Dakini is a type of sacred female spirit in Vajrayana Buddhism, and the term can also be applied to human women with a certain degree of spiritual development. The Sanskrit term is probably related to the term for drumming, while the Tibetan term means “skygoer” and may have originated from the Sanskrit khecara, a term from the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra.
Dakinis are often depicted as consorts in Yab Yum representations. The masculine form of the word is Daka, which is usually translated into Tibetan as pawo, meaning “hero.” The Dakini (and the Daka) appeared in medieval legends in India (such as in the Bhagavata Purana, Brahma Purana, Markandeya Purana, and Kathasaritsagara) as a demon in Kali’s train who feeds on human flesh.
As a key tantric figure, the Dakini appears in Tangmi; the Dakini figure spread in Japanese culture from Shingon Buddhism, evolving into the Dakini (“ten” means “deva” in Japanese), linking it to kitsune iconography. The Dakini appears in a Vajrayana formulation of the Buddhist refuge formula known as the Three Roots. She sometimes appears as the dharmapala, alongside a guru and a yidam.
The Dakini, in her various forms, serves as each of the Three Roots. She can be a human guru, a vajra master who transmits the Vajrayana teachings to his disciples and joins them in samaya commitments. The Dakini of wisdom can be a yidam, a meditational deity; yogas of female deities such as Vajrayogini are common in Tibetan Buddhism.
She can also be a protector; wisdom Dakinis have a special power and responsibility to protect the integrity of oral transmissions. The archetype of the Dakini in Tibetan Buddhism is Yeshe Tsogyal, consort of Padmasambhava.
1. History
Tibetan Buddhism offers a unique premise: that being a woman can actually be advantageous on the path to spiritual realization. Padmasambhava, the pioneer of Buddhism in 8th-century Tibet, reasoned that women are better equipped to understand the wisdom of the teachings. Modern teachers have echoed this sentiment.
It is said that many lamas have said that women are superior practitioners because they can immerse themselves in meditation much more easily than men. This is because many men are afraid to abandon the intellect, especially monks who have been studying for a long time.
Suddenly letting that go and being naked in the experience of meditation is terrifying for them, whereas women seem to be able to handle it naturally.” A female incarnation of enlightenment is called a Dakini in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit.
2. Description
Dakinis are elusive and playful by nature; trying to pin them down with a clear definition means losing them, as challenging narrow intellectual concepts is at the core of their wise play.
The special feminine quality is above all a sharpness, a clarity, one who has promised to attain enlightenment in a female body. The Dakini principle represents intuitive strength. Women achieve it in the blink of an eye: they are not interested in intellectual discussions, which they usually find dry and cold with minimal appeal.
Traditionally, the term “Dakini” has been used for female practitioners, consorts of great masters, and to denote the enlightened principle of feminine non-duality that transcends gender. The authentic Dakini principle is defined as: “a very sharp and brilliant wise mind that is uncompromising, honest, and with a little anger.”
This is a very accurate description of the qualities of the teachers who appear in this book. Despite their gentleness and humor, I experience many of the female teachers as direct, sharply intelligent, radical, and courageous.
The Dakini principle should not be oversimplified, as it carries many levels of meaning. On an external level, accomplished female practitioners were called Dakinis. But ultimately, even though she appears in female form, a Dakini defies gender definitions.
To truly know the Dakini, you have to go beyond duality, referring to an essential principle. Absolute reality cannot be understood intellectually. The Tibetan word for Dakini, khandro, means “sky-goer” or “space dancer,” indicating that these ethereal awakened beings have left the confines of solid earth and have the vastness of open space in which to play.
3. In Buddhism
Although Dakini figures appear in Hinduism and Bon Buddhism, Dakinis appear most notably in Vajrayana Buddhism and especially in Tibetan Buddhism. The khandroma, generally of a volatile or irascible temperament, acts in some way as a spiritual muse for spiritual practice.
4. In Japanese Buddhism
Although images of Dakini seem to have arrived in Japan through the introduction of Tangmi into Shingon Buddhism in the early 9th century, their form is more similar to Hindu iconography than to those found in Tibetan Buddhism. During the decline of the Heian period, the image of Dakini became mixed with images of foxes and semi-naked women, acquiring the names Dakini-ten, Shinkoo-bosatsu, and Kiko-tenno.
In the Middle Ages, the Emperor of Japan sang before an image of the fox Dakini during his enthronement, and both the shogun and the emperor worshipped Dakini whenever they saw her, as it was a common belief at the time that failing to pay homage to Dakini would cause the immediate downfall of the regime.
