“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. 

And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. 

So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. 

The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.”

- L.R. Knost

INTRODUCTION

to

Dakinis - Completely Traditional, Completely Contemporary

Have you had a Dakini moment in your life - at your lowest, at your darkest, at your weakest, and at your saddest? Have you had any experience of falling off some old habitual patterns and a sudden opening of a new shift? That could be an opportunity when you meet a dakini, if you are open. The dakini points out to you the wisdom of what is, emptiness, at times of devastation. This could be called a gift of dakinis. The dakini comes in many forms to assist practitioners, sometimes as a fierce intervention to cut through your conceptuality and ego-fixation, other times as a nurturing encouragement for perking up your practice, such as in this contemporary time of devastation.

For example the dakini, Tara, appeared to Machik to encourage her. Here is some of the story from the book, Machik’s Complete Explanation, about when Machik encountered Tara. She said to Tara, “ Out of your great love, you have given me exceptionally powerful blessings. Your kindness makes me wonder if even a foolish and humble woman like myself might be able to do some good for sentient beings.” Tara smiled and said, “Yogini, don’t be so timid. You are a mind emanation of the Great Mother, inseparable from me. You are the wisdom dakini. You yourself are the source of all that is to be known. Therefore, arouse a broad mind and don’t be timid.”

The November Monthly Journal features Dakinis - Completely Traditional, Completely Contemporary. We will explore contemporary dakini moments and how the ancient wisdom of Dakinis helps us at this contemporary time of turmoil and devastation. Join us for this exploration!

Much love on the Journey,

Khandro-la

"She is the symbol of one’s innermost spirituality, inspiration, and particularly a direct realization of emptiness and luminosity. She cannot be recognized in a moment of conventional mind. Seeing her requires that habitual patterns, arrogance, and conceptuality fall away and the doors of perception open to naked awareness. This must be an unexpected, even shocking experience.

She is the very subjectivity of the tantric practitioner."

From Dakini’s Warm Breath

KHANDRO-LA'S CORNER

Encountering the Dakini

Dakini teaching is the teaching of the charnel ground. The charnel ground is the symbol for everything we reject and the dakini in the charnel ground represents the way in which the charnel ground is transformed. This is actually a pointing-out, heart teaching.

How do we encounter dakinis? Dakinis directly intervene in our habitual patterns. In that case the dakini could be many things. Have you had that experience actually, a sense of being shocked or electrified then the possibility of opening, not shutting down? The idea of this dakini is that we learn or cultivate a different relationship with calamity, a different relationship with the moment of destruction. Actually, that is one of the things we are doing in Dakini’s Whisper. We are creating this different approach, different relationship to this vulnerable part of ourselves as well as to calamities or destruction. This is a powerful opportunity.

Each of you has a dakini moment, I think. Right now, we may feel we are facing devastation. Dakinis love that and come to point out to you, emptiness or the true nature of your mind. It comes from the nonconceptual, unfabricated, blind spot, a kind of stripping away of what we carefully built so far, idealized ideas based on ego, projection. Conventional comfort is stripped away.

We're talking about the wisdom dakini, the experience of your own mind, the experience of energies in your body. The more you get into this glimpse of emptiness you can get closer to the wisdom dakinis. You can recognize that.

View the complete teaching on YouTube…. (Please turn on subtitles for clarity by clicking "cc" on the bottom bar.)

Excerpt from Khandro-la’s teaching 

"She shows her body to be empty and as vast as limitless space; in her heart is revealed the ultimate nature of reality. And within its vastness are all phenomena...looking into her heart center, the practitioner is looking into a mirror, seeing the mind and the entire world in a dramatically different perspective.

One cannot see such a sight without being transformed."

From Dakini’s Warm Breath

STUDENT'S REFLECTIONS

Completely Contemporary, Dakini Moments

When I heard Khandro-la’s teaching on the Dakini as a messenger of emptiness that represents everything we reject, my heart burst open with fearlessness and love. Stories flowed through my thinking mind touching fear – here, there, everywhere. Machik bellowed – PE!

