B20-Lady Yeshe Tshogyal (757-817 CE)

Lady Yeshe Tshogyal (757-817 CE) is a Matriarch of the Tibetan Nyingma Sect. For this course, we will use as a text Mother of Knowledge, which is a terma written by one of her fellow disciples that tells the life-story of this major disciple of Guru Padmasambhava and the dramatic story of her flight from home, her life as a queen of Tibet, the stages of her spiritual training, and her enlightened accomplishments. The most important woman in the Nyingma lineage, she received all of Padmasambhava’s teachings and was instrumental in transmitting them to future generations. This text demonstrates the qualities and attitudes essential for the pursuit of the Vajrayana. We will also study Lady of the Lotus-Born, her own spiritual autobiography that she left as a terma.