augmented illusions

The Practice of the Yeshe Tsogyel Awareness-spell encourages the
Strong Laughter of the Dakinis as an aspect of one’s existence. This
means that one’s circumstances become vivid with opportunities for
Practices, and electric with the immanent possibilities of Liberation.
With this practice there is the innate encouragement to be vital and
alive in each moment, to experience a nakedness of perception and the
dynamic continuity of ‘the inescapeability [sic] of *what is*’. The
Completion Phase Practice of Khandro Chenmo Yeshe Tsogyel is to
realize Transference of consciousness at the time of Death to the
Realised Sphere of her own mind, known as ‘o-kar Kang-ri - the Mountain
of White Light.’

2. Waning Moon and Yeshe Tsogyel Tsog-khorlo Envisionment

From within the Lucid Shining Emptiness of my own Being…

I instantly arise in the Iridescent Form of the Great Enlightened Dakini;
Khandro Chenmo Yeshe Tsogyel. My Gaze is at once Soft and Penetrating;
Compassionate yet Playfully Wrathful, in token of my ability [to]
infuse all circumstances with vivid opportunities for Realisation.
My Wide Open Eyes Sparkle with the Electricity of Existence
and Non-existence and communicate the immanence of Liberation
for all Yogis and Yoginis.

My mouth is open and my tongue is flickering.
My Strong Laughter overpowers all dualistic conceptions.

My hair is wound up in a Yogini’s bun on top of my head
and ornamented with a golden takdrol topped with a flaming skull.
I am naked in token of utter lack of pretension and complete fearlessness.
I am open to the entire universe and the inescapability of what is.

I wear the six human bone cemetery ornaments
to show that I have accomplished the six Tantric Vehicles;
and, as the sign that I have passed beyond all relative constraints.
I wear the Conch Yogini earrings, and Sit on a Tiger skin
in display of my mastery of all Siddhis.

In my left hand I hold the skull bowl;
symbol of the Transformed emotions, and of Wisdom.
The white bone of the skull is the Male Quality of Spacious Passion.
The red frothing oceans of menstrual blood within the skull bowl
is the Female Quality of Passionate Space.

I cradle the Khatvangha trident in the crook of my left arm.
The three points of the khatvanga
pierce the fabric of attraction, aversion and indifference.
The secret Nature of the Khatvangha is Padhmasambhava
who is my Secret Inner Method nature.
In my right hand I hold the golden Five Pronged Wrathful Vajra,
with which I overpower all apparent phenomena in Bliss-Emptiness.

I sit in the Dzogchen Yogini’s posture: in Display of the natural condition,
in which everything relaxes into its own condition of Primal Purity.
My right foot is extended in token of my ability
to enter swiftly into Activity for the benefit
of Everyone and Everything Everywhere.

Yeshe Tsogyel Awareness-spell

OM A’A HUNG BENDZRA GURU JNANA SAGARA
BAM HA RI NI SA SIDDHI HUNG

“Yeshe Tsogyel… Tib., lit. ‘Princess of the Wisdom Lake,’ 757-817;
intimate companion of Padmasambhava and the most important female
figure in the tradition of the Nyingmapa school. Named for a miracle
that occurred at the time of her birth, the rising of a nearby lake….
Padmasambhava took her as his consort and transmitted to her
particularly the teachings of the *phurba* cycle. Yeshe Tsogyel
codified countless of her guru’s teachings in *terma* texts and
also composed his biography. In the last part of her life she was
active mainly in east Tibet. She is venerated up to the present
day as a *dakini*.”

_The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen_, by Fischer-Schreiber,
Ehrhard, and Diener, transl. by Michael Kohn, Shambhala Pubs. Inc., 1991;
page 253.

“Phurba… Tib., lit. ‘nail, wedge’; a dagger for subduing demons
introduced into the ritual of Tibetan Buddhism by Padmasambhava.
As a system for the direct transmutaton of negative forces, it plays
a central role in a system of meditative practice that was transmitted
by Yeshe Tsogyel. The actual *phurba* is a three-edged knife with a
handle in the shape of half of a *dorje*….

“The origin of the *phurba* is associated with a long Tantra presented
by Padmasambhava at the beginning of his journey to Tibet. A deity
personified as a *phurba* plays an important role as a *yidam* in the
Sakyapa and Nyingmapa schools;…” Ibid, page 170.

“Dakini…Skt.; in Indian folk belief, a female demon to be found in the
company of gods; in Vajrayana Buddhism, the inspiring power of
consciousness, usually depicted in the iconography as a wrathful
naked female figure (forms of manifestation). As semiwrathful or
wrathful *yidam*, the dakini has the task of integrating the powers
liberated by the practitioner in the process of visualization
(*sadhana*). In Tibetan, *dakini* is translated as *khadroma*.
*Kha* means ‘celestial space,’ emptiness (*shunyata*) become
an image; *dro* has the meaning of walking and moving about;
*ma* indicates the feminine gender in substantive form. Thus the
*khadroma* is a female figure that moves on the highest level
of reality; her nakedness symbolizes knowledge of truth unveiled.
The homeland of the *dakinis* is said to be the mystic realm of
Urgyen [aka Shambhala].” Ibid, page 50.

“Yidam… Tib., lit. ‘firm mind’; in Vajrayana Buddhism, a term for a
personal deity, whose nature corresponds to the individual
psychological makeup of the practitioner. *Yidams* are manifestations
of the *sambhogakhaya* [buddha-body of delight] and are visualized
in meditative practice (*sadhana*), i.e. perceived with the inner eye.
They can take on either a peaceful or wrathful form of manifestation….

“Tibetan Buddhism does not particularly regard *yidam* as protective
deities (as the personal deities…are regarded in Hindu Tantra); rather
their function is as an aid in the transformative process in which the
practitioner comes to acknowledge his or her own basic personality
structure. The *yidams* also serve to bring the practitioner to a
sense of ultimate connection with the traditional lineage whose
teaching he or she follows….

“In the Tibetan pantheon, male and female deities are also represented
in union (*yab-yum*), as, for example, the male deities Chakrasamvara
and Vajrabhairava with their consorts….” Ibid, page 253.

“Following many trials, Tsogyel eventually received full initiation
into the Tantra and was transformed into a ‘Sky-walker,’ a female adept
of the highest order. Padmasambhava said to her, ‘The basis for realizing
enlightenment is a human body. Male or female, there is no great
difference. But if she develops the mind bent on enlightenment, the
woman’s body is better.”