dain (Pedmasambhava and Tsogyel in supramundane form) meet in supramundane realms to en. ‘gender Thogvel. The story of her conception is told on two levels. On one level, “the vajra of the Ya joined the Lotus of the Yim and together they entered the sae of great ‘squanimity.."The Great Biss ofthe ¥d-Vi penetrated every. ‘here into al realms ofthe world, and great tremors and earth: Quakes shook the universe. Light rays burst forth like shoot ‘ng sas from the union of the Yb and Yom, The red letter ‘A came into view, and from it spiraled a garland of white vowels. The white letter VAM appeared and from it spiraled 8 chain of red consonants. The lights and lesers penetrated into the world, striking the ground....in Tibet." Mean- ‘while, on another level, “One day when the Prince, my f= ther, was twenty-five years old, while he and his queen, my ‘mother, were enjoying the pleasures of love making, my mother had 2 vision." Extraordinary visions continued throughout the night for both. Nine months later the queen gave birth Dainlessly oa female baby with unusual abilities. Almost im- ‘mediately, twas peice tha either she would become great religious teacher or the consort of an emperor, an obvious par 16 Feminine Ground allel o the Buddha's life story. Despite this extriodinary conception and birth, as is typi cal of many mythic biographies, the parents had absolutly ‘no appreciation for her extrordinary potentialities and were concerned primarily with making a proper marriage for ‘Toogyel. This marriage was very difficult to atrange because ‘Thogyel’s mundane beauty aroused intense jealousy between ‘the mundane kings. Finally her parents simply sent her ava, with the edict that Whatever man caught her first could have hher and no one else could wage war over that event. TSogyels desire not o enter such a marrige was not taken into account by anyone. When caprured, she resisted to the extent that her fect sank into a boulder as if it were mud and only afer being ‘hipped “until my back was a bloody pulp," did she sub- mit, Howere, she kept her resolution to obtain enlightenment ina single lie and escaped while her captors celebrated her capture ina drunken stupor. Living ina cave, subsisting on. frit, she vas found out, and the wars over het threatened to continue. To end the turmoil the emperor tok Tngyel as wi, ‘The other suitors had to submit and soon thereafter, the em- peror, who was eager to learn the Buddhist teachings, gave ‘Togyel to the guru as part of his mandala-offering, ‘This tum of events suited Togyel perfectly, since she cared only to learn the teachings and her gw was willing to teach her: Homever, she dc not receive the fl wachingsat this point, Her gun consort, Paimasambhava, tld het *:. without con sor, a partner of skilful means, there is no way that you can experience the mysteries of Tantra. .So go tothe valley of Ne- pal where there isa sitteen-yar-old youth with a mole on his right breast...find him and make him your ally” She found her consort, after a long harrsting journey, but she found him in slavery and hed to purchase his freedom. She did 0 by rasing from the dead the son of an important Nepali family. They paid her with gold, which she used 19 purchase the freedom of her consort. Soon thereafter Tsogyel matured her practice with a three-year soliary retreat atthe snowline. ‘Well invo the retreat, among the maay illusions she found it Viske Tingyel 17 necessary 10 experience were projections of: charming youths, handsome, with fine complexions, smeling sweety, glowing with desire, trong and capa ble, young men at whom a giel need only glance to fel excited. They would begin by addressing me ‘especfally, but they soon became faring, eating obscene stores and making lewd suggestions. Some- times they would play games with me: gradually they ‘would expose ther sexual organs, whispering, “Would you Tike this, sweetheart?” and "Would you like to rl me, darting?”: all the time... trying all kinds of seductive foreplay. Overcome by the splendour of ‘my samadhi, some of them vanished immediatly some [reduced to pety frauds by insight into all appear- ances as ilusion;..."