The dakini
- Origin
- The dakini belongs to Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions, which use the word in different ways. The sources are Wikipedia and a review of a book by Simmer-Brown. Neither is a text from the traditions.
- How we treat it
- The label says this figure belongs to living religious traditions. The sources disagree about what a dakini is across traditions, and the label does not settle that.
- Routes out
- Wikipedia's survey across traditions comes first, followed by a review of one scholar's reading of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
A figure of Hindu and Tibetan Buddhism whose meaning differs by tradition: a flesh-eating demoness in some texts, an enlightened female presence in Tibetan Buddhism.
Wikipedia says the meaning of dakini depends on the tradition. In earlier Hindu texts and in East Asian esoteric Buddhism the word names a race of demonesses who ate human flesh and vital essence. In Hindu Tantric literature Dakini is a goddess linked with one of the six chakras or with one of seven elements of the body. In Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhism a dakini can be a fierce-looking female embodiment of enlightened energy, or a human woman with some spiritual development, and either can help Tantric initiates reach enlightenment.
Nepali Times reviews a book on the dakini by Simmer-Brown. The review calls her a sky-dancer and describes a spirit in female form, half wrathful, who shows herself in visions, in dreams and during meditation. The review says Simmer-Brown reads her as standing for stages of personal realisation, beginning with the body's sacredness, then the point where body and mind meet in meditation, then the visionary world of ritual, and finally the openness of the mind itself.
"The concept of the dakini somewhat differs depending on the context and the tradition. For example, in earlier Hindu texts and East Asian esoteric Buddhism, the term denotes a race of demonesses who ate the flesh and vital essence of humans. In Hindu Tantric literature, Ḍākinī is the name of a goddess often associated with one of the six chakras or the seven fundamental elements (dhātu) of the human body. Meanwhile, in Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhism, dakini (or wisdom dakini) can refer to both what can be best described as fierce-looking female embodiments of enlightened energy, and to human women with a certain amount of spiritual development, both of whom can help Tantric initiates in attaining enlightenment."
- Dakini's Warm Breath (review), Nepali Times