David,
I can not find any other references to Inner Tantra use of the "Dance of the Five Khandros and Pawo" which is also mentioned in "Wearing the Body of Visions. Do you have any references for this method? I am wondering how it relates to the 5 elements and 5 Buddha bodies etc. Thank you.
Hi, yes, Rainbow of Liberated Energy is available in revised form as Spectrum of Ecstasy: Embracing the Five Wisdom Emotions of Vajrayana Buddhism. (Recall that Rainbow of Liberated Energy is the book for which Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche wrote the Foreword.) I don't recall offhand how much use of the "dance" metaphor that book uses, but it is on the same topic.
"Dance of the Khandros and Pawos" is tantric "twilight language." The "twilight" logic of tantra is always in terms of symbolic correspondences. So, to understand the phrase, you have to connect the corresponding images.
"Khandro" is the Tibetan word for the Sanskrit dakini, which in this context means both "goddess" and "any female tantrika, in her enlightened aspect." "Wisdom" in Buddhism usually means "the capacity to recognize emptiness." In tantra, women correspond to emptiness, and men to form, so women/khandros are the embodiment of wisdom. "Pawo," which literally means "warrior" or "hero" (vira in Sanskrit), is "any male tantrika, in his enlightened aspect." Form corresponds to compassion, and form and emptiness are non-dual but distinct.
So the fluctuating play of form and emptiness is symbolized as the erotic dance of the khandros and pawos. ("Embracing" in Ngakpa Chögyam's title also probably has an erotic connotation, and tantrikas will recognize "wisdom" there as inherently female.)
It is a "dance" in the sense that reality is in constant motion, with aspects weaving in and out of view, is delightful to behold, and is a magical display without any meaning beyond the performance itself.
For tantra, anything that comes in fives is understood in terms of a similar series of correspondences. The fives manifest differently in the yanas, but are essentially the same throughout. So you have the five skhandhas, the five kleshas, the five Buddha families, the five khandros and five pawos, the five wisdoms, the five elements, the five thigles, and so on. This is the topic of Rainbow of Liberated Energy/Spectrum of Ecstasy.
Such a dance can actually be enacted by five (or ten) dancers. That could be a liberating practice in itself, but mainly it would be symbolic.
The actual practice is to recognize all experience as the dance of the five khandros (if you are a [heterosexual] male tantrika) or as the dance of the five pawos (if you are a [heterosexual] female tantrika).
The first step in doing that is to become thoroughly familiar with the qualities that correspond to the five whatevers.
Another excellent book on this subject is Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's Magic Dance: The Display of the Self-Nature of the Five Wisdom Dakinis. (The language is a bit difficult but it's a profound take.) There's also an outstanding book on the topic by Trungpa Rinpoche. Unfortunately I can't recall his title offhand; I can locate it if you want it.
By email subscription
By RSS feed
Follow me on Twitter
Comments
Wisdom-Dance of the five Khandros
5 Nov 2011
David,
I can not find any other references to Inner Tantra use of the "Dance of the Five Khandros and Pawo" which is also mentioned in "Wearing the Body of Visions. Do you have any references for this method? I am wondering how it relates to the 5 elements and 5 Buddha bodies etc. Thank you.
Dakini Dance
5 Nov 2011
Hi, yes, Rainbow of Liberated Energy is available in revised form as Spectrum of Ecstasy: Embracing the Five Wisdom Emotions of Vajrayana Buddhism. (Recall that Rainbow of Liberated Energy is the book for which Lama Yeshé Dorje Rinpoche wrote the Foreword.) I don't recall offhand how much use of the "dance" metaphor that book uses, but it is on the same topic.
"Dance of the Khandros and Pawos" is tantric "twilight language." The "twilight" logic of tantra is always in terms of symbolic correspondences. So, to understand the phrase, you have to connect the corresponding images.
"Khandro" is the Tibetan word for the Sanskrit dakini, which in this context means both "goddess" and "any female tantrika, in her enlightened aspect." "Wisdom" in Buddhism usually means "the capacity to recognize emptiness." In tantra, women correspond to emptiness, and men to form, so women/khandros are the embodiment of wisdom. "Pawo," which literally means "warrior" or "hero" (vira in Sanskrit), is "any male tantrika, in his enlightened aspect." Form corresponds to compassion, and form and emptiness are non-dual but distinct.
So the fluctuating play of form and emptiness is symbolized as the erotic dance of the khandros and pawos. ("Embracing" in Ngakpa Chögyam's title also probably has an erotic connotation, and tantrikas will recognize "wisdom" there as inherently female.)
It is a "dance" in the sense that reality is in constant motion, with aspects weaving in and out of view, is delightful to behold, and is a magical display without any meaning beyond the performance itself.
For tantra, anything that comes in fives is understood in terms of a similar series of correspondences. The fives manifest differently in the yanas, but are essentially the same throughout. So you have the five skhandhas, the five kleshas, the five Buddha families, the five khandros and five pawos, the five wisdoms, the five elements, the five thigles, and so on. This is the topic of Rainbow of Liberated Energy/Spectrum of Ecstasy.
Such a dance can actually be enacted by five (or ten) dancers. That could be a liberating practice in itself, but mainly it would be symbolic.
The actual practice is to recognize all experience as the dance of the five khandros (if you are a [heterosexual] male tantrika) or as the dance of the five pawos (if you are a [heterosexual] female tantrika).
The first step in doing that is to become thoroughly familiar with the qualities that correspond to the five whatevers.
Another excellent book on this subject is Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's Magic Dance: The Display of the Self-Nature of the Five Wisdom Dakinis. (The language is a bit difficult but it's a profound take.) There's also an outstanding book on the topic by Trungpa Rinpoche. Unfortunately I can't recall his title offhand; I can locate it if you want it.
David
Post new comment