I went to a Thai restaurant last night and they had a statue I didn't recognize there of a female diety. The waitress who was Thai couldn't tell me who she was other than to say, "She dances for the Buddha". So, I wondered if I could find out by typing into a search engine "She dances for the Buddha". I still didn't find a definitive answer but I found the following site that I was interested in that you might also be too . Also, most of the word buttons here should work for you. They said they designed this site in Firefox so it might work better if you are in Firefox but you will have to see yourselves what works best.
| The female deities of Buddhism are of many types. There are buddhas in female form and goddesses who are bodhisattvas.
There are also historical figures such as lineage founders, and they all can
function as deities. There are also yidams
and dharma protectors in peaceful, semi-wrathful or wrathful form. The
dakini, a special type of deity, is discussed separately. What follows is not a definitive catalogue, by any means. The best known of the female Tibetan Buddhist deities is Tara. Arya [Sanskrit for Exalted or Noble] Tara, is best known in two forms, White and Green.
Tara is a Buddha who is depicted in various ways that reflect her activity. She can be peaceful or semi-wrathful; alone or surrounded by 21 manifestations or aspects. Besides Green Tara and her several aspects that are generally designated by colour, some other distinctive female deities are:
Achi
Chokyi Drolma, () is the peaceful
white Drikung Kagyu protector on her blue mule or, sometimes, a blue-maned snow lion.
Chintamani: The Wishful-filling
Jewel form of Tara who is also a protector.
Dorje
Yudronma: (Vajra Turquoise Lamp) the Longchen Nyinthig lineage-protector
who bears an arrow tied with five-coloured silks in her right hand and a
divination mirror in her left. In the life of yogi, Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu,
she appeared when he was starving and offered him food.
Ekajati or Ekadzati (Tib. Ralchikma
or Tsechikma) is the Nyingma Dzogchen protector of mantras (Ngag
Sungma) and mind-treasure (Tib. terma) whose epithet, "One
Braid" (or, plait) refers to her initially terrifying appearance
since she has only one eye, one tooth, one breast and so on.
Five Great Goddesses: These (Skt. Maha-pancha Devi)
appear in the entourage of
White Vajradarana. They include the source of all earthly wealth as
Pratishara (Tib. So.sor trang. ma), who is yellow with three faces and ten
hands; Sita (Sitavani) red with four hands, Mayuri who is
green with one face and two hands, Sahasra.pramardana, blue with one face and six
hands, and Mantra.manu.dharani, black with one face and four hands.
Kalasiddhi
was one of the consorts of Guru Rinpoche.
Kurukulla is a 4-armed dancing red
Tara, an archer whose bow made of flowers relates to the subjugation of ego
and the use of love/attraction in the service of dharma. Hrih
is her seed syllable and her mantra: Om Kurukulle hri svaha!
Kwan Yin (Perceiver of Sounds) [Cantonese: Goong Yam] is a Chinese
form of the bodhisattva,
Avalokiteshvara that is considered to be female. In Japanese, she is
called Kannon or Shokanzeon Bosatsu [bosatsu = bodhisattva;] in Korean,
Kwanseum Bosal or Kwan Um.
Professor Yu Chun-fang, wrote the interesting "Ambiguity of Avalokites'vara and Scriptural Sources for the
Cult of Kuen-yin in China" article which is no longer found online. Her thesis is supported not only by
Professor Yu also traces the scriptural transition from male to
female. See,
 Yu Chun-fang. Kuan-yin.
Columbia U. Press, 2000.
Lamanteri is the Mongolian, 8-armed,
semi-wrathful form of Green Tara who is sometimes depicted with the
21 aspects of the Praises to Tara surrounding her.
Machig
Lapdron: White, dancing dakini, sky-clad but for her bone ornaments,
holding a medium-sized drum in her raised right hand.
Magzor Gyalmo (Queen of the Army) is the younger sister
who attends Palden Lhamo (Skt. Shri Devi.) She rides a horse, attended by
animal-headed dakinis.
Mandarava: considered a speech emanation of
Vajravarahi, she is the first wife of Padmasambhava. Besides her and Yeshe
Tsogyal (Dechen Gyalmo) who function as
deities, there are other consorts.
Marichi (Ozer Chenma) is reddish-gold with 8 arms. She is the embodiment of
sunrise or dawn. As a form of Tara, she is
depicted standing, one pair of hands holding a needle and thread. She
is also identified with Vajravarahi (Dorje Pa'mo.)