! However, during later stages of her practice, she practiced “the last austerity practiced for my own benefit... The austerity ofthe ‘seed-essence of coincident Pleasure and Emptiness” with thre consors including the redeemed slave." Very soon. afer completing this practice, she returned to her guru Pad ‘masambhava. He praised her dharmic accomplishments lv. ishly and extensively after saying © vogint who has mastered the Tantre, ‘The human body i the basis of the accomplishment of wisdom ‘And the gross bodies of men and women are equally suited. But if woman has strong aspiration, she has higher potential. After this point the narrative focuses more on Thogye!'sac- ccomplshments and her activites to benefit others, though she continues further advanced practice as well Immediately af- ter Padmasambhava had praised her accomplishments and ‘ade the above comments about female practitioners, he sug> ested that she find a certain youth who would be her consort 18 Feminine Ground j in the Yoga of Immorulity Practice. She repliod that she also ‘wanted the intation of Vajalalaya or Dorje Phurbs, the Remover of Obstacles, specifically because of obstacles from the outside world that she, # woman, faced, Inadequate women like me with litle energy and an inferior birth incur the whole world’s hostility. When we go begging the dogs are hostile. If we possess food ‘or wealth then thieves molest us. If we are attractive ‘we are bothered by fornicators. f we work hard the country people are hostile, Even if we do nothing the ‘ongues of malicious gossips turn against us, our at titude is improper then the whole world is hostile ‘Whatever we do, the lot of a woman on the path is a miserable one. To maintain our practice i vireually impossible, and even to stay alive is very difficult.” After receiving the VeiraKilaya initiation, she quickly found, the equired new consort and together they quickly "achieved identity with Dorje Phurba,.. had a vision of the deities of Phusbe’s mandala and gained Phusba’ssiddhi.”™ ‘We are now atthe last wo chapters of Teogyel’s biography concerning her activities in ‘establishing, spreading, and per. etuating the teaching” and her “fruition and Buddhahood.” ‘She gains innumerable disciples, both female and male and brings many of them to high levels of realization. She also leaves ‘many tema’ texts in various places to be rediscovered later, ‘when the time is ripe. These activities occurred both while she was with Padmasambhava and after his departure, when she remained behind, “because of her superiority t work for ‘the weltire of beings and to fill the earth with the Guru's teaching." ‘After Padmasambhava’s death she performed her final austerity “the exchange of my karma for that of others’ in which she took on or worked with the extreme sufferings of others. She exricated from hell an officiel who previously hnad given her extreme trouble. She says, “I gave my body to ravenous carnivores, [fed the hungry, I clothed the dest Yeshe Towel 19 {ute and cold, I gave medicine to the sick, I gave wealth to the poverty stricken, I gave refuge t the forlorn and I gave ‘my serual pars tothe lustful. In short, to benefit others [ve ‘iy body and life" In this phase of her practice, two espe ialy dificult challenges came to her. She chose to secept bath of them without being coerced in any way. She gave her body. Parts to another person tobe used ina transplant operation, She also lived as wife with an extremely repulsive, diseased ‘man who cried out for companionship. Aer these accomplishments she began to mani through (ut the universe in different forms satisfying whatever were people's needs—food, wealth, clothing, ete. "To the childless Teppeared as sons or daughters, bringing them happiness; to ‘men desiring women I appeared as attractive gil, bringing them happiness; © women desiring husbands I appeared ag handsome men, bringing them happiness.” The list com. tines, dealing with thos aflicted by anxiety and frustration, those wandering in the bade. in short to those in every dif ficult situation. She explains, “In short wheresoever is ven. tient ie, there are the five elements; wheresoerer ate the five lements there is space; insofar as my compassion is coexten. sive with space, it perades all human emotion, Appearing fist ‘8 one emanation and then as another, [emained. for elie mae Immediately thereupon the narrative concludes with ‘Toogyel’s death. Yeshe Teogyel “composed (her) self in the samadhi that brings all things o extinction.” In along con. cluding narrative her students ask for further teachings and ‘ceive final teachings and predictions, ‘With this farewell she ended, and light, shimmering, sparkling iridescently in splendid vivid ‘colour, Streamed towards the South-West and vanished from, Sight, Allo us who wimesed this inal departure pos. trated countless