Vajrayogini: Her Visualization, Rituals, and Forms

The Tibetan Buddhist powermongers and fearmongers tell you; 'Bow down to the master, or achieve nothing'. They tell you that only by succumbing to an authoritarian fear-based lineage out of warring Tibet, can you hope to become enlightened. What utter nonsense! LinJi and Hakuin and Nan chuan would laugh uproariously at such presumption, at Tibetan powermongers putting the dharma up for sale, and scaring practititioners who would seek their enlightenment on their own, by peddling fear. You must find your own light, and be, as Shakyamuni Buddha himself proclaimed: "a light unto yourself". What most masters of this lineage teach nowadays is nothing valuable. There are no real masters in the USA for certain, and few in the Dharamsala "Enlightenment for Money" crowd, either. Consider the case of Trungpa, a drunk who appointed as his successor an HIV-positive predator who knowingly infected his own students with AIDS. Or Kalu Rinpoche, who subjected his translator June Campbell, a former Kagyu nun, to an abusive sexual relationship which he told her was tantric spiritual practice. Please embrace this book and enter it with all your Heart. And please ignore the fearmongers that tell you that you will require the services of "a qualified vajra master, i.e. lama" to guide you in a reading of these holy practices. There is only One Holy Practice, and one qualified Vajra Master or Mistress, and they reside in your Heart, and are always available for guidance and counsel. Read this book, live this practice, and trust to the guidance of the Vajra Mistress/Master within you open the Gates of your Heart. Follow your heart, and never fear, or feel compelled to seek the guidance of those who would seek to control you.

I was initiated into Vajrayogini by Sakya Trizen. I recommend anyone that has been initiated into the "Yogini" systems -- Chakrasamvara, Vajrayogini, Hevajra, etc, obtain this book. It is better than any of the other Vajrayogini books that have been printed so far (not mentioning names) -- most of which just re-iterate the Tibetan monastic tradition. Because this book dissects and discusses the original Sanskrit texts --It is essential reading to understand the background of the practices, the nuances of the ritual, and the overal scheme of Buddhist tantra. Whether you believe that Buddhism took over "Saivite rituals" as Ms.English and her Prof Sanderson at Oxford believe, the book goes well beyond the historical backdrop to discuss in detail the ritual "moments". Many well put together graphs and tables break down the deities, correspondences, and practice elements in a helpful and explicative way. She also discusses the elements of sexual yoga in a frank, honest and accurate way throughout the book, something which few Tibetan monastics dare to do. In short, this is not a book that can be missing from your shelf !

This is an excellent book: erudite, thourough and clear. It is written to extremely high standards of scholarship, a welcome alternative to the obscurantist fantasies that subjects such as this have sometimes attracted. Highly recommended - but perhaps quite demanding for those without academic training.

This is a fine - and beautifully produced and illustrated - study in the Indian (i.e. pre-Tibetan Buddhist) origins of the Vajrayogini cult. It examines the forms and practices associated with Vajrayogini in India, and introduces readers to recent academic thinking and research on this area. Academic specialists will have their own responses to the book, but practitioners and devotees of Vajrayogini, as well as anyone with an interest in the development of Buddhist tantra, will find much of interest and value in this study. In this context, a response to Findlay Clark's contribution on this page is unavoidable. "Intellectual obscurantism" is a fine self-description of Clark 's 'review', given that - for a start - it relates to a mere 4 page section of a 563 page book as if this were the entire work! The misrepresentations indulged (clear to anyone who actually reads the book) and the loud noise of axes being ground speak for themselves. English (p.37) quotes her Oxford supervisor Alexis Sanderson to the effect that 'long sections' of the root text of the Cakrasamvara tradition have been 'redacted' (not 'reduced', despite Clark's - disingenuous? - use of 'sic') from Saiva originals. Sanderson's work on this area may be controversial and some of it not yet published, but its credentials as academic research are unimpeachable. Papers by Sanderson that I've read make a strong research-led case for his claims, based on textual analysis. Disinterested questioning of these findings, based on research and objective evidence, would be of interest. Polemic based on sectarian assumptions is not. 'Buddhist practitioners' who really do find themselves 'offended' by academic research that challenges their assumptions might well reflect on whether 'taking offence' (i.e. anger) is recommended in Buddhist teaching as a helpful state of mind to be cultivated, or not. On the issue of English having supposedly 'nowhere' discussed the opinions of B. Bhattacharya, see, e.g., p 427 where the point is made that the Saiva tradition developed 'its own tradition of Chinnamasta , borrowing and adapting from the [Buddhist] Trikayavajrayogini cult.' This alone shows that English does not adopt the simplistic position with regard to Saiva-Buddhist influence that Clark purports. As regards Dasgupta's comment, however able a scholar he may have been, it has to be noted that this was published 45 years ago (reprinted in 1974). In the interim - nearly half a century - scholars in Buddhist studies have continued to research this and related areas. A great deal of material has been made available and scrutinised - indeed, the area has flourished. Academic perspectives on Buddhist tantra have thus been greatly clarified, making more definite assertions possible. The issue of 'authorisation' to translate also needs to be addressed. Surely, this is a (deliberate?) category error on Clark's part. English's book is an academic thesis, not a work of spiritual guidance or teaching. No spi

This book surveys forms of Vajrayogini and Varjravarahi in India, summarizes the Vajrayogini practices to be found in the Guhyasamayasadhanamala collection of sadhanas, and prints one sadhana from this collection,examining it in detail. English throughout discusses the philosophical assumptions of the sadhana within the larger context of Buddhist philosophical traditions. Scholarly, but at least for me, hard to put down - I learned so much from this book, which elucidated several details of tantric practice that I had been confused about. I found this book very helpful.