Site icon DESTINATION OBLIVION

Five Wisdom Dakinis: “The source of the five activities is the dakini” —Padmasambhava: full feature, documentary video and more – Buddha Weekly: Buddhist Practices, Mindfulness, Meditation

Oblivion
Five Wisdom Dakinis: "The source of the five activities is the dakini" —Padmasambhava: full feature, documentary video and more - Buddha Weekly: Buddhist Practices, Mindfulness, Meditation
Buddha Weekly Wisdom Dakinis Buddhism
Three of the Five Wisdom Daknis, art by Laura Santi. (See detailed art below for each of the Five Dakinis in the detailed section. Laura Santi’s art can be found at Laura Santi Sacred Art on Etsy>>

What are the Five Wisdom Dakinis? Why are they central to Tibetan Buddhist practice? Why are they associated with activity practices— peaceful, increasing, magnetizing, subjugating, and supreme activities — such as Chod?

The great Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche answers it best:

“The source of activity is the dakini and there are five kinds of activities, peaceful, increasing, magnetizing, subjugating, and the supreme activity. The primary way to perfect these is through dakini practices, and among dakinis, there are the wisdom dakinis, in space, and worldly dakinis. These vast collections of practices can be condensed into those of the three roots, lama, yidam, and dakini.

Watch the amazing 5 Wisdom Dakinis Buddha Weekly video with chanting of the five mantras of the Dakinis by the amazing Yoko Dharma:

Note: Pema Khandro (Tib.) mentioned by Guru Rinpoche translates as Padma Dakini (Sanskrit. See below section for information), the Red Dakini of the Lotus Family (Amitabha’s family). Not to be confused with the teacher quoted below, Pema Khandro Rinpoche.

(Note: Amazon affiliate link. Price is unchanged, but we may earn a commission to offset our hosting costs.

Five Wisdom Dakinis in a Mandala with White Buddha Dakini in the Center, Red Padma Dakini at the top (West is traditionally in front of us for many practitioners — otherwise the direction of your own Yidam family), Green Karma Dakini (Tara) to the North (right), Blue Vajra Dakini behind us in the East, and Yellow Ratna Dakini to our left (south.)

Wisdom Dakinis Dance on the Perfection of Sunyata

Wisdom Dakinis are fully Enlightened. Pema Khandro Rinpoche, explains,

“The notion of Dakini in the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) goes hand in hand with the teachings of the five elements and the five wisdoms. Each of these are represented by a variety of enlightened female figures, known as Dakinis, the Five Wisdom Dakinis.”[3]

Here, we’re focused only on Wisdom Dakinis, or Enlightened Dakinis. Just as people — or gods, or any being — can be either worldly (unenlightened) or “Enlightened” the same is true of Dakinis. Although we may have occasion to “run across” worldly Dakinis, in Buddhist practice, we are only concerned in this feature (and in most practices) with Wisdom Dakinis. [For more on Worldly Dakinis see the section below.]

Cover for the Prajnaparamita Sutra with an embossed image of the Mother of Wisdom Prajnaparamita. The Heart Sutra and all the Prajnaparamita wisdom Sutras are the “heart” of Chod, of Five Dakini Wisdom practice and all Dakini practices. Wisdom Dakinis are considered to be emanations of the Great Mother Prajnaparamita, Mother of the All the Buddhas and Enlightened Dakinis. For a commentary on the Heart Sutra, see>> For a feature on Prajnaparamita, see>>

Five Great Mother Dakinis — One with Prajnaparamita

The Five Wisdom Dakinis are also called the Five Great Mother Dakinis, particularly when associated with Chod practices, which normally focus on Prajnaparamita and the Five glorious Great Mother Dakinis.

It would be a mistake to think of these as “individuals” — rather than aspects. In the Chod Sadhana, the visualization describes the main focus as[3]:

“the Great Mother Mahamata Prajnaparamita and the Five Dakinis, who are all one…”

Likewise, Vajrayogini is an aspect of Great Mother (Mahamata) Prajnaparamita, as is Machig Labdron and Tara. Her mantra, therefore the mantra of the Five Great Mothers, is:

Om Gate Gate Paragate Parasamghate Bodhi Svaha

The five Wisdom Dakinis are a major part of Chod practices in many lineages.