Her most widely found image is the one with
three faces, one of which is that of a sow,
in which she drives a cart pulled by seven swine. Marici's
seven-swine cart may derive from the Indian myth that describes Surya's vehicle
as drawn by seven horses. Her practice may also derive from that of the Vedic
dawn goddess, Ushas. She is also comparable to the Greek goddess,
Eos, who daily went out to rouse both Day and Night in her chariot drawn by a
number of horses. The multiple animals might relate to the fact that in ancient times,
the sun
appeared rather differently, accompanied by lesser lights.
The very promise of dawn, Marichi, "who holds the
night," is invoked by travelers for protection from robbers and other
hazards of the road: Om, Marichi swaha.
Tantric Buddhists tell of Marichi's determination
in the manner of Tara. Taoists see her as Queen of Heaven, and the Japanese,
as Amaterasu, the sun goddess.
This 'illuminating' aspect of Marichi (Ozer Chenma: Queen
of Light) is emphasized in an
17th century tangka of the Karma Kagyu at Himalayan Art where
she is crowned by a stupa, and instead of driving, she is seated on a great sow
with her seven piglets. In the above link, an accompanying Sakya verse emphasizes her ability to
dispel the fears of the night.
Sometimes animals other than piglets are depicted drawing
her chariot.
(The third [male] incarnation of the Jain founder is also called
Marichi.)
Manimekhala "Jewel-girdled." Protector
of seafarers, this South Indian Buddhist deity is also associated with
lightning. She was popularized in Burma and Thailand.
Nairatmya 'One Absent-of-any-Self'
is a sky-blue or dark-blue yidam and the consort of Hevajra.
The wife of Marpa the Translator, and mentor of Milarepa was named for
her.
Naro Kachoma: Vajrayogini
in the "archer's pose." (Andy Weber's site.)
Palden Lhamo: (< link to her separate page) She is the dark blue protector and only female among the Eight Guardians of the Law (Dharma Protectors) who is also Mahakali. Her Sanskrit name Shri Devi means Great Lady, ie. Lady Goddess; Okkin Tungri to northern Mongolians.
Prajnaparamita (Yum Chenmo) embodies the Supreme
Wisdom of the Emptiness Teaching. She is golden and is readily
identified by the books that sit atop the lotuses, one on each side of her,
at the level of her head. These sutras after which she is named are called
by Nagarjuna (2nd century CE,) The Mother of Buddhas.
Remati: See Palden Lhamo.
Salgye Du Dalma: Dakini who affords protection and
insight during sacred sleep/dream yoga. "She who clarifies beyond
conception" sits on a blue four-petaled lotus. She is seen as a
luminous drop (Skt. bindu, Tib. tigle).
Samantabhadri (Kuntuzangmo) is the yum or
consort of the ultimate Buddha (as bodhisattva Samantabhadra is considered in
some traditions.) She is pure white or light, in contrast with his
darkness. See Yeshe Tsogyal, below.
Saraswati:
(follow the link to her separate page.)
Sengdongma, Lion-face Dakini, is a wrathful
manifestation of Padmasambhava [Guru Rinpoche] who eliminates
obstacles.
Sinhavaktra: Dark blue Lion-head Dakini dispels
obstacles to enlightenment. She holds a broad-bladed knife and skull cup.
Sitapatra (White Parasol,) also called Ushnisha-sitatapatra, is
a protector
described in the Shurangama Sutra. The
embodiment of the white parasol of royalty that appears over Buddha as a symbol of
glory, her image is often mistaken for that of 1,000-armed Chenrezi.
She is described as having 1,000 faces, arms and legs. Each
of the eleven depicted heads has three eyes, and there is one in each palm and
sole. Her right hands hold dharma wheels and her left hold arrows, except
for the one holding the parasol representing the protection she offers.
Her central faces are white like her body, but those to the right are yellow,
and the left faces are green. The ones facing to the rear (that we do not
see) are described as red. The two uppermost heads are blue.
Sukhasiddhi:
(Tib. Dewai Ngod'up) Power-of-Bliss, a consort of Guru Padmasambhava, and
founder of a lineage.
Tseringma
is the protector of Bhutan. The embodiment of Mount Chomolhari, she is chief
among the 5 Longlife
sisters.
