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in 2013 a collection of Buddhist of female saints in Tibet almost worried that future generations of
women’s life stories, called Garland invariably starts with her. Today, if Tibetan people might be deprived
of White Lotuses: The Liberation you ask any Tibetan Buddhist who is of teachings and the dharma
Stories of Great Female Lives in Tibet the most famous Buddhist woman, would degenerate. Therefore,
(‘Phags bod kyi skyes chen ma dag the answer is likely Yeshe Tsogyal. he entrusted his teachings to his
gi rnam par thar ba padma dkar disciple with an infallible memory,

po’i phreng ba). In this collection, So, does it matter that she is a Yeshe Tsogyal, who then converted
we found two life stories of Yeshe mythical character or a historical all these teachings into secret
Tsogyal that was previously unheard person who actually lived in Tibet? codes and concealed them for
of. I learned of this collection in In the end, the more interesting and future Treasure revealers. In later
2014 during my first visit to Larung important question to ask is what times, the predestined revealer,
Buddhist Academy, and these two role Yeshe Tsogyal plays in the lives with the help of Yeshe Tsogyal (in
“new” life stories naturally became of Tibetan Buddhist communities. visionary encounters or her physical
the central resource for my doctoral It is better to ask what she does, emanation), will reveal these
research. instead of what she is. This allows teachings in due time.
us to have an inside view into how
Does your research reveal that people commemorate her, worship One interesting example is a Bonpo
Yeshe Tsogyal was a myth or a her, and interact with her. To take life story Yeshe Tsogyal (Bon is
historical person who actually what she does for Tibetan Buddhists the non-Buddhist or pre-Buddhist
lived in Tibet? seriously allows us to delve deep into religion of Tibet). A twentieth-
the world inhabited by them. century Terma revelation by a Bon
I struggled with this question a lot female Treasure revealer, Dechen
as I first began my research. There But why is Yeshe Tsogyal popular Chokyi Wangmo, contains a life story
was not any archaeological evidence only in the Nyingma school and of Yeshe Tsogyal as a Bonpo woman.
that could be directly linked to a not in the other Tibetan Buddhist Donatella Rossi has done lots of
woman named “Yeshe Tsogyal” from schools? fascinating work on this topic.
the time she was said to have lived.
The earliest textual evidence of her Yeshe Tsogyal is popular across all What lessons can Yeshe Tsogyal
did not emerge until the twelfth Tibetan Buddhist schools. However, provide the modern woman
century, and it was not directly tied she might be most popular and today?
to the name “Tsogyal,” but to a “lady frequently associated with the
of Kharchen.” It was even later that Nyingma School. This is likely One thing that struck me the most
this name was directly associated because of her special connection when reading the life story of Yeshe
with the name “Tsogyal” or the more with the Terma (gter ma) or Treasure Tsogyal is the common struggle to
Buddhicized “Yeshe Tsogyal.” school, a sub-school of Nyingma leave home and have the autonomy
Buddhism. Terma or Treasure claims to practice Buddhism. We all
However, this does not reduce the the origins of its sacred text through know the Buddha’s life story. In its
popularity of Yeshe Tsogyal by any revelation, both in physical and many iterations, his leaving home
means. Lengthy accounts containing visionary forms. The reason they (and more specifically, leaving his
details of her life were first seen in were able to do so is Yeshe Tsogyal. domestic duties behind) was never
the thirteenth century. The first full- These revelations date back to the framed as a central struggle he needs
length life story of hers appeared in time of the Tibetan Empire, when to overcome. This is not the case in
the fourteenth century. Her literary the Indian master Padmasambhava the life stories of Tibetan Buddhist
corpus kept on growing since then. arrived and converted Tibet into a women. The struggle to leave home
Many women in Tibetan history have land of Buddhism. Treasures were is real and remains central to the
been recognized or have claimed buried all over Tibet because upon narrative. In one of the life stories of
to be her emanations. The lineage leaving Tibet, Padmasambhava was Yeshe Tsogyal, it takes up an entire