The Feminine Principle in Vajrayana Buddhism

In “The Feminine Principle in Vajrayana Buddhism“ Lopön Chandra Eston teaches about women in Buddhism. Since the time of the Buddha, women have been walking the path, committed to waking up. While their voices have not always been placed front and center, an unbroken thread – the sacred feminine – has woven itself into all corners of the Dharma since the first Buddhist nun, Maha Pajapati, firmly requested ordination from the Buddha.

In the Mahayana era, around the first century CE, Prajnaparamita burst onto the scene as the first ever feminine philosophical principle within Buddhism. Prajnaparamita in essence, is the direct, unmediated experience of the true nature of reality. She is the womb of totality, the mother of the Buddhas, the genetrix of the awakened state. These teachings reached their full flowering in the Vajrayana era (circa. 7-12 th centuries CE) through a multitude of expressions, from female Buddhas such as Arya Tara, to Yoginis, Dakinis, and women as spiritual teachers.

 English with German translation