Lady Tsogyal

“Tsogyal then withdrew to the most solitary caves, like that of Sengé Nering. There she sat, vowing never to relinquish her vajra posture, but to remain with unwavering gaze, in silence, and with no relaxation of her bodily position. And so she stayed absorbed in concentration. The malevolent gods and spirits of the region could not tolerate the brilliance of the Lady’s concentration and assailed her magically with seductive and wrathful forms, visible and invisible phantoms. At first, they repeatedly appeared to her as different kinds of food, or again they took the form of clothing, horses, elephants, and so on, all the goods and wealth this world affords. But the Lady quelled them all with the intensity of her concentration. Seeing their illusory nature, she felt a profound detachment and distaste for worldly things, and this sufficed to make some of the objects disappear. Others she transformed through concentration into earth, stones, and the like. Others disappeared after becoming, according to her wish, treasures of food and wealth for the benefit of the country in ages to come.

On another occasion, the spirits took the form of a band of handsome youths, their faces beautiful and complexions wholesome, good to smell, well built and sturdy—a joy to look upon. To begin with they spoke to her respectfully, addressing her as “Mistress” and “Lady,” but later they called her “girl” and “Tsogyal,” and began to speak to her with words of desire. They started by teasing her playfully, but little by little they uncovered their manhood, saying things like, ‘Hey, girl, is this what you want? Do you want its milk?’ And they put their arms around her waist, fondling her breasts, playing with her sexual parts, kissing her, making love in all sorts of ways. Some of the young men disappeared, subdued by the strength of the Lady’s concentration.

Others, through the concentration that perceives all things as illusion, faded away, mere phantoms. Still others, through the counteractive meditation of a Bodhisattva, were changed into blackened corpses, hideous old men, lepers, blind men, cripples, and idiots, all of them loathsome. And being thus transformed, they disappeared.

Then fearful visions began to occur. The whole earth trembled and shook, there came a crashing and rumbling, louder than a thousand thunders. Lightning flashed black, white, red, yellow, blue, and many-colored—bright lights almost unbearable. All sorts of sharp weapons appeared, pointed daggers, spears, and knives of fearful blue metal, all bristling and clashing together in front of her. Tsogyal could hardly endure it. But through her unshakable concentration, she remained confident and fearless, even though it seemed she might be sliced in pieces and killed.

And once more, everything melted away. Yet again, some days later, the forms of different wild animals appeared: tigers, leopards, red bears and yellow bears, roaring and growling, blocking the entrance to the cave from above and below, coming into it from all sides, snarling and howling. Some had their mouths wide open, showing their fangs, as if to devour her. They lashed the ground with their tails, tearing at it with their claws, their bodies quivering, their fur standing up, their manes bristling.
But with unshakable confidence, Tsogyal abandoned all attachment to her body, feeling a deep compassion for all of them. And they faded away. Suddenly the place was filled, swarming with all kinds of worms and insects, led by a horde of spiders, scorpions, and snakes. Some got into her ears, eyes, and nose, others were biting and scratching her, climbing on her, jumping onto her. There were insects fighting among themselves.
They were tearing each other to pieces and devouring each other.

All kinds of things magically appeared. Trembling a little with horror, the Lady Tsogyal felt compassion for them.
It became more and more frightening and repulsive, until she thought: “Many times have I vowed to have no attachment in any circumstances for my body, speech, and mind. These living beings that we call insects have arisen due to karma. Why should I be frightened by the magic sleights of wicked spirits? All actions are the issue of thoughts, good or ill; and since all that happens thus is merely thought, I should accept everything equally.” And in this spirit of confidence she sang: What we understand to be phenomena Are but the magical projections of the mind. The hollow vastness of the sky I never saw to be afraid of anything. All this is but the self-glowing light of clarity. There is no other cause at all. All that happens is but my adornment. Better, then, to stay in silent meditation.

Thereupon she entered into a concentration of perfect equanimity, beyond good and evil, acceptance and rejection. And all the visions disappeared. But again other sights and apparitions arose. Truncated limbs were being hurled about, repugnant forms shooting and whirling around. She saw a huge head to which there was no body, its gaping jaws stretching from the earth to the sky, and in between, its tongue flicking and twitching. It had great fangs, pale and sharp, and it came closer and closer. Or again, in a castle, small like a white mustard seed, she saw many people fighting battles. Or else there would be all-engulfing fires, pouring floods, falling rocks, trees crashing down, howling winds, and more. But she remained immovable in the vajra-like concentration, and finally everything melted away.

Then, from É in Nepal to Ja in Mön, hordes of gods and spirits came. They were of the tribes of Khatra and Kangtra in the land of Lo, and said, “Behold, we are legion.” Some were weeping, others screaming, groaning, bellowing in their fury. And they began to work their mischief. From above they hurled their thunders. From below their fires blazed up. In between came water swirling. Choking blizzards of furious weapons raged. But this only served to strengthen the Lady Tsogyal’s realization.
Pure awareness broke forth, and her wisdom channel opened. An unshakable faith rose up in her and she sang:

Emaho! The Dharmakaya, Wisdom of the Great Mother; Essence of the ten perfections, Practice of deep wisdom, These are now fulfilled. No appearance now will frighten me: All arises as the play of Dharmakaya. These phantoms are but the compassion of my Teacher. I pray that he might send me more and more!... Emaho! Observance of the woman Tsogyal, The essence of the Secret Mantra, The practice of equality of joy and sorrow, These I have perfected. I do not choose between the good and bad, For both bring progress to my meditation. All appearance is compassion of my Teacher; I pray that he might send me more and more!

