In less than one month, I'lll be taking a journey to Tsogyal Latso, to the birth place of Yeshe Tsogyal and 3-Day Mt. Kailash Circumambulation, June 23 - July 11, 2019. I invite you, my friends and sangha family, if you feel moved, to support in any amount, to help complete this aspiration!
This pilgrimage is organized by a western female lama, Lama Tsedrup Tharchin Rinpoche, founder of the Jnanasukha (Wisdom Bliss) Foundation in 2002, who continues to keep the lineage tradition of Yeshe Tsogyal preserved through book publications, journeys, support to the nuns who uphold her lineage practice, etc.
Here is the link to full pilgrimage: https://www.sangha-journeys.com/2019/central-tibet-kailash-full-itinieray
One of Yeshe Tsogyal’s teachings transmitted from His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, is a mind treasure called The Dakini Heart Essence (Khandro Thukthik), a living lineage and cycle of transmission that originated that originated with the “Female Buddha”, an aspect of the “feminine” consciousness that is critical to our times. I had a dream that called me on this journey, and for me it is a time of “listening” to the Earth’s messages, and using my Heart Essence as my ally.
The last pilgrimage I went on in 2012 was to India following in the footsteps of Machig Labron, and it was life changing. Both of these heroines are spiritual figures who transmuted the world through their inner mastery — and represent to me the inner work of self-liberation in this lifetime, and to walk a path in service of the Earth. To know the landscape and to travel into it, is the aspiration of a lifetime.
"We come to Dharma not just with our questions, but with the way we live our lives. [The biographies of Supreme yoginis] are ostensibly about others, but in point of fact, they are guides into ourselves. Tsogyal's struggles and triumphs, helps us remember our wholeness and move into a deeper sense of ourselves. The point is... the process of her path is under way within us."
-- Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo, excerpted from "Message from The Jnanasukha Foundation" in "The Life and Visions of Yeshe Tsogyal."
ABOUT YESHE TSOGYAL
Yeshe Tsogyal, born in eighth century Tibet, is the founding Mother of Tibetan Buddhism, foremost female master of Tibetan Tantra. She is called the primordial Mother Buddha, source of all enlightenment. Her life story recounts her very tangible struggles on the path and her ultimate victory— overcoming dualistic thought and compassionately benefiting countless beings. As a teacher, she uses her own life story to instruct and nurture her disciples so they can learn how to attain their own enlightenment.
Yeshe Tsogyal represents the enlightened feminine. Her archetype is that of the heroine who fuses the absolute and the relative into a seamless enlightened existence. In the Mother Essence Lineage, Yeshe Tsogyal and her incarnations and emanations are of primary importance, because she is the Mother of Vision, and therefore the Mother of non-dual experience. Although Yeshe Tsogyal is often referred to as Guru Rinpoche’s consort, the two are in fact simultaneous manifestations of the integrated principles of skillful means and sublime knowing.
ABOUT MT. KAILASH
Mt. Kailash is one of the world's most venerated holy places, visited by no more than a few thousand pilgrims each year because of its remoteness. It is the most sacred site for Tibetans, circumambulated to gain merit and/or awakening. The Tibetan word for pilgrimage, neykhor, means "to circle around a sacred place,” as the pilgrimage is less to reach a particular destination than to transcend attachments and access awareness of a larger reality. By traveling to sacred sites, one is brought into living contact with the icons and energies of Tantric Buddhism. The neys, or sacred sites themselves, through their geological features and the narratives of transformation attached to them,
DHARMA PRACTICE
Since 2009, I have studied Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist practices with Lama Tsultrim Allione at Tara Mandala in Colorado. I also have a dharma connection with the late Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, and visited his gompa in Brazil in 2004 and formed part of his sangha in Los Angeles. My heart practices are The Heart Sutra / Prajna Paramitra, Mandala of Five Dakinis, and I was fortunate to receive the first Chod empowerment formerly given to women and nuns by H.H. Karmapa in 2012. The most revered teachers are before me: the sacred springs, lakes, mountains, caves and Earth at holy sites.
The Ecosattva Vow
I vow to Myself and Each of You:
To commit myself daily to the healing of our world and the welfare of all beings.
To live on the earth more lightly and less violently in the food, products and energy I consume.
To draw strength and guidance from the living Earth, the ancestors, the future generations, and my brothers and sisters of all species.
To support others in our work for the world and to ask for help when I need it.
To pursue a daily practice that clarifies my mind, strengthen my heart, and supports me in observing these vows.
- from Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone book “Active Hope”
HOW TO SUPPORT
If you are called to support, please use PayPal. Any amount is appreciated! If the amount is over $100, and you require a tax deduction, I can arrange it through The Jnanasukha Foundation. Email: alisonfast@mac.com
PLEASE email or leave in the COMMENTS section, one-line prayers and blessings, whether for you, loved ones or the world at large. And I will carry these, recite them, and leave them with a small offering of Tibetan Prayers flags along the kora.
Please keep our pilgrims in your thoughts during the dates of the pilgrimage, and include us in your Prayers. Thank you for Being Kind. Thank you for Being Generous. And thank you to All of us Pilgrims in Life who have Courage to take a step into the Unknown.
May All Beings Benefit!
