The Dakini or Khandroma, literally "she who moves through space" or "she who goes in the sky," is a manifestation of energy in female form. There are worldly Dakinis who are human beings such as female spiritual teachers or else witches possessing psychic powers, but also non-human Dakinis such as goddesses and nature spirits in female form. In addition, there are Wisdom Dakinis who are transcendent or beyond Samsara and represent the manifestations of enlightened awareness in female form, such as the female Buddha Tara, or female Bodhisattvas such as Lakshmi and Sarasvati, or Guardians in female form like Ekajati. In the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet, the Dakini embodies the Wisdom Principle of Buddha enlightenment, for which reason she is said to be the Consort of all the Buddhas. More generally, the Dakini represents the feminine principle that is outside the control of patriarchal society and the rational male ego consciousness.
In her aspect as Vajrayogini, the Dakini is the initiatrix of all the Yogis into the esoteric practices of the highest Buddhist Tantras. The Tibetan princess Yeshe Tsogyal, who became the consort and partner of Guru Padmasambhava when he established Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet, adopted the guise of Vajrayogini, or the Queen of Great Bliss, in her practice of Dakini Yoga, where, as his Yogini practitioner, she came to realize the inseparability of bliss and wisdom. This course will survey the importance of the Dakini Principle in the Higher Tantra practice of Tibetan Buddhism and introduce some of the meditation practices connected with Dakini Yoga of Vajrayogini and Yeshe Tsogyal.

The remote mountainous region of Tibet is a land filled with spirits inhabiting every feature of the natural landscape. Being energy beings and shape-shifters, there spirits can send negative influences against certain human individuals when their personal energy fields have been weakened, thus adversely affecting the health and fortune of those individuals. This is often because the spirits have become angry at humans for polluting and destroying their home, the natural environment. Moreover, the spirits of the dead can remain behind on the earth plane, resisting moving on to new reincarnations because of their unfulfilled desires, thereby inflicting problems and disturbances on their surviving relatives and descendents. The Ngakpa Lamas, who are the real shamans of Tibet, are experts in the exorcism of negative spirits and re-establishing of a harmonious relationship between our human dimension of existence and the Otherworld of the spirits. In this weekend workshop, we shall teach some of the basic ritual practices used by the Ngakpa Lamas of Tibet to propitiate and exorcise hostile spirits and ghosts, such as "Sang," or smoke purification, "Sur," or burnt offerings to the spirits of the dead, and "Länchak," or repayment of past karmic debts owed to those whom we have injured or killed in our past lives.

His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (1904-1987), during the latter part of his lifetime the Supreme Head of the Nyingmapa School of Tibetan Buddhism, was one of the greatest masters of Dzogchen and Buddhist Tantra in Tibet in recent times. Rinpoche was not only an accomplished Tantric Yogi and Terton (discover of hidden treasure texts), but a profound scholar of the Buddhist tradition of Tibet. Born in Southern Tibet, he was recognized as a reincarnation of one of the original twenty-five disciples of Guru Padmasambhava who established Vajrayana, the Tantric form of Buddhism, in Tibet in the 8th century of our era. The hidden treasure texts, or Termas, discovered by Dudjom Rinpoche and his previous incarnation, Dudjom Lingpa, are collectively known as Dudjom Tersar, "the New Treasures of Dudjom." They particularly focus upon the practices associated with Phurpa or Vajrakilaya, "the diamond-like magical three-bladed dagger,"which overcomes and destroys demons and obstructing spirits, especially as represented by the Rudra demons of inflated ego.
In general, the function of Phurpa practice is to overcome obstacles and demolish negative energies afflicting the life of the individual practitioner. These methods include the higher spiritual practices (stod-las) for attaining liberation and enlightenment and the more practical ritual actions (smad-las) for transforming energy in daily life. As embodied in the Yidam, or meditation deity, Vajrakilaya, this is among one of the most popular meditation practices in the Nyingmapa tradition, indeed, even having been the personal meditation practice of Guru Padmasambhava himself and his consort, the Tibetan princess Yeshe Tsogyal. Along with the Longchen Nyingthik, the Dudjom Tersar has become among the most widespread and popular Terma cycles in Tibet today among both monks and Ngakpa Lamas of the Nyingmapa school. It is said that the cycles of Dudjom Phurpa complete the revelation of Phurpa practice in terms of Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga, or Dzogchen, originally revealed to and inaugurated by Padmasambhava among his circle of Tibetan disciples. This course will introduce some of these practices for Vajrakilaya according to the Dudjom Tersar, in particular, the sPu-gri reg-phung, "the Razor that Destroys at a Touch."