Recommended listening: Tibetan Buddhist monks chanting
Story
The yogini of early tantric Buddhism remain somewhat of a mystery. Although real women did attain high levels of enlightenment and go on to be great masters of yoga and tantric practice in the first millennium AD, the belief among their followers that they transformed into powerful beings called dakini makes it difficult to find information about their lives since the supernatural phase was considered of primary importance. Niguma is one of these women, but her seminal role as a founder of the Shangpa Kagyu school of Buddhism makes her life and teachings better recorded than most. Born with the name Shrijnana to a wealthy Brahmin family in Kashmir, she grew up in an intellectual melting pot where ideas flew rapidly back and forth between Hinduism and Buddhism. She and her younger brother Naropa both trained to become yogis, teachers within the tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism. Known as the "third path" alongside the better-known Theraveda and Mahayana, Vajrayana is also called tantric Buddhism because of the importance of tantric meditation to its practice. The Vajrayana yogis were radicals, rejecting the dichotomy of pure and impure as rooted in the impermanence of the world and flouting many of society's rules as a result. They lived outside civilization in forests and caves, holding ritual feasts in the charnel grounds or "sky burial" cemeteries that involved taboo substances such as blood, urine, and sexual fluids.
Niguma reached enlightenment with astonishing speed after studying with only a few masters. The only teacher she cited was the Buddha Vajradhara, who appeared to her in a vision in an encounter that transformed her into a dakini, one of the female spirits of tantric Buddhism. Unlike Vedic ritual and earlier forms of Buddhism, the fusion of Hindu and Buddhist teachings that was Vajrayana put women at the forefront of ritual and worship. Goddesses and female spirits were at least as important as their male counterparts, and yoginis could reach the same levels of enlightenment as men, something that was not considered possible in earlier forms of Buddhism. The main quality that distinguishes Vajrayana from the other paths of Buddhism is its esoteric nature. The practices are only available to initiates and emphasise uncovering the enlightened Buddha already existing in one's mind. Although the yogis were more numerous and better-recorded, Vajrayana offered a new path of enlightenment to yoginis, who were often characterised as witches in later folklore due to their transgressive and sexually empowered behaviour.
Known as the dark or black dakini, Niguma became a teacher so famous that students travelled from all over central and southern Asia to study with her. She may have taught a woman called Sukhasiddhi, the other yogini who would later be considered Niguma's co-founder of the Shangpa Kagyu school. The most famous of Niguma's students, however, was the Tibetan scholar and meditation master called Khyungpo Neljor. While Buddhism had been introduced to Tibet some centuries before, Khyungpo travelled to India seeking religious teachers in his religion's homeland. While studying in India, he asked around if anyone had come across a teacher who had met the Buddha Vajradhara. Everyone he met told him to seek out Niguma. He journeyed through the Kaimur Range of hills, just west of Bodh Gaya where the Buddha was said to have found enlightenment under the bodhi tree. He found Niguma among the skeletons in a charnel ground, where she sat meditating with a skull cup in her left hand. The tradition was for a teacher to reject the student until the third request for tutelage, so Niguma met his first supplication with a warning cry of, "I am a flesh-eating dakini!" Khyungpo, however, knew that this was merely the code language of the dakinis, so he persevered until Niguma threw his offerings of gold into the forest and had her retinue of dakinis tranport him to a golden mountaintop where she bestowed on him her teachings.
Upon his return to Tibet, Khyungpo founded the Shangpa Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the two yoginis he met in India, Niguma and Sukhasiddhi. It was known as the "secret school" because Niguma told him that he must not pass on her teachings to anyone except for one student, and that the chain of teacher-pupil secrecy must not be broken for seven generations. Secrecy was paramount so that the uninitiated did not harm themselves by attempting rituals and meditation techniques they did not understand. Her younger brother Naropa gained fame as the founder of the kindred Dagpo Kagyu school of Buddhism, which had much in common with her teachings. Today, Tibet is the main place where Vajrayana Buddhism is still practiced, in large part thanks to Niguma and the knowledge her student carried back with him from her grassy hut in India. The most important teachings of the Shangpa tradition are known as the "Five Golden Teachings", which are visualised as forming a tree. For this reason, I drew Niguma meditating underneath a tree in the charnel ground, imagining her teachings spreading out like branches. Several songs and prayers attributed to Niguma survive, including the following "Song of Niguma":
When one realises that our many thoughts of anger and desire,
which churn the ocean of Samsara,
are devoid of any self-nature,
everything becomes a land of gold, my child.
