Many people within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition will have heard of the Lama Vajra Dances or Cham. However, not so many people will be familiar with the sacred (and until recently, secret) spiritual dances of Charya Nritya, preserved and practiced by the Newars, the native people of Nepal, revered for thousands of years as masters… Continue reading Sadhana ‘Dance’ of the Vajracharyas: ‘Charya Nritya’ and the Dance of Vajrayogini
Month: Apr 2020
Karma Chagme (Rāga Asya) on the Essential Qualities of a Guru in ‘The Oral Instructions to the Gelong Karma Rinchen the Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen
Karma Chagme (Raga Asya) Instructions to Gelong Karma Rinchen on the Union of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen I posted before about what Tāranātha considered to be essential qualities of a 'Guru' . Here is a newly translated excerpt from a short text by Karma Chagme (Rāga Asya (1613-78)) called 'Khedrub Rāga's Guiding Instructions to Gelong Karma… Continue reading Karma Chagme (Rāga Asya) on the Essential Qualities of a Guru in ‘The Oral Instructions to the Gelong Karma Rinchen the Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen
Poetry: ‘Tales from the Yoni Stone’
Happy to announce a Dakini Publications website poetry section, with the launch of 'Tales from the Yoni Stone'. First edition was published by Lulu Press in 2015. Second edition can be freely downloaded here: Tales from the Yoni Stone. The poems/songs cover themes such as love, sex, spiritual growth, aging, womanhood and more, seen and… Continue reading Poetry: ‘Tales from the Yoni Stone’
Translation Note: The difference between ‘prajñā’ (sherab) and ‘jñāna’ (yeshe) and their role in understanding the Buddhist ‘view’
As an homage and offering to the great mother prajñāpāramitā, on this new moon day, I offer this short translation and research note of what the term prajñā means, how it differs from the other important term jñāna and thus how it is best translated. It is 'knowing' but 'knowing' what? In many Buddhist texts,… Continue reading Translation Note: The difference between ‘prajñā’ (sherab) and ‘jñāna’ (yeshe) and their role in understanding the Buddhist ‘view’
Milarepa’s ‘Song to the Hunter’ and the living ‘ear-whispered’ lineage of Chira Kagyu in Nepal
It is a pleasure and honour to share the first published English-language quotes and photos from Dharma friend, and living lineage holder of the Chira Kagyu lineage, the 37th Chira Kagyu Choge Chiba (38 years old, born in Tibetan Dog-Water Year) whose father is the 36th Chira Kagyu Choge Chiba (70 years ago in 1951… Continue reading Milarepa’s ‘Song to the Hunter’ and the living ‘ear-whispered’ lineage of Chira Kagyu in Nepal
New Translation and Project: Kurukullā in ‘Luminous Heart Essence of Three Roots’ by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo
For Dakini day today, am happy to announce a new translation of a supplication and praise to the magnetising deity, Kurukullā, written by and contained in the Collected Works of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo: Praises to Bhagavan Kurukulle: Clouds of Offerings to Delight the Magnetising, Glorious Lady (བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ་ཀུ་རུ་ཀུལླེ་ལ་བསྟོད་པ་དབང་མཛད་དཔལ་མོ་དགྱེས་པའི་མཆོད་སྤྲིན་ཅེས་བྱ་བ་བཞུགས་སོ། །. It is available for free download for… Continue reading New Translation and Project: Kurukullā in ‘Luminous Heart Essence of Three Roots’ by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo
‘The Universal Panacea for Curing Ills’ by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö
As another offering to benefit beings during these times of pandemic and the stresses and challenges arising from that, is a new translation of a profound and powerful prayer written by Jamyang Chökyi Lodrö (see photo). In this translation, I have kept much closer to the Tibetan words and repetitions that Chökyi Lodrö uses. Recurring… Continue reading ‘The Universal Panacea for Curing Ills’ by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö
Yeshe Tsogyel’s Descent to the Hell Realms and How She Got Her Name
As part of the purpose of this page and website is to promote the work and lives of female practitioners, teachers, scholars and translators, here is a quote from a recent PhD on the life of Yeshe Tsogyel, Literature and the Moral Life: Reading the Early Biography of the Tibetan Queen Yeshe Tsogyal (p123-4) by… Continue reading Yeshe Tsogyel’s Descent to the Hell Realms and How She Got Her Name
Lion-Faced Ḍākinī: New Translations and Website Section
In these current times, of epidemics, sickness, obstacles, 'demonic' emotions and actions and so on, another practice considered to be crucial for averting and expelling such conditions is Lion-Faced Ḍākinī. In addition, having always felt a close affinity and connection to Lion-Faced Ḍākinī for many years, am happy to announce this new section of the… Continue reading Lion-Faced Ḍākinī: New Translations and Website Section
NEW PUBLICATION: ‘The Explicit and Hidden Aspects of Tārā: A Commentary on the Twenty-One Tārās’ by Jetsun Tāranātha
On the the Kālacakra New Year, the full moon of the third lunar month (Nagpa Dawa), I am happy to announce the first English translation (and publication) of the Commentary on the Praises to the Twenty-One Tāras (Phyag 'tshal nyer gcig gi bstod pa'i rnam par bshad pa), The Explicit and Hidden Aspects of Tāra, composed… Continue reading NEW PUBLICATION: ‘The Explicit and Hidden Aspects of Tārā: A Commentary on the Twenty-One Tārās’ by Jetsun Tāranātha
Dakini Translations and Publications མཁའ་འགྲོ་མའི་ལོ་ཙཱ་བའི་འགྱུར་དང་འགྲེམས་སྤེལ། 