Kritik am Buch „The Shadow Of The Dalai Lama ... - Neues von Shi De

Vajrayogini
The “tantric female sacrifice” has found a sublime and many-layered expression in what is known as
the “Vajrayogini rite”, which we would like to examine briefly because of its broad distribution
among the Tibetan lamas. Vajrayogini is the most important female divine figure in the highest yogic
practices of Tibetan Buddhism. The goddess is worshipped as, among other things, “Mistress of the
World”, the “Mother of all Buddhas”, “Queen of the Dakinis”, and a “Powerful Possessor of
Knowledge”. Her reverential cult is so unique in androcentric Lamaism that a closer examination has
much to recommend it. In so doing we draw upon a document on Vajrayogini praxis by the Tibetan
lama Kelsang Gyatso.
This tantric ritual, centered upon a principal female figure, begins like all others, with the pupil’s
adoration of the guru. Seated upon two cushions which represent the sun and moon, the master holds
a vajra and a bell in his hands, thus emphasizing his androgyny and transsexual power.
Vajra Yogini in the burning circle
External, internal, and secret sacrifices are made to him and his lineage. Above all this concerns many
imagined “sacrificial goddesses” which emanate from the pupil’s breast and from there enter the
teacher’s heart. Among these are the goddesses of beauty, music, flowers, and the light. With the
“secret sacrifices” the sadhaka pronounces the following: “And I offer most attractive illusory
mudras, a host of messengers born from places, born from mantra, and spontaneously born, with