Yet again, the hordes of gods and spirits from the three lands of India, Nepal, and Tibet came upon her with their demon captains, red, black, and blue, trying in all sorts of ways to beset her with obstacles. But they failed, and so they stirred the human inhabitants to hostility against her. For through the agency of the gods, the whole of the land of Mön was convulsed by untold calamities. A darkness came down such that no one could tell day from night. There were floods, thunderstorms, hailstorms, snowstorms, rainstorms, and plague. All sorts of miseries occurred. Everyone was saying, “Who is attacking us? Where is all this coming from?”

Now it happened that a hunter, a native of Mön, had seen Tsogyal. “Over there,” he said, “in the cave of Nering rock, there is a Tibetan woman who seems to be both deaf and dumb. Isn’t she the one? Who else could it be?” They all agreed that she must be to blame and they came in a band to put her to death. They reached the cave and cried, “Tibetan beggar woman! Through your witchcraft our land of Mön has been plunged into inky darkness. It has become a land of gloom. Lightning and hail are beating down, and plagues and miseries have come upon us. Drive away your evil magic or we will kill you right away!” The Lady thought to herself, “They are under the influence of gods and spirits; nothing will help! Whatever happens, I must carry it onto the path. Whatever comes about, I must simply let it be. Whatever I have to go through, I will not give up my vow.”

And so, without answering, she remained seated, her eyes wide open and staring. Some decided that she was ashamed, others that she was refusing to listen to them. And they threw dust into her eyes and pricked her ears with their knives. But she remained as she was, without a care. “Atsi!” they cried, “this is a tough little vixen!” And they shot arrows at her, beat her with sticks, pierced her with knives and spears. But nothing and nobody could harm the Lady’s body. So they called her “pömo jigméma,” the fearless Tibetan woman, and, telling each other that there was no help for it, they went back home.

At that time, the girl was present who had previously offered honey to Lady Tsogyal. She was the daughter of the king of Mön and was therefore very rich and influential. She had great faith in the Lady and made prostration to her. She returned and would offer sometimes buffalo milk, sometimes honey and whatever pleasing service she could.

Not long afterwards, all the gods and spirits that had previously displayed the magical illusions came and offered their life force to the Lady Tsogyal. At their head were demons, tsen spirits, and nagas, and these pledged to guard the Lady’s teachings and to annihilate her enemies. They said:

Eh Ho Ho! Joy of Padma Thödrengtsel, Victorious lady, noble Heruka, None could overwhelm you! We confess our evil wills to you and our misdeeds. We who are your servants and familiars Offer you our life force and our strength, And will be subject to your every word. We will not break this pledge of ours! Each of them made an offering of their life force and then departed. In like manner, Rahula, Vajrasadhu and all the other powerful gods and spirits of Tibet came and offered their life force. And they took their leave after promising that they would protect the teachings of the Buddha.

Thereupon all the inhabitants of the country, both men and women, who previously had done the Lady so much mischief, gathered before her and confessed. Indeed, Hamra, the king of Mön himself, began to regard Tsogyal as an object of faith and wonder. It was his daughter who previously had offered the honey—a lovely girl of thirteen years, endowed with all the qualities and bodily signs of a dakini. Her name was Khyidren, “She Who Leads the Hounds.” The king, prompted by his faith, offered her to Tsogyal who changed her name to Trashi Chidren, “Propitious Guide of All.”

Tsogyal then went off to Paro Taktsang, where she performed a final austerity on her own account, the practice on the essence-drop, the union of bliss and voidness. Nourishing her three companions, Atsara Salé, Mönpu Salé, and Atsara Pelyang, on the essences of medicinal plants, she trained unstintingly, day and night, for seven months. At first the whole of her body was disturbed and lost its strength, and her mind was dull and agitated by turns. The lymph fell sharply from the upper to the lower part of her body. She was oppressed by disease, fever, pains, and shivering, and once again came near to death. But then all the lymph transformed into the essence-drop, and the whole of her body was filled with bliss.

This was at first a kind of bliss mingled with emotions, followed by a bliss of immense Primordial Wisdom and finally a stable, flowing bliss of Wisdom. Then, little by little, the white and red essences blended so that the duality of subject and object disappeared. Her body became the mandala of the Victorious Ones. And through the offering of bliss, she attained the state of Great Bliss within a body of Great Bliss. The whiteness of her body became suffused with a rosy glow, and she assumed the form of a heruka-heroine, ever-youthful, endowed with the charm of a girl of sixteen years. It was then that she had a vision of the mandala of Amitayus and obtained the immutable diamond body untouched by death and aging, becoming thus a vidyadhara with power over life…"

~ Gyalwa Changchub, Lady of the Lotus-Born: The Life and Enlightenment of Yeshe Tsogyal