Yogini: The Enlightened Woman

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YOGINI: THE ENLIGHTENED WOMAN

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By Shambhavi Chopra

 

" Aham Prema "

I am Divine Love

 

In the Bhavani-nama-sahasra (the Thousand Names of the Goddess

Bhavani) as beautifully explained by Pandit Jankinath Kaul, " A Yogini

is one who is possessed of magical powers.'' Para Shakti, the Supreme

Shakti, in the form of Durga is given the name Yogini. She assumes

various forms and takes on different divine energies to maintain

harmony in the Universe, to combat evil and uphold the good. A woman

who gains a transcendental state in sadhana comes back as a celestial

Yogini or Bhairavi, a female adept at Yoga. She carries the energy

of Durga within her.

 

A true Yogini is an enlightened woman with exuberant passion,

spiritual powers and deep insight. Yoginis communicate a sense of

freedom, a sheer mastery in whatever they do. With their compelling

gazes, they can hypnotize even a great yogi and are capable of

changing their shapes at will. Tantric scholars have written about

Yoginis as independent, outspoken, forthright women with a

gracefulness of spirit. Without them, yoga can fail in its purpose

and remain sterile.

 

Shakta texts honor both women and the Earth alike as sources of

energy, vitality, physical and spiritual well-being. Noting this

analogy between a Yogini and the earth, an eleventh-century Tibetan

Cakrasamvara commentary states: " Having recognized a Yogini who will

delight and transmit energy and power to him, and feeling

passionately attracted to her, if the male aspirant does not worship

that Yogini, she will not bless the yogi, and spiritual attainments

will not arise.'' Miranda Shaw's book, Passionate Enlightenment,

which was introduced to me by Lokesh Chandraji, first exposed the

world of the Yogini to me from a Buddhist perspective.

 

In Hindu thought, the Yogini represents the Yoga Shakti herself, the

Kundalini, as well as the resident powers or female deities of the

different chakras. The Yogini possesses the power of Yoga herself and

can awaken that in others, not only generally but at any point or

place in the body or mind. A man's ability to achieve the higher

states of Yoga can be facilitated by his association with such a

female companion who reflects this energy.

 

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Just as a Goddess blesses and benefits her devotees, and the Shakti

vivifies all biological, cultural, and religious practices, so a

woman can channel this life force or spiritual energy to her consort-

devotee. A woman is no more depleted by providing this spiritual

nourishment than a mother by nursing her child. In fact, it causes

deeper energies to well up from within her.

 

This spiritual energy is not something that a man can extract or take

from a Yogini at will. She chooses when and on whom to bestow her

blessings. Her ability to enhance a man's spiritual development

depends upon her innate divinity as awakened and brought to fruition

by her own yogic practices, which include envisioning herself in the

forms of various Goddesses and investing herself with Their

appearances and ornaments, tender and wrathful expressions, and

supernatural powers for liberating beings. By conferring energy and

grace upon a man - ''blessing '' or ''empowering'' him - she is not

weakening herself but rather sharing her energy voluntarily with one

who has won her favour by meeting the various requirements that she

may impose.

 

This relationship parallels human-divine relationships in so far as

the deity is the benefactor and the human devotee is the beneficiary.

Although the Deity may derive some gratification from the

relationship, the devotee has much more to gain than does the

sovereign object of his devotion. What supplicants ultimately want

from their deity is supreme deliverance or liberation, and this is

what male Tantrics should seek to gain from their relationships with

spiritual women. Tantric texts reiterate that a man cannot gain

enlightenment without respecting women and allying himself inwardly

with a woman. The woman's beneficence is a gracious, yet voluntary

response to her devotee's supplication, homage and worship.

 

The Goddess is a great Yogini, devoted to Shiva, yet matching His

powers. She is the embodiment of pure energy, the Mother and matrix

of all manifestation, the source of all time, space and creation. As

they practiced Yoga together, Shakti accepted Shiva as her Guru, and

he taught her the ways of transcendent being to guide her to her

ultimate liberation. Shiva in turn also accepted Shakti as his Guru,

and she initiated him into his ultimate liberation through putting

him in touch with the supreme power of consciousness.

 

The Goddess Chhinnamasta, the deity who cuts off her own head,

symbolizes the great Yogini, the wonderful consciousness beyond the

mind. She represents the opened Third Eye from which flashes forth

the lightening of direct perception that destroys all duality and

negativity. She is the Yoga Shakti or power of Yoga in its most

dramatic action of granting enlightenment. Hence she is also known as

Vajra Yogini. The Vajra is the supreme lightning force of the inner

Self.

 

Chhinnamasta is the Para-Dakini, the supreme or foremost of the

Dakinis, the attendant Goddesses on the yogic path, who are the

yoginis as the powers of the chakras. Sadhakas seeking the path of

occult or yogic powers should worship her, as reiterated by David

Frawley in his book Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses, invoking

her through the mantra based on her name as Vajra Vairochani. This

facilitates all inner transformations in a dramatic way.

The Yogini is also Bhairavi or the Goddess of Fire below in the

muladhara or root chakra. It is she who becomes Chhinnamasta as she

reaches the third eye and opens the crown chakra beyond. Her blood is

light that illumines everything.

 

Mary Magdalene was such a Yogini, manifesting her Shakti through the

flow of light from her heart and soul. Her Divine love was

unconditional and independent of external situations and dogmas. Yet

Divine love is not limited to the ascetic. In my understanding of

Tantra, if two spiritually evolved beings come together in

unconditional love, they also can create an energy field that is most

positive and rare, exuding high vibrational levels of peace and love

into the universe.

 

The ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece, Tibet and India have esoteric

traditions glorifying the initiatory power of the woman. She is

considered to be the high priestess who unfolds all higher knowledge

and powers for us. She is Sophia, the source and font of wisdom or

Prajna, the deepest insight into the nature of things. Tantric

teachings stress the importance of physical beauty in a companion but

only to initially stimulate and then elevate passion from the sensual

to the spiritual plane. The beauty of the soul surpasses physical

beauty.

 

The `initiatory' power of woman is tremendous, providing the force of

passion that is necessary for developing experiential mysticism. By

sharing the secrets of love, a woman can bestow transcendental power

on her lover. The highest form of Shakti is the direct expression of

the wisdom-energy she releases, creating a joyful transformation. A

woman can initiate her partner into such mystical experiences through

trust, surrender to higher ideals and spontaneity. It is the Goddess

within each woman who really initiates.

 

To be a Yogini is the highest spiritual goal for all women. It is the

way to become one with the Goddess within and to bring her out in

expression to uplift the world that is really her creation. Yet it is

not an outer appearance but a state of inner energy and ecstasy that

makes the Yogini. She cannot be manipulated, defined or even ever

entirely known.