Dri-med-kun-dgaʼ. - The life and visions of Yeshé Tsogyal: the autobiography of the Great Wisdom Queen

Snow Lion

An imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc.

4720 Walnut Street

Boulder, Colorado 80301

www.shambhala.com

2017 by the Jnanasukha Foundation

Photos 2017 by Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

eBook design adapted from printed book design by Gopa & Ted2, Inc.

Cover art: Mural painting of Yesh Tsogyal at Samye Monastery, Tibet. Photograph Thomas Laird LLC

Cover design: Gopa & Ted2, Inc.

L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ATALOGING-IN- P UBLICATION D ATA

Names: Ye-shes-mtsho-rgyal, active 8th century, author. | Dri-med-kun-dga.

Title: The Life and Visions of Yesh Tsogyal: The Autobiography of the Great Wisdom Queen / discovered by Drim Kunga; Translated by Chnyi Drolma; Foreword by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyenstse.

Description: First edition. | Boulder: Snow Lion, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Translated from Tibetan.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016047170 | ISBN 9781611804348 (paperback: alk. paper)

eISBN9780834840928

Subjects: LCSH: Ye-shes-mtsho-rgyal, active 8th century. | YoginsChinaTibet Autonomous RegionBiography. | BISAC: RELIGION / Buddhism / Rituals & Practice. | RELIGION / Buddhism / Sacred Writings. | RELIGION / Buddhism / Tibetan.

Classification: LCC BQ998.E757 A3 2017 | DDC 294.3/923092 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016047170

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C ONTENTS

To think of Yesh Tsogyal only as the consort of Guru Rinpoche is very limited.

Yesh Tsogyal is actually the voice of Guru Rinpoche. In fact, she is Guru Rinpoche in feminine form.

Countless times, Yesh Tsogyal also leads us to a deeper understanding of the dharma by displaying curiosity and even manifesting as Guru Rinpoches disciple.

It is no wonder that nearly all the treasure teachings in the Nyingma tradition are in one way or another connected to the Lady Yesh Tsogyal.

If Guru Rinpoche is the sun, then without any doubt, Yesh Tsogyal is the suns rays.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

June 2016

This treasure biography of the wisdom dakini Yesh Tsogyal, a female master of eighth-century Tibet, is a valuable addition to the English-language corpus of her legacy. Its publication is an endeavor of the Jnanasukha Foundation, established in the belief that Yesh Tsogyals teachings can lead us to full awakening and a better world.

To make an educated guess, I would be willing to wager that the title, The Life and Visions of Yesh Tsogyal: The Autobiography of the Great Wisdom Queen, is quite irresistible, and that readers might fast-forward to , The Princess Asks Lotus-Born of Oddiyana for Songs of Meditation Instruction. Am I right?

When the crushing circumstances of her position in society are finally resolved, Tsogyal is sealed into a twelve-year retreat. But waither difficulties are just beginning. She painfully realizes through visionary travels to Oddiyana that although she may be praiseworthy in conventional society, in the context of those dedicated to attaining enlightenment, she is sadly lacking in the basicsgenuine faith, diligence, courage, pure vision, and more. Later, even after twelve years of retreat, Tsogyal hears her teachers assessment: You still have only a slight understanding of realization and omniscience. How could this be, you might wonder?

Its because the matter of attaining enlightenment is not a soothing pursuit. Its all about cleaning up the mess after the apple cart has been upset. With or without our consent, hardship and difficulties are the way, but whether they become obstacles or not is up to us.

Time and again, Tsogyal is tested by the external and internal until, finally, she has exhausted the potential for distraction. This is precisely the moment she transitions from being a princess, albeit a Dharma princess, to being a dakini, and receives the name Yesh Tsogyal.

The travails of Tsogyals life are a precursor to the well-known Milarepa theme: its not so much the past that counts as it is the navigation of the present in all its complexity. Something very present for me in glimpsing Tsogyals life through this biography is the amazing mettle of her spiritsomething I aspire to but am still in up and down stages. But meanwhile, back on the gradual path, there are other themes more familiar, such as the effect of receiving love and appropriate nurturance to fuel the climb to the mountaintop.

We come to Dharma not just with our questions, but with the way we live our lives. Secret Mantras spiritual biographies are ostensibly about others, but in point of fact, they are guides into ourselves. This particular biography, a super-intimate, unfiltered look into Tsogyals struggles and triumphs, helps us remember our wholeness and move into a deeper sense of ourselves. The point is not whether Tsogyals life actually happened, but that the process of her path is under way within us.

It is a privilege to apply this sacred text to our own lives. May I offer it to you as a homecoming? I encourage you to imagine your own , and the following chapters as well, until you can sense your own emergent liberation and enlightened activity to benefit all. Go ahead, walk in the shoes of Yesh Tsogyal!

And even if this biography projects an unlikely trajectory for us, it can nevertheless shape how we understand ourselves and how we interpret the world. Enlightenmentif not now, then later, as Lama Tharchin Rinpoche would say.

To Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, receiving your blessings and your praises of Yesh Tsogyal consecrates this publication as a true source of wisdom for all beings. Thank you for your profound teaching on the significance of Guru Rinpoche and Yesh Tsogyal in your Foreword.

Most of the dots on the map leading to this publication are invisible. However, to connect a few that I can see, I would like to express my deep gratitude to our exceptional yogini-translator, Chnyi Drolma; our realized commentators Anam Thubten, Chagdud Khadro, Judith Simmer-Brown, Holly Gayley, Khandro Thrinlay Chodon, and Ngawang Zangpo; our diligent editor Ellis Widner; and Shambhala Publications Nikko Odiseos. Thank you all for carrying the torch.