When one meditates that magiclike phenomena
are all like magical illusions,
one will attain magiclike buddhahood,
and all of the five paths and ten stages.
This, through the power of devotion!
My favourite of her teachings, though, is this excerpt from one of her longer songs:
On a bright ocean
Bubbles emerge then dissolve back into the water.
Likewise, thoughts are nothing but the nature of reality:
Don't regard them as faults. Relax.
Niguma reached enlightenment with astonishing speed after studying with only a few masters. The only teacher she cited was the Buddha Vajradhara, who appeared to her in a vision in an encounter that transformed her into a dakini, one of the female spirits of tantric Buddhism. Unlike Vedic ritual and earlier forms of Buddhism, the fusion of Hindu and Buddhist teachings that was Vajrayana put women at the forefront of ritual and worship. Goddesses and female spirits were at least as important as their male counterparts, and yoginis could reach the same levels of enlightenment as men, something that was not considered possible in earlier forms of Buddhism. The main quality that distinguishes Vajrayana from the other paths of Buddhism is its esoteric nature. The practices are only available to initiates and emphasise uncovering the enlightened Buddha already existing in one's mind. Although the yogis were more numerous and better-recorded, Vajrayana offered a new path of enlightenment to yoginis, who were often characterised as witches in later folklore due to their transgressive and sexually empowered behaviour.
Known as the dark or black dakini, Niguma became a teacher so famous that students travelled from all over central and southern Asia to study with her. She may have taught a woman called Sukhasiddhi, the other yogini who would later be considered Niguma's co-founder of the Shangpa Kagyu school. The most famous of Niguma's students, however, was the Tibetan scholar and meditation master called Khyungpo Neljor. While Buddhism had been introduced to Tibet some centuries before, Khyungpo travelled to India seeking religious teachers in his religion's homeland. While studying in India, he asked around if anyone had come across a teacher who had met the Buddha Vajradhara. Everyone he met told him to seek out Niguma. He journeyed through the Kaimur Range of hills, just west of Bodh Gaya where the Buddha was said to have found enlightenment under the bodhi tree. He found Niguma among the skeletons in a charnel ground, where she sat meditating with a skull cup in her left hand. The tradition was for a teacher to reject the student until the third request for tutelage, so Niguma met his first supplication with a warning cry of, "I am a flesh-eating dakini!" Khyungpo, however, knew that this was merely the code language of the dakinis, so he persevered until Niguma threw his offerings of gold into the forest and had her retinue of dakinis tranport him to a golden mountaintop where she bestowed on him her teachings.
Upon his return to Tibet, Khyungpo founded the Shangpa Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the two yoginis he met in India, Niguma and Sukhasiddhi. It was known as the "secret school" because Niguma told him that he must not pass on her teachings to anyone except for one student, and that the chain of teacher-pupil secrecy must not be broken for seven generations. Secrecy was paramount so that the uninitiated did not harm themselves by attempting rituals and meditation techniques they did not understand. Her younger brother Naropa gained fame as the founder of the kindred Dagpo Kagyu school of Buddhism, which had much in common with her teachings. Today, Tibet is the main place where Vajrayana Buddhism is still practiced, in large part thanks to Niguma and the knowledge her student carried back with him from her grassy hut in India. The most important teachings of the Shangpa tradition are known as the "Five Golden Teachings", which are visualised as forming a tree. For this reason, I drew Niguma meditating underneath a tree in the charnel ground, imagining her teachings spreading out like branches. Several songs and prayers attributed to Niguma survive, including the following "Song of Niguma":
When one realises that our many thoughts of anger and desire,
which churn the ocean of Samsara,
are devoid of any self-nature,
everything becomes a land of gold, my child.
When one meditates that magiclike phenomena
are all like magical illusions,
one will attain magiclike buddhahood,
and all of the five paths and ten stages.
This, through the power of devotion!
My favourite of her teachings, though, is this excerpt from one of her longer songs:
On a bright ocean
Bubbles emerge then dissolve back into the water.
Likewise, thoughts are nothing but the nature of reality:
Don't regard them as faults. Relax.
