B24-Lady Niguma (10th-11th centuries)

Lady Niguma (10^th to 11^th centuries), a Tibetan Matriarch of the Shangpa Kagyu Sect, was a mysterious eleventh-century Kashmiri woman who became the source of a major Tibetan Buddhist practice lineage. There are thirteen works that have been attributed to Niguma in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. These collected works form the basis of an ancient Shangpa lineage held by the great mahasiddhas Thangtong Gyalpo and Taratantha, H.E. Kalu Rinpoche, and others.

Niguma, Lady of Illusion by Saha Harding will be the text for this course. The text includes several short biographies of Niguma by the founder of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition Khyungpo Naljor (c. 1050-1140) or (990-1139), the great adept Tangtong Gyalpo (1361?-1485), and Mokchokpa Rinchen Tsondru (1110-1170). Since so little is known about this famous matriarch, she is introduced through her teachings. This text includes her Stages in the Path of Illusion including her commentary on that text; The Six Dharmas of Niguma; Mahamudra; The Three Integrations; Immortal and Infallible, and her personal instructions on the practice of two tantras (Chakrasamvara and Hevajra) and various yogic techniques. It also includes Niguma’s “Aspirational Prayer” a very brief discourse by Khyabje Kalu Rinpoche and the Tibetan text of her Stages in the Path of Illusion and the Commentary.

The text for the translation of the Trulkhor or 24 physical exercises of  Niguma Yoga has not yet been translated in published form, but a 2023 video of H.E. Kalu Rinpoche’s translation and commentary on the Taratantha (1575–1634) version is included as additional background information. There is also a shorter version by Thangtong Gyalpo (1361-1485). Other videos are included as optional  sources for more background including a short 2023 video on the channels, a 2023 Niguma Mantra video and another on it’s origin, two 2022 discourses given by H.E. Kalu Rinpoche on Niguma Yoga in Bhutan, a 2022 interview with Sarah Harding on the relationship of Niguma and Naropa, a 2021 dialogue between H.E. Kalu Rinpoche and Robert Thurman, a 2017 teaching by Geshe Michael Roach on Lady Niguma Yoga that describes the channels and chakras from a Gelupa perspective, and a discussion of the Shangpa tradition as one of the Eight Chariots that brought Buddhism to Tibet.

This interactive course is not available for those enrolled in the free membership program for AUDITING STUDENTS. It is only part of the paid membership program. Click on the “Curriculum” tab to review this course.  If you have not registered for a membership, please click on “Membership” on the top menu bar to select your membership and enroll in this course.  You are also required to complete the application form provided in course “G02-Spiritual Autobiography” prior to being admitted to either the BUDDHIST STUDIES or the XIUXING SEMINARY PROGRAMS and complete D35(A)-Buddhism for Beginners, The 128 Evil and Erroneous Views, a prerequisite for all biographies, and use those views to evaluate the text. You need to also review the chart in G03(A) showing the evolution of Buddhism to see how this matriarch fits into the overall structure of Buddhism in the world.

Click for detailed Users Guide under the “STUDENT MANUAL” in the website’s top menu bar for more information.

Prerequisites:  G02, G03(A), & D35(A)-128 Evil and Erroneous Views. Recommend taking DCB21 thru DCB22-“Imparting the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra” and DCB12-“Dharma of Cultivation.”