Usnisha-vijaya
(Nepali, Bijaya) (Tib. Tsug.tor Nam.par Gyel.ma)
This is
shortened to Namgyal or Namgyelma. She is an
8-armed longevity deity, who also stands for the Mother of All Buddhas. Like all Buddhist deities, she is essentially a
manifestation of Emptiness acting as a bodhisattva. She is able
to bestow longevity on beings not for selfish reasons, but for the purpose of
helping all others towards enlightenment. She is a purification deity as
well, invoked in the presence of the dead, and she is also invoked as a means of settling disputes.
Vajravidarana is a purification deity who holds a vishwarupa (double-dorje) and a bell with a similar handle. In white form (Tibetan: dor.je nam.par jom.pa kar.po) she is the Indian goddess Sita, who has transcended her role as a worldy hero (her tale of suffering is told in Valmiki's Ramayana) to heal the afflictions of humankind, especially disease and other bodily conditions. As Sitala, she was once associated with exorcising the cause of smallpox. The Vajravidarana cleansing ceremony is a powerful spiritual aid to expunge or split open (Skt. darana) to release the mental and physical poisons lying at the root of suffering. Vajrayogini (Dorje Naljorma): Slightly wrathful red dancing goddess with flowing black hair. One aspect is known as Kechari, another is Vajravarahi, associated with the Kagyu school. From an interview with Jetsun Sakya Kushog:
Yeshe Tsogyal (form of Samantabhadri or Kuntuzangmo) legendary spiritual consort of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) considered a dakini (Sky Dancer by Dowman is her story) and mind emanation of Vajravarahi/Saraswati. Said to have had a perfect memory, she was a concealer of Guru's Rinpoche's treasures (termas.) She is said to have lived 211 years before attaining the rainbow body. *************************************************************************************
_____________________________________________________________
*The
word deity is understood in a unique way by
Buddhist practitioners; it is used for lack of a better word.
Human
beings are given to superstition, and undoubtedly there are those who are
inclined to view a, some, or all deities as "real." To do so, however,
would be to contradict the very essence of Buddhism as expressed in the
Prajnaparamita, the other scriptures and commentaries, and also accounts
of Shakyamuni's life.
These
mythic figures are understood to arise out of, and return to, Emptiness;
they have no inherent reality. They are not worshipped in the sense of
idolatry, though certainly it may seem to be so, as for example, when one first
encounters people doing prostrations before images on a shrine. That is one
reason for not using the term 'altar', by the way.
Also,
the expression 'tutelary deity' which is often used to translate the
Tibetan word yidam is misleading as it implies a
teacher-student relation. A yidam is a deity with which the practitioner
has a special relationship. The deity is sometimes selected by the advisor
or lama to balance or complement the student's psychology.
The
Six or Seven piglets: Marici also seems to embody Ursa Major (the Great Bear, also viewed
as a Big Dipper.) Many cultures see in that
most recognizable of northern constellations a great vehicle drawn by several animals,
so it is also called The Wain or Wagon. Or the seven smaller animals
may represent the Pleiades, stars also known as the Seven Sisters, that forms the "eye" of spring's
rising sign, The Bull. In Japan, they are known as the Subaru.
end quote from: http://www.khandro.net/deities_female.htm Though there are many peaceful female dieties who "Dance for the Buddha" I was remembering about Tibetan Lamas talking to me about "Ekajati" while I was in India and traveling with one of them across India by Train with my family then in early 1986. She is the one eye, one breast and one tooth female Tara Protector diety. She is considered the most ferocious of the 21 Taras and skins her victims alive with a skinning knife (very colorful). She was explained as like a Grandmother protector who would do literally anything to protect her children when invoked. However, there are also other male dieties who are Tibetan Buddhist protector dieties like Vajra Kilaya (Wrathful Diamond Vow) who is the wrathful form of Vajrasattva and Nyema who are the most evolved Buddhas in physical form and who literally contain the whole physical universe so they are unbelievable powerful in reality. There is also a tent protector and home protector called Mahakala and many other forms of Mahkala as well. He is seen as a Protecting Bear sometimes and is very ferocious. If you want a similar consciousness in Western American thought it would be the: Battle Hymn of the Republic: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of his terrible swift sword He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored He has loosed the fateful for lightning of his terrible swift sword His truth is marching on. Here it is from Wikipedia under the heading "Battle Hymn of the Republic" begin quote:
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