times after her... Then our minds fall of grief, our hearts heavy, our stomachs in out ‘mouths, our teas flooding the path staggering, una. 20 Feminine Ground ble t0 control our bodies, panting and heaving, we retreated tthe meditation cave...where we spent the night [Before going on to comment on these facets of her story, 1 want to narrate briefly several more incidents exemplifying ‘other variants of the relational theme. [Not all of Yeshe Teogyel’s relationships with men are “posi- tive” atleast in the conventional sense. What is notable about these episodes isthe way they are turned into dharmic events bby Trogyel, promoting either her own practice, or the reliza- ton of ere omenors, The fit ee pode ile ‘ber attempts to avid conventional marrage and’ reat: ‘ment she receives from her captors, But she transforms this, into her first lesson in basic dharma, concerning the perva- siveness of suffering and impermanence. A predharmic initia- ‘ory ordeal necessary wo motivate ane towards the path of dhar- ‘mi practice and an important ewent in any Buddhist biography. After she meets Padmasambhava she says, [Lam young, but not inexperienced “> For suffering was revealed to me at the age of twelve ‘When my parents denied me my request for celibacy And gave me asa bride ina lay macriage.” And he replies, confirming her asessment of her experience. You, a women of sixteen years, lave seen the suffering of an eighty-year-old hag. ‘Know your pain wo be age-old karma, ‘And that the residue ofthat harma is erased. Because of this coincidence of her suffering and her meeting the teaches, she is able to hear and practice Buddhism and. the Vajrayina ‘Two other events stand out. While on her journey tothe Ne- pal alley to find her consort Atsara Sale, seven thieves sought ‘unsuccessfully to steal her gold, Many year later, after com- pleting most of er practices, including the Vajrakaya prac- Vishe Tigyel 21 tice for removing obstaces, she was robbed and raped by seven bandits In both cases, her spesch to her totmentors con verted them tothe path of dharma and transmuted their ener- ists from their previously aggressive and unenlightened ex- pression to dhanmic, enlightened pursuits, In ll fourteen cases ‘the formerly depraved men became her students when she une Jock for them some insights into the sources oftheir destrac- tive energies and how to work with those energies more efiee- tively, find these examples quite provocative and challenging. Finally, in terms of biographical episodes, I want to present 8 few examples of Togyel’s relationships with women, In the narrative, she has many, many women students, of whom a few stand out. One of them was thirteen when she began to bring oferings to Toogyel during Teogye!'s three-year retreat, ‘Togye asked the gr’ father, a Bhutanese king, t allow the ir to accompany her, which he agreed tod. The gt), named ‘Tashi Chichen, became the Activity Emanation of Vajra and one of Padmasambhava’s six main consors. She was with ‘Toogyel until the end, one of her eleven root disciples, An- other of Tagyel’s eleven rot disciples, with her until the end, ‘was Kalasiddhi, who became Togyel's disciple much later She also was recognized as an emanation of Vajravarahi, the ‘Quality Emanation, and became one ofthe six major consort Among the eleven root disciples are also two other women, gone ofthe queens, Liza Jangchub Drona, and Shelkar Dorie ‘Tomo. (Incidentally, faithful Atsara Sale, the redeemed slave, was also there at Teogyel’s death) ‘More extended discussions of Tngyel's companionship with the other two women, who are major emanations of Vij. ravirhi, are given. Early in her practice, just after meeting Atsara Sale, they goto vist Sakya Dema, the Mind Emana- ‘ion of Vairavardhy. At that point Sakya Dema is probably more accomplished than Trogyel, who asks Sakya Dema fr each- ‘ngs. kya Dema then asks Teogye! to give er any teachings she can pass on. The two women also acknowledge each other as consorts of the gure. “Then our finite minds united inthe Buddha's mind and we exchanged precepts and instruc 22 Feminine Ground tions." Near the end of her lif, in che last story narrated before Togyel’s lat instructions and prophecies, “the flower ‘Mandira came from India. Emerging fom the sky with her six disciples she greeted me, She stayed with me for thiny- rine human days and we exchanged and tightened our ‘precepts, making endles discussions on the dharma?” Man-

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