Dear Friends of My Lineage!
I am Yeshe Tsogyal, an emanation of Melodious Sarasvati, here to introduce myself and connect with you in your modern world!
“Yeshe Tsogyal is actually the voice of Guru Rinpoche. In fact, she IS Guru Rinpoche in feminine form.”
My Journey
I am Yeshe Tsogyal; in Sanskrit, Jnanasagara, and in today’s world, Victorious Ocean of Wisdom. Many prophecies predict that I will have a billion emanations that will benefit beings.
In my most famous lifetime, I was born in Tibet, a princess in the land of Kharchen in the Wood Bird Year 777. Auspicious signs accompanied my birth indicating that I would benefit countless beings. In this respect, my journey began at age sixteen, when I was accepted as a disciple of the supreme Lotus-Born of Oddiyana. Then, until he left this world, I was his student, scribe, and consort.
In that life, I lived to be 211 and from the Lotus-Born, I received the complete teachings of the nine vehicles and made the journey to enlightenment, leaving this world in a rainbow body. Centuries later, I am called the Great Wisdom Queen of Bliss.
At the request of the Lotus-Born, I recounted my life story to a scribe and we concealed it as a treasure. It was discovered in the 17th century by the destined Taksham Samten Lingpa. Later, in the 20th century, the treasure re-appeared as “Mother of Knowledge” and again as “Lady of the Lotus Born”.
My secret autobiography was revealed by the 14th century Drime Kunga, and then in 2017, Jnanasukha Foundation translated it into English for today’s world. Known as “The Life & Visions of Yeshe Tsogyal: The Autobiography of the Great Wisdom Queen”, it includes a foreword by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse and insights from the translator, lamas, and scholars.
From a larger mural at Samye.
“Through the play of the magical illusion of the three secrets, to begin, [Yeshe Tsogyal] was born and her life force lake came into existence, creating the sacred site of Tsogyal Latso.”
My Birthplace in Tibet
My birthplace is Tsogyal Latso, which means Tsogyal’s Life Force Lake. In legendary times, this was the natural power place of Sarasvati. It lies about ninety miles southeast of Lhasa, as the crow flies, on the northern side of the Tsangpo River.
By the 14th century, my birthplace existed in name only, with just a small temple. It was not until the 18th century when the great master Jigme Lingpa made offerings to my life force lake that its reputation as a visionary lake began to manifest. Sleeping next to the lake, he dreamed of symbols floating above the lake. Realizing they were a symbolic dakini script, he transcribed the symbols into Tibetan. This treasure is well-known today as the Longchen Nyingtik Yeshe Tsogyal Sadhana of Yumkha Dechen Gyalmo.
After the Cultural Revolution ended in the late 1970s, Tsogyal Latso was gradually revitalized with the help of Sang Ngak Rinpoche, Khandro Tare Lhamo, Namtrul Rinpoche, Dorje Drak Rigdzin Yidzhin Norbu and others. Since 2009, Jnanasukha Foundation has offered their annual assistance.
Now, sixteen nuns have made my birthplace their home. They are responsible for my life force lake, the two springs bubbling with my healing waters, and the life force tree that nourished me as a baby. My stone handprints and footprints are also in their care.
In 2015, my nuns built a beautiful new temple to inspire pilgrims and rejuvenate my legacy. By 2019, the interior was completed with statues and murals of Longchen Nyingtik and one wall devoted to my life story, the first such paintings in your world!
I’m very pleased to see my birthplace thriving and benefiting beings.
My new temple in June 2019.
My Life-Force Lake and Jigme Lingpa’s tree in 2014.
Videos of My Birthplace
Since 2009, Jnanasukha Foundation has documented their visits and pilgrimages to Tsogyal Latso.
You are invited to watch a curated collection of short videos, including Jnanasukha’s 20-minute documentary film, “In the Minds of All Beings: Yeshe Tsogyal of Tibet”, produced in 2011.
