Karmamudrā
Karmamudrā (
Karmamudrā also specifically refers to the female yogini who engages in such a practice. When the partner is a visualised one (i.e. imagined by a single yogi in Tibetan tantric practice), it is known as a jñanamudra ("wisdom seal").[3][4]
Purpose of practice
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Tantra uses
There are traditionally three ways to realise the nature of passion in the yogic tradition of Tantra. First in
yab-yum in sexual union... Second one can practice tummo (caṇḍalī) or the generation of internal heat through the subtle body practices of the vital breath moving into the central channel. Third, one can practice so-called sexual yoga (karmamudra, lekyi chagya) with a consort. Realising the true nature of passion in all of these forms transforms ordinary passion into the basis for the experience of great bliss (mahasukha), which greatly accelerates the removal of emotional and mental obscurations in one's practice.[5]
Early masters of the
Necessity of consort
According to most Tibetan Buddhist teachers, a physical consort (karmamudra) is necessary in order to attain enlightenment in this lifetime. For example modern day
Qualifications for practice
In the
All
History
Controversy
Vipassana teacher Jack Kornfield quotes one unnamed female Buddhist teacher, wherein she talks about an old, realized lama choosing a thirteen- to fourteen-year-old nun to become his sexual consort every year.[13] After talking to "a number of Western women who had slept with their lamas" this same unnamed individual concludes the practice benefited only the lamas.[13]
Academic, feminist and former Kagyu nun June Campbell has spoken about women acting as karmamudra in secret sexual relationships with lamas, including one she says she had when she was in her late twenties with the incarnation of Kalu Rinpoche who died in 1989. In an interview with Tricycle: The Buddhist Review she states that at the time she did not feel exploited but thinking about it over the years she came to see the demand for secrecy combined with an imbalance of power as similar to the techniques used by child abusers.[14]
See also
- Padmasambhava – 8th-century Buddhist lama
- Yeshe Tsogyal – First female lama in Tibetan Buddhism
References
Notes
- ^ Kragh (2015), pp. 381–386
- ^ Tsong-Kha-Pa (2005), p. 70
- ^ a b Sopa (1991), p. 30
- ^ Arnold (2009), p. 196
- ^ Simmer-Brown (2001), p. 217
- ^ Tsong-Kha-Pa (2005), p. 69
- ^ Shaw (1994), p. 146
- ^ Dalai Lama XIV (1997), p. 254
- ^ Gray (2007), p. 125
- ^ Gray (2007), p. 124
- ^ Shaw (1994), pp. 179–183
- ^ Simmer-Brown (2001), p. 222
- ^ a b Kornfield (2000), p. 151
- ^ Tworkhov (1996)
Works cited
- Arnold, Edward A., ed. (2009). As Long as Space Endures: Essays on the Kalacakra Tantra in Honor of H.H. the Dalai Lama. Shambhala.
- Dalai Lama XIV (1997). The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra. Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-930-9.
- Gray, David (2007). The Cakrasamvara Tantra. New York: Columbia University.
- Kornfield, Jack (2000). After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path. New York: Bantam Dell Pub Group. ISBN 978-0-553-10290-1.
- Kragh, Ulrich Timme (2015). Tibetan Yoga and Mysticism A Textual Study of the Yogas of Naropa and Mahamudra Meditation in the Medieval Tradition of Dags po. Studia Philologica Buddhica. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies. ISBN 4-906267-72-6.
- Shaw, Miranda E. (1994). Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism. Princetown. ISBN 0-691-03380-3.
- Simmer-Brown, Judith (2001). Dakini's Warm Breath: the Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 978-1-57062-920-4.
- Sopa, Geshe Lhundup (1991). Simon, Beth Lee (ed.). The Wheel of Time: The Kalachakra in Context. Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 978-1559390019.
- ISBN 1-55939-234-7.
- Tworkhov, Helen (Winter 1996). "The Emperor's Tantric Robes: An Interview with June Campbell on Codes of Secrecy and Silence". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Retrieved 2 September 2013.