Heart Essence of the Dakinis

Sometimes, the essential teachings are referred to as the “dakini’s warm breath.” Dakini is our original wisdom nature, the feminine side of our pure awareness. She dances in the elements: earth, water, fire, wind, and space. She often embodies in female form just to mess with us. Wherever we meet her, she evokes our deepest wisdom and challenges anything that would get in the way.

In this moment, as I sip the hot liquid of of a masala chai, I feel the warmth of dakini energy blissfully dripping down my throat then floating up through my cells. She swirls in steam rising from my cup. Her nectar voice echoes in vibrations of undecipherable conversations bouncing about the tea shop. Outside, she showers down blessings in a much-needed rain storm, splashing her wisdom randomly but with determination.

These words, flowing through the virtual bytes of a keyboard connected to an iPad, fail to grasp the dakini’s overwhelming beauty because it cannot be grasped. Only when words merge seamlessly with unformed awareness can they even hint at their origin—because they were never born. The dakini expresses the fundamental paradox of existence: being and non-being, form and emptiness, coarising, simultaneous.

We are fortunate to have a teaching lineage offering glimpses into the heart essence of the dakinis. The lineage bestows practices. Though our practice momentarily becomes form, we liberate perception of form into dream—into emptiness. We unshackle our capacity to love from chains of ego-clinging and rest in the space pure from the beginning.

But—these are only words …