These videos will introduce you to the wonders of my birthplace and the amazing improvements in the last nine years.
Building a Library
The body aspect of my mandala—my ecological legacy, the temple, and the nuns—is now re-established, and it's time for my speech aspect to appear. It will take the form of a New Library & Learning Center.
No time to go to my Vimeo showcase? Here’s one video I hope you will enjoy:
“Murals are important because they are fields of merit for all beings. They support the Sangha and remind everyone of their own attainable enlightenment.”
My Life Story Murals
In 2017, Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo launched “The Murals Project” to help fund the murals inside my new temple.
The murals are now complete and the painters have returned to Kham. My nuns are ecstatic and visitors are amazed!
When you enter the temple, you pass through the entryway adorned with the traditional Wheel of Life and Four Guardian Kings. Inside, you will immediately see, in the place of honor, my sambhogakaya form Yumkha Dechen Gyalmo surrounded by the Longchen Nyingtik deities and an entire wall depicting my life story.
My life story wall depicts nine scenes, beginning with my birth, and continuing on to my marriage to King Tri Songdetsen, my early training with the supreme Lotus-Born, my journey to Nepal to find Atsara Sale, my activities to benefit beings, my visionary travels to Vajra Varahi’s pure land, my defeat of the Bon during the Great Debate, and lastly, my rainbow body departure for the Copper-Colored Mountain.
Yeshe Tsogyal Sarasvati download image
The mural Yeshe Tsogyal Benefits Beings.
“Beings are living in
the darktimes of the Kaliyuga.
It’s time to connect with me.”
My Literature
My teachings have become available in your world as my treasure writings have been discovered and translated. Here are a few works in English.
Autobiographies:
Mother of Knowledge, 1983
Lady of the Lotus-Born, 1999
The Life and Visions of Yeshe Tsogyal: The Autobiography of the Great Wisdom Queen, 2017
My Treasure Writings:
The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, 1978
The Lotus-Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava, 1999
Treasures from Juniper Ridge: The Profound Instructions of Padmasambhava to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, 2008
Dakini Teachings: Padmasambhava’s Advice to Yeshe Tsogyal, 1999
From the Depths of the Heart: Advice from Padmasambhava, 2004
Secondary Literature on the Enlightened Feminine and my Emanations:
Women of Wisdom, Tsultrim Allione, 2000
Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism, Judith Simmer-Brown, 2001
Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod, Sarah Harding, 2003
Women in Tibet, Janet Gyatso, 2005
Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the Self, Anne Carolyn Klein, 1995
When a Woman Becomes a Religious Dynasty: The Samding Dorje Phagmo of Tibet, Hildegard Diemberger, 2014
Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro, Sarah Jacoby, 2015
Love Letters from Golok: A Tantric Couple in Modern Tibet, Holly Gayley, 2017
Inseparable Across Lifetimes: The Lives and Love Letters of the Tibetan Visionaries Namtrul Rinpoche and Khandro Tare Lhamo, Holly Gayley, 2019
A Few Meditation Liturgies:
Yumkha Dechen Gyalmo, Queen of Great Bliss from the Longchen Nyingtik, Heart-Essence of the Infinite Expanse, Jigme Lingpa
Khandro Thukthik, Dakini Heart Essence, Collected Works of Dudjom, volume MA, pgs. 1- 500
Yeshe Tsogyal Quintessence Sadhana, Collected Works of Dudjom, volume AH, pgs. 248-249
Taksham Yeshe Tsogyal, Swift Conferral of Supremely Blissful Timeless Awareness, Eminence Namkha Drimed Rabjam
Wishfulfilling Jewel Sadhana of Yeshe Tsogyal, Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok
A Few Supplications to Me:
Prayer to My Life Story, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye
A Supplication, Khandro Tare Lhamo
A Supplication, Mipham Rinpoche
A Supplication, XV Karmapa
Yeshe Tsogyal’s Prayer to Guru Rinpoche As He Left Tibet