Dakinis, you are a tricky sort to me. You represent everything that I habitually reject, what I feel aversion to, and yet, I am drawn to you - you with your mysterious laughter, joyful dance, and that mischievous twinkle in your eye.

Yet you are nothing more than my own mind. Aha! That is why you feel so familiar. And I see that “dakini moments” are continuous, unbroken in my mindstream. If only I am here to meet them with my own breath, my own whisper, dakini’s whisper.

Ellen

DW Student

Looking but not seeing; that’s my eye

Thinking but not minding; that’s my mind

Speaking but not expressing; that’s my tongue

Traveling but not going; that’s my path

—  A song by the dakini Blazing One with a Garland of Lightning

Luminous Melodies (Translated by Karl Brunnholz)

The dakini manifests at times in me as a very personal companion, a protector, and sometimes even as one who offers a swift and sudden jolt — appearing in bursts of lightning bolt-like activity! (Karma dakini: where did you come from?)

She can arrive as a messenger, a guide moving me to the next step — and as I connect and trust more deeply, her message begins to reveal itself. She moves me to Bodhisattva activities in the world, the great and benevolent presence that Khandro-la speaks of —  activities that I might have missed had I been in conceptual mind alone. She connects both the inner and outer worlds, and with boundless generosity and encouragement lights my way.

Through practice, I connect more deeply with the qualities of the dakini (or yidam or lama) and I begin to see and relate to these qualities more deeply within myself.

As Trungpa Rinpoche says:

"You begin to develop an affinity with a particular Buddha principle… that is associated with your basic being… Your own basic beingness is discovered in enlightened form…. You begin to identify with such principles… (which) is a realization of sacredness of the universe and of yourself…" - The Tara Compendium, p. x

May we all realize our sacredness for ourselves and for the benefit of all beings! 

Kate

DW Student

Contemporary Dakini, Ancient Wisdom

Human dakinis live among us now!

Among them, Roshi Joan Halifax is described in the book, Dakini Power, Extraordinary Women Shaping the Transmission of Buddhism in the West, as “fearless, fierce and fragile. She is a true heroine of engaged Buddhism in her heart’s work with the dying. Roshi Joan is a priest in the Japanese Zen tradition, an anthropologist and an activist, a self-described wild child of the sixties, and now a celibate priest. Founder, abbess, and headteacher of Upaya Zen Center, she is best known for sitting at the bedside of terminally ill people and pioneering a form of contemplative care known as the Being With Dying project. One of her core messages is, strong back, soft front, which she explains is ‘about the relationship between equanimity and compassion.’ Strong back is equanimity and the capacity to uphold yourself. The soft front is opening to things as they are.”

In my work, I often used this as a meditation when training hospice staff to bear witness to the dying experience. It became a modern-day mantra of sorts. When the suffering felt unbearable to be with, we would remind ourselves to stop and breathe - strong back, soft front. This open-hearted, courageous message of compassion and emptiness was a dakini’s blessing to many!

Ellen

DW Student

NOVEMBER UPCOMING EVENTS

November Online Practices (All times listed as PST)

Dakini's Whisper Annual Retreat

"Liberating Whatever Arises"

 Nov. 13 - 15

DW SUNDAYS - Facing Turmoil with Mahamudra Chö

Free and Open to All

12 noon - 1 pm, PST

Nov. 1  Cutting Through PE!

Nov. 22 Machik's Last Instructions

Oct. 29 Mahamudra Cho

The Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83228307087

To share upcoming online teaching and practice opportunities, we have attached the Dakini's Whisper Google calendar which gives you a complete view of the various events, at-a-glance, so to speak. Please note, however, that all times listed here are PST. More detailed information can be found on the webpage or DW members can check their personal version of the DW Google calendar. You can access the DW calendar from the webpage.

Bringing the ancient wisdom of the Ear-Whispered Chö (Chod) and Vajrayana to our modern-day lives,

learn about Dakini's Whisper and consider joining our community!