Queen among them — Vajrayogini

Queen among the Wisdom Dakinis is the Sarva Buddha Dakini, Vajrayogini, who is the ultimate expression of Enlightened Wisdom. All other Dakinis are considered to be emanations of Vajrayogini, in the same way the Five Dhyani Buddhas are emanations of Vajradhara (in some traditions Buddha Samantabhadra), the tantric aspect of Buddha Shakyamuni.

Just as there are five Enlightened Buddhas, emanations of Vajradhara, representing the wisdoms that overcome each of the five poisons that afflict us, there are likewise five Wisdom Dakinis — emanations of the great sarvabuddhadakini Vajrayogini.

Summarizing the Five Great Wisdom Dakinis

In Tibetan, the Wisdom Dakinis are called Ye-shes mKha-‘gro lnga, and they are considered to be emanations of Vajravarahi who is an emanation of Vajrayogini. Vajrayogini, of course, is the Sarvabuddhadakini — meaning the “Dakini Whose Essence is That of All Buddhas.”

The five wisdom Dakinis are the “wisdom” counterparts of the Five Dhyani Buddha, who represent “compassion.” As the Enlightened Path includes both wisdom and compassion, these are inseparable — which is why the metaphor used is “consort.” Whether wisdom is the consort of compassion, or the reverse, is not important. It would better, perhaps, in modern context to think of them as co-equal aspects of one Enlightened concept.

Often, our teachers will recommend focusing on one Buddha family  — which might include the associated Wisdom Dakini, Dhyani Buddha and usually a family-associated Yidam (for example, Chenrezig or Hayagriva for Padma or Amitabha family).

Five Wisdom Dakinis.

Attributes and Elements

As with the Five Dhyani Buddhas, each of the Wisdom Dakinis likewise pacifies one of the five poisons (listed below under each of the Dakinis) and also focuses on one of the elements and one of the “Energies.”

Tor this list, we arbitrarily ordered this as Body, Speech, Mind, Senses, Activity. Most people likely would think in terms of directional order (usually we place the direction of our main Yidam in front of us, in my case WEST (which I’m using here). You could resort with East in front of you, if Buddha Dakini, Medicine Buddha were your Yidams). Using West in front of you, these are sorted clockwise:

Directions of the Five Wisdom Dakinis

Five Wisdom Dakinis in a Mandala with White Buddha Dakini in the Center, Red Padma Dakini at the top (West is traditionally in front of us for many practitioners — otherwise the direction of your own Yidam family), Green Karma Dakini (Tara) to the North (right), Blue Vajra Dakini behind us in the East, and Yellow Ratna Dakini to our left (south.)

Energies of the Five Dakinis

Energies connote (identical to the associations for the five Buddhas of similar colors) (here the order is Body, Speech, Mind, Senses, Activity, which continues for remaining lists of attributes):

Skandhas of the Five Wisdom Dakinis

Wisdom of the Five Dakinis

Each Dakini, as the Wisdom counterparts of the Dhyani Buddhas, also specializes in a different “wisdom”

Buddha (Compassion Aspect) Counterpart of the Five Dakinis

Each Dakini’s compassion (method) counterpart is one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas:

The Five Buddha Families with the Mothers (Dakinis) and their elemental associations.

Poisons of focus by the Five Dakinis

Each Dakini’s focuses on a particular “poison” of the five poisons — Ignorance, Anger, Pride, Desire, Jealousy:

Laura Santi Sacred Art store on Etsy.

Illustrations in this feature by the amazing artist Laura Santi, used with permission. Please do not reproduce. Thankyou. If you are interested in her wonderful Dharma art, visit Laura Santi Sacred Art on Etsy>>

Mother and Father Tantra

Although there’s much more to be understood from the concepts of Father and Mother Tantra — exclusively found in Highest Yoga Tantra of Vajrayana Buddhism — it’s important to understand that Father Tantra does not mean “male deity” practice any more than Mother Tantra stands for “female deity” practice. Chakrasamvara, for example, is a male Highest Yoga Tantra Buddha emanation focused on Wisdom — specifically Clear Light and Shunyata-oriented practices (wisdom). Father Tantra is any Highest Yoga Tantra practice focused on “Illusory Body” and “Compassion” as the main meditative aspect.