Although Dakini was said to be a powerful Buddhist deity, the images and stories surrounding her in Japan, both in medieval and modern times, come from local kitsune mythology. Modern popular belief, often printed in Japanese books on religion, is that the image of the fox was a substitute for the Indian jackal, but the jackal is not associated with Dakini anywhere.
As another example of the connection between Dakini and the Japanese government, it is claimed that Taira no Kiyomori encountered a kitsune on the road and that his subsequent performance of Dakini rites caused him to rise from an insignificant clan leader to the ruler of the entire nation.
In the early modern era, the Dakini ritual was divided into several spells called Dakini, Atago Gongen. Those who felt wronged in their village could go to a corrupt yamabushi who practiced black magic and have him capture a kitsune and have it possess a third party. Reports of possession became especially common in the Edo and Meiji periods.
5. Dancing Dakini, Tibet
The Dakini is the final stage: the first is the guru, which corresponds to the initial realization of the true condition of reality, as this is introduced by the guru in the empowerment, if the disciple obtains what the Inner Tantras call the clarity of shunyata.
When the practices of the completion stage have been mastered and we have gained control over our subtle energy winds and so on, there will come a time when the dakas and Dakinis will come. It is necessary to physically embrace such a consort to bring all the penetrating energy winds into the central channel, a prerequisite for opening the heart center and experiencing the deepest level of clear light.
6. Daka and Dakini
In some cases, the terms Daka and Dakini have been used for practitioners of tantric yoga. In other cases, only Dakini was used for female practitioners, while male practitioners were only known as yogis. Padmasambhava was known as a yogi and Yeshe Tsogyal, a Tibetan princess, yogini, and consort of Padmasambhava, as a Dakini.
Miranda Shaw, associate professor of religion at the University of Richmond, said in a 1995 interview: “In Sanskrit there is only one word, Dakini.
There are only female Dakinis, there are no male Dakinis. It is an impossibility and a contradiction in terms. Meanwhile, Jan Willis, in the chapter Dakini: Some Comments on Her Nature and Meaning, points out that “she” is not “feminine.” Although the Dakini certainly appears more frequently in female form.
Tibetan lamas trained in the Gelug school, and those of the Karma Kagyu school, write freely about ‘dakas and Dakinis’. Their meaning is clarified: “What are dakas and Dakinis? Simply speaking, they are men and women who possess advanced experiences of transformation and tantric control and are therefore able to increase the blissful wisdom of a highly qualified practitioner.”
7. Levels
Practitioners and specialists differentiate four levels of meaning:
“On a secret level, she is seen as the manifestation of fundamental aspects of phenomena and the mind, and therefore her power is closely associated with the deepest insights of Vajrayana meditation. Ultimately, all women are seen as a kind of Dakini manifestation.”
Thus, Dakinis appear in many forms. “Dakinis are the most important elements of the enlightened feminine in Tibetan Buddhism,” they are said to be the luminous, subtle, spiritual energy, the key, the guardian, the guardian of the unconditioned state.
If we are not willing to invite the Dakini into our lives, then we cannot enter these subtle states of mind. Sometimes Dakinis appear as messengers, sometimes as guides, and sometimes as protectors.” The Himalayas were always a nursery for highly trained female practitioners and to some extent still are.
Yoginis may live in remote hermitages or convents as devoted practitioners, or as wives, mothers, or daughters of famous teachers. Students often sought their advice informally, but women rarely wrote books, sat on high thrones, or assumed high titles of their own.
Certainly, there were many great female practitioners in Tibet,” “But because they lacked philosophical training, they could not aspire to write books, gather disciples, go on Dharma tours, and give talks. When we read the stories, we notice that nuns are conspicuous by their absence. But this does not mean they were not there.”
Although iconic archetypes of female enlightenment were erected in shrines, few women in Tibet were encouraged to follow in their footsteps. Despite the encouraging quote from the pioneer of Tibetan Buddhism that women’s potential for liberation is supreme, most Buddhist cultures throughout the centuries perceived women as inferior beings.
The few encouraging statements are outnumbered by many passages in the writings attributed to Padmasambhava and other teachers lamenting the difficulties of womanhood. The Tibetan words commonly used for woman, lumen or kyemen, literally mean “inferior being” or “lower birth.”
Some orthodox teachers doubt to this day whether women can attain realization at all, and ancient liturgies have women pray for a better rebirth in a male body. Therefore, Dakini power is dedicated to female teachers and practitioners, to honor their lives and achievements as shining examples of dedication, compassion, and realization.
