Dakini
Jeff & Kate Kerr
I was curious too so I googled dakini and this is what I found at:
http://www.dakini.demon.co.uk/
Superficially the Dakini embodies the spirit of female wrath, she
appears to dance in a wild frenzy, bent on destruction chaos and
transformation. She is naked except for a necklace of skulls around her
neck. The skulls are those of her slain victims. In her right hand she
holds a vajra or knife. In the left she caries a skullcup, it is filled
with blood which she drinks. In most images of the Dakini she is seen
dancing on the corpse of a human.
Initially the images may appear repulsive and violent. For those beings
who are not attracted to or excited by violence they may
legitimately ask themselves what they are doing as a central part of one
of the oldest world philosophies which takes very seriously the concept
of compassion and loving kindness.
For those beings who find violence and anger attractive and are attached
to such states they may mistakenly see in the Dakini a
glorification of wrathful violence, particularly as manifest in the
female form. To view the Dakini on either level is to miss her teaching.
The Dakini are not bent on mindless destruction or chaos for its own
sake The wrath they embody is towards their own states of
anger, greed and delusion, which they and their practitioners seek to
cut out and transform. Great energy and determination is
needed to achieve this and the violent imagery used shows the energy
necessary to cut out the roots of ignorance, greed and delusion.
Just as St George cuts the head of the dragon in icons throughout
Christendom, so the Dakini severs the heads of beings who are
none other than her own demons. To see the Dakini as a being who revels
in anger or violence for its own sake is to misunderstand the imagery.
Hers is not a glorification of anger and violence but a transformation
of it.
Dakini are also known as Sky Dancers, and they appear in many different
guises. The concept of the Dakini is highly developed in
Tibetan Buddhism and many images and stories of the Dakini come from
that culture. However the spirit of the Dakini is
trans-cultural and is not tied to any historic period.
Very interesting.
Kate
http://www.dakini.demon.co.uk/
Superficially the Dakini embodies the spirit of female wrath, she
appears to dance in a wild frenzy, bent on destruction chaos and
transformation. She is naked except for a necklace of skulls around her
neck. The skulls are those of her slain victims. In her right hand she
holds a vajra or knife. In the left she caries a skullcup, it is filled
with blood which she drinks. In most images of the Dakini she is seen
dancing on the corpse of a human.
Initially the images may appear repulsive and violent. For those beings
who are not attracted to or excited by violence they may
legitimately ask themselves what they are doing as a central part of one
of the oldest world philosophies which takes very seriously the concept
of compassion and loving kindness.
For those beings who find violence and anger attractive and are attached
to such states they may mistakenly see in the Dakini a
glorification of wrathful violence, particularly as manifest in the
female form. To view the Dakini on either level is to miss her teaching.
The Dakini are not bent on mindless destruction or chaos for its own
sake The wrath they embody is towards their own states of
anger, greed and delusion, which they and their practitioners seek to
cut out and transform. Great energy and determination is
needed to achieve this and the violent imagery used shows the energy
necessary to cut out the roots of ignorance, greed and delusion.
Just as St George cuts the head of the dragon in icons throughout
Christendom, so the Dakini severs the heads of beings who are
none other than her own demons. To see the Dakini as a being who revels
in anger or violence for its own sake is to misunderstand the imagery.
Hers is not a glorification of anger and violence but a transformation
of it.
Dakini are also known as Sky Dancers, and they appear in many different
guises. The concept of the Dakini is highly developed in
Tibetan Buddhism and many images and stories of the Dakini come from
that culture. However the spirit of the Dakini is
trans-cultural and is not tied to any historic period.
Very interesting.
Kate