Gelek Rimpoche's Articles on Lions Roar

While the images we habitually associate with enlightenment—whether buddhas, teachers, or deities—are usually male, awakened mind equally expresses itself in female form. Gelek Rimpoche argues that enlightenment is possible only when female and male energies are both fully present. He teaches us Tara practices to bring enlightened female energy into our lives. I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City on the occasion of their exhibit Female Buddhas: Women of Enlightenment in Himalayan Art. I was happy to see this exhibit—the first of its kind, I believe—which focused on enlightenment in female form. It was long overdue, and I am grateful to the museum for providing such a wonderful show. The fact that the show’s title included the word “female” makes it apparent that when we use the word “buddha,” most people imagine a male figure. Although it is true that buddhas can be male or female, it is also true that unless we say female, we assume it is male. That is our cultural baggage. Buddhism arose in the East. And for most of the past 2,500 years, it has been part of the male-oriented culture of the East. It was that way in Buddha’s time in India, and it was that way in Tibet, where I was raised. But the culture in the West today is very different from traditional Asian culture. It’s clear to me that in this time and place, we need to emphasize the feminine principle. We live in a time when equality between men and women is increasing. If we cannot take advantage of this present situation to develop the feminine aspects of Buddhism and of our human nature, we will have missed an important opportunity. The favoring of male practitioners did not originate in Tibet. We can see this bias throughout India and Asia. This is the cultural baggage I mentioned. It has nothing to do with the real essence of Buddhism. Women are as capable as men when it comes to spiritual practice. It is time for our tradition to reflect this reality more clearly. It is time for this imbalance to be acknowledged and corrected. There is no reason for this baggage to be carried forward. It does not serve the purpose of our times and has no special spiritual value. We need to do more than honor the feminine as a principle. We need to also encourage and support female practitioners. In Tibetan Buddhism, we acknowledge Buddha Shakyamuni as the historical, or “official,” Buddha. But we also recognize the existence of countless other enlightened beings or buddhas. Tara is one of these enlightened beings in female form. This is one of the reasons I have been doing Tara blessing ceremonies in different parts of the country lately. There is actually a long history of such blessings in Tibet. It’s not something I just cooked up. This type of blessing is called a gom lung, and it is a combination of meditation and oral transmission. By doing these activities, I hope to help bring the enlightened feminine presence forward. Maybe I am not the best person for the job, because, ultimately, it is important for women to do this. But because of my background and training in Old Tibet, I feel that giving my support may be of some help. Who is Tara? We find images of Tara throughout Eastern culture, although she may be referred to by different names. In China, she is called Kuan Yin. In Japan, she is Kannon. In Tibet, we call her Drolma. Tara is her Sanskrit name. It means “one who liberates.” Tara is known as the “Mother of all buddhas.” She is especially associated with long life and wisdom. And as a female manifestation of the enlightened energy, Tara is said to come to our aid quickly and powerfully. In the West, we are familiar with Mother Mary, whose qualities of boundless compassion and love very much resemble those of Tara. So most of us have some familiarity with someone like Tara and the qualities she represents. She may have a different name or slightly different look in the way she is depicted here and there, but that merely indicates how popular and how necessary she is for us. We all recognize the need for caring and compassion. This is what Tara represents. So where does Tara come from? What is she? How does she function? There are a number of stories by different masters, but the most reliable and commonly accepted source is The Origin of the Tara Tantra, written by Taranatha in the early seventeenth century. According to this text, Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, was very busy helping beings. But at one point, he was nearly overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task and the extent of the suffering that beings were experiencing. It is said that he became concerned to the point of shedding tears, saying, “I need help.” He took a teardrop and flung it away, and suddenly Tara appeared and said, “I am here to help you.” It is also said that Tara was originally an actual human being, like us. She worked to develop herself, just as Buddha Shakyamuni did. As a bodhisattva, she was committed to helping all beings. And as a bodhisattva, she was able to choose the form of her rebirth. Tara chose to remain in female form. The importance of feminine energy. Why did Tara choose to remain as a female? She chose to because of the importance of feminine energy and because a lot of cultures treat females as inferior, even though they are just as capable of enlightenment as males. At some point in world history, it was decided that the female body was inferior. It’s unfortunate, but that represented the thinking in those societies. That is why Tara made the decision to remain a female and function as an enlightened being in female form. This is an important point and it gives us two different messages. One message is that compassionate people don’t shy away from difficult tasks. The other point is that the problems of human beings can only be solved by human beings. No god is going to come down from the sky and enlighten us. We have to do it ourselves. That is why Buddha said we are responsible for ourselves. For example, I believe the Tibetan problem has to be solved by the Tibetans; others can only help. Similarly, male problems can only be solved by men; women can only help. And female problems can only be solved by women; men can only help. In Tibetan Buddhism, we recognize that enlightenment comprises both feminine and masculine aspects. We say that enlightenment is not possible without both wisdom and compassion, which we sometimes refer to as wisdom and method. Wisdom, or the recognition of emptiness, is connected with the feminine, because the empty nature of reality is the basis, or mother, of all. As the Heart Sutra says, form is emptiness, emptiness is form. In other words, there is no form or reality apart from emptiness. In that sense, emptiness is the mother of all. And wisdom, which is the recognition of this truth, is associated with emptiness. Accordingly, when we speak about the wisdom aspect of enlightenment, we associate this with the feminine principle. And just as one can never produce a child without a mother, compassion without wisdom, no matter how strong your compassion, may not be enough to produce enlightenment. Female deities. The feminine aspect of enlightenment is represented by female deities. We see female images at every level of Tibetan art. There are peaceful forms like Tara, semi-wrathful forms like Vajrayogini, and wrathful forms such as the female protector Palden Lhamo. Each of these has a male counterpart, because male and female aspects are both necessary for enlightenment. In fact, both are necessary throughout the spiritual path. The union of masculine and feminine energies is key to our ultimate spiritual freedom. Without the male or female aspect, there is no enlightenment: there is no union of wisdom and method; there is no union of clear light and illusion body; there is no union of mind and body. We can also see this combination of energies during the period of accumulating merit. There are two types of merit. Wisdom merit develops the mind of a buddha, while the activities related to compassion, or method merit, develop the body of a buddha. At the level of enlightenment, there is no longer a dualistic distinction between body and mind. You might say they both function at the same frequency. But we need both, and both aspects must be developed until we achieve enlightenment. Compassion and wisdom are the foundation of our spiritual work. They also bring the ultimate result. These depend on both male and female elements. When you look at Buddhist practices as they have developed, they appear to favor the male practitioner. As I said before, these practices developed in male-dominated cultures. (For example, the word for “woman” in Tibetan means “lower birth.”) In Tibetan Buddhism, although both a male and a female deity practice are considered necessary for enlightenment, the male deities received more emphasis. The female deities such as Vajrayogini were kept very secret. In the monasteries, they didn’t want to encourage monks to meditate on the images of beautiful female figures. Having been a monk, I can understand that this could definitely have been a distraction! So to help uphold the monastic vows, the deities were mostly male. Three Tara practices. Tara is a buddha herself and can fully serve as an object of refuge. The object of refuge doesn’t have to be a yellow Oriental man with a golden robe. This is an important point. Although Vajrayogini has extraordinary qualities, her practice is not for everyone. Such a practice involves many different vows and commitments, and this can be quite difficult for people. Tara, however, can be practiced by everyone and this practice brings great benefit. Through Tara practice, we can build up a connection with this ever-present enlightened being as someone to take refuge in, someone to pray to, and someone to inspire our lives and touch our hearts. Fortunately we have a number of Tara practices to suit the...

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