Artist's Comments
Researching Niguma involved a steep learning curve for me when it came to the intersection of Buddhism, Hinduism, tantra and yoga! I learned a lot and really enjoyed trying to piece together what Niguma's life would have been like. Although much about her remains unknown, the fact that her teachings have lasted a thousand years is a testament to the importance of her intellectual contribution to Buddhism. Her story was incredibly powerful to me, and I hope I have done her justice here. Although I didn't draw her more fantastical elements, such as the rainbow body or necklace of skulls she was said to wear when she appeared as a dakini, I tried to convey the intensity of her lifestyle and belief system in this illustration. She's holding a kapala, or skull cup, and wearing bone ornaments made from the bones found in the charnel ground where bodies are left exposed to the sky for "burial". In fact, one of the names she was known by was "Wisdom Dakini, Adorned with Bones". To help set the scene I included a bearded vulture, which is my mother's favourite bird.
I experienced a lot of art block while working on this picture, but I'm really proud that it's finally done. The autumnal hills in the background were a challenge for me, but I like how they turned out. Sometimes reading about the really hardcore aspects of tantric Buddhism made me need to take little breaks from working on this picture, but I finally made it through and finished, and I learned a lot along the way! Thank you to everyone who helped keep me motivated while working on this illustration! ~ July 19, 2018
I experienced a lot of art block while working on this picture, but I'm really proud that it's finally done. The autumnal hills in the background were a challenge for me, but I like how they turned out. Sometimes reading about the really hardcore aspects of tantric Buddhism made me need to take little breaks from working on this picture, but I finally made it through and finished, and I learned a lot along the way! Thank you to everyone who helped keep me motivated while working on this illustration! ~ July 19, 2018
Resources
Want to learn more about Niguma and other yogini? Here are some recommended resources.
"Niguma: Mistress of Illusion" by Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor David Lai
A discussion of the book Niguma: Lady of the Illusion by Sarah Harding. This article explores how one attempts to reconcile the inconsistencies about Niguma's life in the sources and offers in-depth analysis of the philosophy behind her teachings and the long-term impact she had on Tibetan Buddhism.
"Women in Early Sākta Tantras: Dūtī, Yoginī and Sādhakī" by Judit Törzsök
Scholarly article disentangling the various female roles found in early tantric texts. Törzsök provides valuable analysis of what it actually meant to be a historical yoginī and relates their mastery of tantra to the practices ascribed more generally to dūtī, female consorts in male tantric rituals, and sādhakī, women who were tantric practitioners in their own right.
"Yogini Encounters with Dakinis" by Stella on The Yogini Project
An exploration of Niguma's relevance to modern female practitioners of Buddhism, this essay offers commentary on the differing portrayals of dakini in their encounter with male versus female students. Please note there are depictions and discussions of sexual yoga and blood in this article; in general, reading about early tantric rituals is not for the faint of stomach or the very young.
"Yoga" on The Buddhism Guide
If you need an introductory article detailing how yoga intersects with Buddhism and Hinduism, this one is very helpful!
"Niguma: Mistress of Illusion" by Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor David Lai
A discussion of the book Niguma: Lady of the Illusion by Sarah Harding. This article explores how one attempts to reconcile the inconsistencies about Niguma's life in the sources and offers in-depth analysis of the philosophy behind her teachings and the long-term impact she had on Tibetan Buddhism.
"Women in Early Sākta Tantras: Dūtī, Yoginī and Sādhakī" by Judit Törzsök
Scholarly article disentangling the various female roles found in early tantric texts. Törzsök provides valuable analysis of what it actually meant to be a historical yoginī and relates their mastery of tantra to the practices ascribed more generally to dūtī, female consorts in male tantric rituals, and sādhakī, women who were tantric practitioners in their own right.
"Yogini Encounters with Dakinis" by Stella on The Yogini Project
An exploration of Niguma's relevance to modern female practitioners of Buddhism, this essay offers commentary on the differing portrayals of dakini in their encounter with male versus female students. Please note there are depictions and discussions of sexual yoga and blood in this article; in general, reading about early tantric rituals is not for the faint of stomach or the very young.
"Yoga" on The Buddhism Guide
If you need an introductory article detailing how yoga intersects with Buddhism and Hinduism, this one is very helpful!