The Five Wisdom Dakinis, however, are clearly focused on Wisdom, therefore Mother (not by virtue of apparent visualized sex, but by virtue of focus of practice). The Five Dhyani Buddhas, on the other hand, focus on Compassion and method, although the “poison” and the “wisdom” are the same.

Three of the Five Wisdom Daknis, art by Laura Santi.

Summary: Five Great Wisdom Dakinis

When the Sarva Buddha Dakini (Vajrayogini) emanates elementally, or in the context of focusing on specific poisons, She emanates as the Five Wisdom Dakinis. Likewise, when Vajradhara — the tantra aspect of Shakyamuni Buddha (or, Samantabadhra Buddha in some traditions) — emanates they first emanate as the five Dhayni Buddhas.

The Five Wisdom Dakinis, can be quickly summarized as:

Buddha Dakini Akashadhatvishvari, the Wisdom Dakini of Universal Law — usually in the center, wisdom awareness, Dakini consort of Vairocana’s Buddha, white in color, the element of space or ether.

Buddha Dakini Akashadhatvishvari

Vajra Dakini.

Vajra Dakini Locana

Ratna Dakini

Ratna-Dakini Mamaki

Padma Dakini.

Padma-Dakini Pandaravasini Pandara

Karma Dakini.

Karma-Dakini Samaya Tara

Zasep Tulku Rinpoche demonstrates chod. On the Tangkha to his left is Machig Labdron, the founder of this lineage of Chod, surrounded by the Dakinis.

Worldly Dakinis are not Wisdom Dakinis

Much of the misinterpretation of Dakinis arises from the “sky-goer” translation of the name. In many early western translations, this was associated with the idea of “angels” or “messengers” — which doesn’t fit the Wisdom Dakini except in the loosest possible sense.

Dakinis are certainly no angels, even in their Wisdom form. The Wisdom Dakinis certainly embody Wisdom — which means they far surpass the non-Enlightened angel. The sky they dance on is Sunyata, emptiness. They have overcome the kleshas, the poisons, transformed by the luminous energy of Wisdom and non-dual awareness. They are Enlightened Buddhas. (The Worldly Dakinis, which is not the topic for this feature, are just like us — unenlightened.)

The “sky goer” translation is perhaps better translated as “Sunyata dancer” or “Movement in Emptiness” or any other lofty, esoteric translation, In truth, a handful of words can never describe the Wisdom Dakini — which is further confused by the notion of “worldly dakinis” — who, in turn, become vilified with translations such as “zombie” or “cannibal” or “sorceress.” A Dakini is none of these things — but can also be all of these things. It’s like describing a phoenix as a bird.

Wisdom Dakini, if they can be brought down to a few words might be best translated as “dancers on Sunyata, the insubstantiality of all phenomenon, where all manifestations are possible.”

They can be a “being” or a “notion” or an “energy” or a “symbol” or a “consort” or a “wisdom” or a…. you get the idea. Dakinis far surpass any attempt to pin them down to a few words of description.

Chod practice by many monks. This active form of practice drumming is an advanced practice, combining activities with chanting mantras and visualizations.

NOTES

[1] Dakini Activity: The Dynamic Play of Awakening, by Padmsambhava, the Lotus Born. On Amazon>>   (affiliate link.)

[2] Summary of Dakini attributes from “Five Wisdom Dakinis”

[3] “Dakini Wisdom”

[4] Short Sadhana for Chod Retreat by Ge.Lhung Dharma Bhadra of Nyul.Chu at the mountain cave of Nyul.Chu at the request of the most devoted beautiful nun Getsulma Kelsang Cho Kyed. Translated by Ven Zasep Rinpoche, Gaden for the West

Exit mobile version