Vajrayogini
Vajrayoginī is a Tantric Buddhist female Buddha and a. Vajrayoginī's essence is "great passion", a transcendent passion that is free of selfishness and illusion — she intensely works for the well-being of others and for the destruction of ego clinging. She is seen as being ideally suited for people with strong passions, providing the way to transform those passions into enlightened virtues.
She is an Anuttarayoga Tantra iṣṭadevatā and her practice includes methods for preventing ordinary death, intermediate state and rebirth, and for transforming all mundane daily experiences into higher spiritual paths. Practices associated with her are Chöd and the Six Yogas of Naropa.
Vajrayoginī is often described with the epithet sarvabuddhaḍākiṇī, meaning "the of all Buddhas".
Origin and lineage
Vajrayogini Temple is a Tantric temple located at Sankhu in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. It is also well known as Bodhisattva's Temple. The temple is actually a sort of temple complex, with the main temple having been built by King Pratap Malla in the sixteenth century. Vajrayogini is a Buddhist tantric deity, she is also conflated with Ugra Tara, a form of the Buddhist dharmapala Ekajati. However, the temple is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus. The Bajrayogini Temple is situated roughly 20 kilometres northeast of Kathmandu. The area where it is located is often referred to as Gunbaha, which can be roughly translated from Newari as ‘recreational forest place’. The main temple is a three-story high building, which was obviously carefully constructed with the utmost attention to detail. You will likely find a statue of the goddess Bajrayogini in this temple which will feature a red face with three eyes as well as hands, which have the thumb and middle finger carefully, decorated. Ornaments surround her statue.Vajrayoginī's sādhanā originated in Nepal between the tenth and twelfth centuries. It evolved from the, where Vajrayoginī appears as his Yab-Yum consort, to become a stand-alone practice of Anuttarayoga Tantra in its own right. The practice of Vajrayoginī belongs to the Mother Tantra class of Anuttarayoga Tantras along with other tantras such as the Cakrasaṃvara and Hevajra Tantras.
Vajrayana teaches that the two stages of the practice of Vajrayoginī were originally taught by Vajradhara. He manifested in the form of Heruka to expound the Root Tantra of Chakrasaṃvara, and it was in this tantra that he explained the practice of Vajrayoginī. All the many lineages of instructions on Vajrayoginī can be traced back to this original revelation. Of these lineages, there are three that are most commonly practiced: the Narokhachö lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī to Naropa; the Maitrikhachö lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī to Maitripa; and the Indrakhachö lineage, which was transmitted from Vajrayoginī to Indrabodhi.
Iconography
Vajrayoginī is visualized as the translucent, deep red form of a 16-year-old female with the third eye of wisdom set vertically on her forehead and unbound flowing hair. Vajrayoginī is generally depicted with the traditional accoutrements of a, including a kartika in her right hand and a kapala filled with blood in her left hand that she drinks from with upturned mouth. Her consort is often symbolically depicted as a on Vajrayoginī's left shoulder, when she is in "solitary hero" form. Vajrayoginī's khaṭvāṅga is marked with a vajra and from it hangs a damaru drum, a bell, and a triple banner. Her extended right leg treads on the chest of red Kālarātri, while her bent left leg treads on the forehead of black Bhairava, bending his head backward and pressing it into his back at the level of his heart. Her head is adorned with a crown of five human skulls and she wears a necklace of fifty human skulls. She is depicted as standing in the center of a blazing fire of exalted wisdom. Her countenance shows both erotic and fierce features, "in the fullness of bliss, laughing and baring her fangs."Each aspect of Vajrayoginī's form and mandala is designed to convey a spiritual meaning. For example, her brilliant red-colored body symbolizes the blazing of her tummo or "inner fire" of spiritual transformation as well as life force, blood of birth and menstrual blood. Her single face symbolizes that she has realized that all phenomena are of one nature in emptiness. Her two arms symbolize her realization of the two truths. Her three eyes symbolize her ability to see everything in the past, present and future. She looks upward toward the Pure Dākiṇī Land, demonstrating her attainment of outer and inner Pure Dākiṇī Land, and indicating that she leads her followers to these attainments. The curved driguk knife in her right hand shows her power to cut the continuum of the delusions and obstacles of her followers and of all living beings. Drinking the blood from the kapala in her left hand symbolizes her experience of the clear light of bliss.
Vajravārāhī and other forms
Vajrayoginī is a female deity and although she is sometimes visualized as simply Vajrayoginī, in a collection of her sādhanās she is visualized in an alternate form in over two thirds of the practices. Her other forms include Vajravārāhī and Krodikali.In her form as Vajravārāhī "the Vajra Sow", she is often pictured with a sow's head on the side of her own as an ornament and in one form has the head of a sow herself. Vajrayoginī is often associated with triumph over ignorance, the pig being associated with ignorance in Buddhism. This sow head relates to the origins of Vajravārāhī from the Hindu sow-faced goddess Vārāhī.
The severed-headed form of Vajrayoginī is similar to the Indian goddess Chinnamasta, who is recognized by both Hindus and Buddhists.
A white manifestation, generally designated as Prajñaloka, “Light of Wisdom,” displays a vajra and a skull bowl.
Practices
Vajrayoginī acts as a meditation deity, or the yab-yum consort of such a deity, in Vajrayāna Buddhism. She appears in a that is visualized by the practitioner according to a sādhana describing the practice of the particular tantra. There are several collections containing sādhanas associated with Vajrayoginī including one collection, the Guhyasamayasādhanamālā, containing only Vajrayoginī sādhanas and comprising forty-six works by various authors.The yidam that a meditator identifies with when practicing the is Vajrayoginī and she is an important deity for tantric initiation, especially for new initiates as Vajrayoginī's practice is said to be well-suited to those with strong desirous attachment, and to those living in the current "degenerate age". As Vajravārāhī, her consort is , who is often depicted symbolically as a on her left shoulder. In this form she is also the consort of Jinasagara, the red Avalokiteśvara.
Vajrayoginī is a key figure in the advanced Tibetan Buddhist practice of Chöd, where she appears in her Kālikā or Vajravārāhī forms.
Vajrayoginī also appears in versions of Guru yoga in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. In one popular system the practitioner worships their guru in the form of Milarepa, whilst visualizing themself as Vajrayoginī.
The purpose of visualizing Vajrayoginī is to gain realizations of generation stage tantra, in which the practitioner mentally visualises themself as their yidam or meditational deity and their surroundings as the Deity's. The purpose of generation stage is to overcome so-called ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions, which are said in Vajrayana Buddhism to be the obstructions to liberation and enlightenment.
According to most commentaries associated with the deity, the practices of Vajrayoginī are relatively easy compared to those of other Highest Yoga Tantra yidams and particularly suited to practitioners in modern times:....
The instructions on the practice of Vajrayoginī contain concise and clearly presented meditations that are relatively easy to practice. The mantra is short and easy to recite, and the visualizations of the, the Deity, and the body maṇḍala are simple compared with those of other Highest Yoga Tantra Deities. Even practitioners with limited abilities and little wisdom can engage in these practices without great difficulty. The practice of Vajrayoginī quickly brings blessings, especially during this spiritually degenerate age. It is said that as the general level of spirituality decreases, it becomes increasingly difficult for practitioners to receive the blessings of other Deities; but the opposite is the case with Heruka and Vajrayoginī – the more times degenerate, the more easily practitioners can receive their blessings.