Queen of the Wisdom Lake – Yeshe Tsogyal
Standing Yeshe Tsogyal (Main figure)
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(Top to bottom): Guru Padmasambhava, Standing Yeshe Tsogyal, Wangze, Za Rahula and Dorje Shugden.
Yeshe Tsogyal was born in 777 CE as a princess in the Kharchen region of Tibet. Her name literally means ‘Victorious Ocean of Wisdom’ or ‘Queen of the Wisdom Lake’. She is widely believed to have been an emanation of Vajrayogini. She is said to have lived for 99 years and was renowned to be the main spiritual consort of Guru Rinpoche. She became fully awakened and was thus a spiritual master in her own right.
According to her biography, she was initially the consort of King Trisong Detsen before she was offered up to Guru Rinpoche as an offering during an initiation. Her main practice was Vajrakilaya and after engaging in extensive practice, she gained a vision of the deity which was a sign of her great spiritual attainments. It is said that while in Nepal, she offered ransom for Acharya Sale and she took him as her spiritual consort as well.
After she became Guru Rinpoche’s consort, she became his scribe and wrote down teachings with Guru Rinpoche who assigned many of these teachings as terma or ‘hidden treasures’. Yeshe Tsogyal was instructed by Guru Rinpoche to hide many of these teachings, as they were only to be revealed in the future. At the end of her life, she flew directly to Zangdok Palri or Copper-coloured Mountain, the pure realm of Guru Rinpoche.
Guru Rinpoche himself is widely considered to be one of the most important Indian lineage holders and is credited with the introduction of the early Buddhist tantras to Tibet. He is also considered to be one of the previous lives of Lama Tsongkhapa and established Buddhism in Tibet during the reign of the Tibetan King Trisong Detsen. When he first arrived to Tibet, he faced opposition from supernatural beings and thus, he subdued them and bound them by oath to protect the Dharma. Za Rahula was one of the beings that Guru Rinpoche subdued and he swore to protect the Dharma. He is depicted alongside Dorje Shugden, the protector of many Buddhist practitioners of all Tibetan traditions.
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Beautiful art paintings of Standing Yeshe Tsogyal, Guru Padmasambhava, Wangze, Za Rahula and Dorje Shugden. Yeshe Tsogyal was the Mother of Tibetan Buddhism. Yeshé Tsogyal, Tibet’s best-known dakini and female master. She attained Buddhahood in one lifetime and was believed to be an emanation of Vajrayogini. Wow …..depicted alongside Dorje Shugden, the protector of many Buddhist practitioners of all Tibetan traditions.
Thank you Rinpoche for this brief story of this art painting.