Sengdongma – Glorious Adamantine Goddess
Sengdongma (Main figure)
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(Top to bottom): Sengdongma and Dorje Shugden
Deity: Sengdongma (Tibetan)
Alternative names: Simhamukha (Sanskrit); Lion-Faced Dakini (English)
The great ferocious dakini Sengdongma is an impressive female meditational deity. Within the Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug traditions, Sengdongma arises from the Chakrasamvara Cycle of Tantras and is considered to be one of the attendant dakinis within the mandala of Vajra Yogini. Thus, Sengdongma’s practice belongs to the Highest Yoga Tantra classification. The form of Sengdongma prevalent in the Nyingma tradition is a unique one. In this tradition she is considered the ‘secret’ form of Guru Padmasambhava, according to the inner, outer and secret manifestations of his form.
During the time of Buddha Amitabha which was aeons before Buddha Shakyamuni, there lived a demon by the name of Garab Wangchuk whose daughter was a lion-faced demoness named Tramen Sengdongma. She thrived on killing many innocent beings and her trail of destruction became widespread. She threatened sincere practitioners and undermined Buddha Amitabha’s teachings. It was then that the enlightened beings gathered to manifest an identical-looking being in order to tame the demoness. Through the collective blessings of all the enlightened beings, a wisdom being appeared in the form of a lion-faced dakini, who was empowered by all the Buddhas to subjugate the demoness. The dakini, Sengdongma, was far more powerful than the demoness and when they fought, the demoness began to lose her strength. Furthermore, Sengdongma entered a deep state of concentration called Taming the Maras and thus emanated countless dakinis who continued her work of subduing demons. In this manner Tramen Sengdongma was subdued and took an oath to serve the Dharma and became a protector.
Deity: Dorje Shugden (Tibetan)
Alternative name: Vajra Rudra (Sanskrit)
Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the Buddha of Wisdom, Manjushri. He took the form of a Dharma Protector in order to safeguard the Buddha’s teachings, especially the important teachings on the Middle Way View. Reminiscent of Manjushri’s form, Dorje Shugden carries a meandering sword and rides a snowlion that represents the fearlessness of a fully enlightened Buddha. Furthermore, he carries a jewel-spitting mongoose and a vajra hook to symbolise that he has the tremendous ability to bestow wealth and resources. He has great strength to overcome obstacles of the body, speech and mind, and create suitable conditions for our spiritual practice to flourish.
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Beautiful thangka of Sengdongma and Dorje Shugden. Sengdongma’s practice is crucially important for our well-being in these difficult times. She is excellent for clearing obstacles of the most pervasive and malignant kind, including spirit disturbances and black magic. This ancient practice has been important in Tibetan Buddhism since the time of Padmasambhava. Sengdongma was subdued and took an oath to serve the Dharma and became a protector.
Together with Dorje Shugden , they forms a powerful Dharma Protector in our time.
Thank you for this sharing with explanations.