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1
Exploring
the Female
in Tibetan Buddhism
Core 179 . Mansfield . November 7th 2007 .
Lindsey Jacobson . Sam Levine
2
Tantrikas
New Nuns
Usually in Nyingma or Gagyu orders Spend most of
life on pilgrimage Open to all classes In
outlying areas, Nyingma order tantrikas might
study and live in a monastery with the men
3
The Ka-Ma

• Hearth ladies

• Not as high as Tantrikas but still respected
• Dress like nuns
• Just like the Tantrikas, they later joined the
  monks circle of tents

4
The Female Oracle

• Documented mainly in Lhasa
• Receive into their body the deity with whom they
  are connected
• Female oracle married, on her death bed daughter
  becomes an oracle
• In Tibetan society, with the caste system women
  are inferior but in the religion all people call
  be enlightened

Sourcehttp//www.oeaw.ac.at 11.06.07
5
The 21 Taras
Sources http//www.religionfacts.com 11.06.07
6
Yeshe Tsogyel
Enlightened Consort,
Great Teacher,
Female Role Model
The Mother of Tibetan Buddhism
Source http//www.dharmanet.com 11.04.07

• Lived in India and Tibet , 8th Century CE
• Principle consort of Padmasambhava
• 1st tantric master
• brought Vajrayãna Buddhism
• from India to Tibet

Source http//www.rangjung.com 11.04.07
7
Yeshe Tsogyel
Eight chapters of her biography

• Chapters 1 and 2- esoteric and exoteric accounts
  of her conception and birth

Chapter 3- young adulthood? marriage at 12
Padmasambhava
Chapter 4- early training
Chapter 5- her three solitary years in a
Himalayan Cave
Chapter 6- continued training and path towards
enlightenment
Source http//www.thangka.ru 11.06.07
Chapter 7- her enlightened, compassionate
activities
Chapter 8- achieving Buddha-hood
8
Yeshe Tsogyel
Key Thematic Elements

• Dharmic Relationship with Padmasambhava
• Dharmic Relationships with women
• Acceptance of Suffering

9
Works Cited

• Essays
• Gross, Rita M. Yeshe Tsogyel Enlightened
  Consort, Great Teacher, Female Role Model.
  Feminine Ground Essays on Women and Tibet. Ed.
  Janice D. Willis. Ithaca Snow Lion
  Publications, 1987. 11-32.
• Web Sites
• http//www.oeaw.ac.at
• http//www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/deities/tara
  .htm
• Books
• Anne Carolyn Klein. Meeting the Great Bliss Queen
  Buddhists, feminists, and the art of the self.
  Boston Beacon Press, 1995.
• Campbell, June. Traveller in space in Search of
  Female Identity in Tibetan Buddhism.
• New York George Braziller, 1996
• Glenn H. Mullin. Female Buddhas Women of
  enlightenment in Tibetan Mystical Art. Santa Fe,
  N.M. Clear Light, 2003.