Memoirs of Dakini: True Confessions of a Former Flower Child is a collection of memories telling of my life in the streets, from the small town of Woodstock, New York, through the Lower East side of New York City, all the way to Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue. Follow my true story as one of the last Flower Children. Read about my struggles with the drug culture, loneliness, rape, suicide attempts, kidnapping, beatings and the pain which drove me further away from the love I sought.I first left home at the young age of 13. I bounced back and forth from the streets until the age of 15, when my parents relinquished control and set me free. With only a knapsack on my back and $100 in my pocket, I left home for good on that October night of 1969. My adventures over the next 4 ½ years are detailed in this book.
Pema Chödrön, Joan Halifax, and ten other female Tibetan Buddhist teachers share inspiring personal stories, revealing how we can embody Buddhist wisdom and overcome everyday challenges What drives a young London librarian to board a ship to India, meditate in a remote cave by herself for twelve years, and then build a flourishing nunnery in the Himalayas? How does a surfer girl from Malibu become the head of the main international organization for Buddhist women? Why does the daughter of a music executive in Santa Monica dream so vividly of peacocks one night that she chases these images to Nepal, where she finds the love of her life in an unconventional young Tibetan master? The women featured in Dakini Power—contemporary teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, both Asians and Westerners, who teach in the West—have been universally recognized as accomplished practitioners and brilliant teachers whose life stories demonstrate their immense determination and bravery. Meeting them in this book, readers will be inspired to let go of old fears, explore new paths, and lead the lives they envision. Featured here are: Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche (This Precious Life) Dagmola Sakya (Princess in the Land of Snows) Jetsun Tenzin Palmo/Diane Perry (Into the Heart of Life) Pema Chödrön/Deirdre Blomfield-Brown (When Things Fall Apart; Start Where You Are) Khandro Tsering Chödron (late aunt of Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying) Thubten Chodron/Cherry Greene (Buddhism for Beginners; Taming the Mind) Karma Lekshe Tsomo/Patricia Zenn (Buddhism Through American Women ’s Eyes) Chagdud Khadro/Jane Dedman (P ’howa Commentary; Life in Relation to Death) Sangye Khandro/Nanci Gay Gustafson (Meditation, Transformation, and Dream Yoga) Roshi Joan Halifax (Being with Dying) Lama Tsultrim Allione/Joan Rousmanière Ewing (Women of Wisdom; Feeding Your Demons) Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel (The Power of an Open Question)
This stunning biography reveals the heroic life of Yeshé Tsogyal—the mother of Buddhism in Tibet and a powerful female role model for spiritual accomplishment and perfection This secret life story of Yeshé Tsogyal presents a valuable and unique perspective that is quite a departure from any other account of this remarkable woman. Described as a "secret life story," its many layers include an outer account—detailing her birth, family, and societal constraints—an inner account that begins as she meets and escapes captivity with Guru Rinpoché, and a secret account as she enters twelve years of retreat at Chimpu only to miraculously journey to Oddiyana. The role of women and womanhood is notable throughout her life story. Her desire for independence is at odds with her desirability as a woman, leading to numerous tragic incidents early in life. Finally meeting Guru Rinpoché, she decries her status as a woman. This sort of gendered humility, a recurring theme, is juxtaposed with her assertion that despite being a woman, and low-born (skye ba dman), she has a high regard for herself anyway. It is a magical woman who guides her to Oddiyana, and her travels there are filled with primarily female companions. In the end, she remains Guru Rinpoché's primary disciple and doctrinal custodian. Her experiences, while perhaps intense and fantastical, include the same elements of challenge, learning, and progress that all practitioners must experience. During her adventures in Oddiyana, Yeshé Tsogyal receives the same core teachings on faith, impermanence, and fortitude that are essential for anyone following this spiritual path. This accomplished translation is enriched by the refreshing insights of six contemporary scholars and teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, making this invaluable guide to the life of Yeshé Tsogyal a treasure for practitioners, scholars, and anyone intent on the possibility of awakening.
Love and Liberation reads the autobiographical and biographical writings of one of the few Tibetan Buddhist women to record the story of her life. Sera Khandro Dew Dorj (1892Ð1940) was extraordinary not only for achieving religious mastery as a Tibetan Buddhist visionary and guru to many lamas, monastics, and laity in the Golok region of eastern Tibet, but also for her candor. This book listens to Sera KhandroÕs conversations with deities, dakinis, bodhisattvas, lamas, and fellow religious community members and investigates the concerns and sentiments relevant to the author and to those for whom she wrote. Sarah H. JacobyÕs analysis focuses on the status of the female body in Sera KhandroÕs texts, the virtue of celibacy versus the expediency of sexuality for religious purposes, and the difference between profane lust and sacred love between male and female Tantric partners. Her findings add new dimensions to our understanding of Tibetan Buddhist consort practice, complicating standard scriptural presentations of a male subject and a female aide. Sera Khandro depicts herself and her guru and consort, Drim zer, as inseparable embodiments of insight and method that together form the Vajrayana Buddhist vision of complete buddhahood. By advancing this complementary sacred partnership, Sera Khandro carved a place for herself as a female virtuoso in the male-dominated sphere of early twentieth-century Tibetan religion.
Providing a rare glimpse of feminine Buddhist history, Niguma, Lady of Illusion brings to the forefront the life and teachings of a mysterious eleventh-century Kashmiri woman who became the source of a major Tibetan Buddhist practice lineage. The circumstances of her life and extraordinary qualities ascribed to her are analyzed in the greater context of spiritual biography and Buddhist doctrine. More than a historical presentation, Niguma's story raises the question of women as real spiritual leaders versus male images of feminine principle and other related contemporary issues. This volume includes the thirteen works that have been attributed to Niguma in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. These collected works form the basis of an ancient lineage Shangpa, which continues to be actively studied and practiced today. These works include the source verses for such esoteric practices as the Six Yogas, the Great Seal, and the Chakrasamvara and Hevajra tantric practices that are widespread in Tibetan traditions. Also included is the only extant biography, which is enhanced by the few other sources of information on her life and work.
In August 1968, naturalist-explorer Peter Matthiessen returned from Africa to his home in Sagaponack, Long Island, to find three Zen masters in his driveway—guests of his wife, a new student of Zen. Thirteen years later, Matthiessen was ordained a Buddhist monk. Written in the same format as his best-selling The Snow Leopard, Nine-Headed Dragon River reveals Matthiessen's most daring adventure of all: the quest for his spiritual roots.
For their system of divination, the authors drew upon extensive study of the 64 Dakinis of the Ranipur Jharial Temple in Orisa, India, which honor intuitive wisdom.
The identification of the Seventeenth Karmapa has been mired in controversy. This groundbreaking study presents for the first time in English the prophecies of the Fifth and Sixteenth Karmapas and the predictions of Guru Rinpoche. In an unbiased voice, the author presents new evidence to show that these have come true. Sylvia Wong is an editor of Buddhist teachings published in Buddhist magazines and websites.
