VAJRAYOGINI

MANTRA: OM OM OM SARVA BUDDHA DAKINIYE VAJRA VARNANIYE VAJRA VAIROCANIYE HUM HUM HUM PHAT PHAT PHAT SVAHA

Vajrayogini is visualized as a translucent, deep red figure of a 16-year-old female. She embodies the youthful, dynamic energy of awakened wisdom. A vertical third eye of wisdom is set on her forehead, symbolizing her omniscient vision. In her “solitary heroine” form, her consort Chakrasamvara is represented as a khatvanga staff resting on her shoulder, reflecting the union of compassion and wisdom.

As the inner essence of the Heruka Chakrasamvara Tantras, Vajrayogini represents the Divine Feminine and the ultimate realization of prajñā (transcendent wisdom). She is uninhibited, naked before the world, symbolizing that she is free from shame, duality, and illusion. Unapologetically fierce and limitless, Vajrayogini is a Dakini—literally a “sky-dancer”—a liberated spirit who dances freely in the vast, clear space of śūnyatā (emptiness). Unlike many other tantric deities, Vajrayogini has no direct counterpart in Mahayana Buddhism, highlighting her unique position within the Highest Yoga Tantra tradition.

She is usually depicted as blood red, wearing only bone ornaments and a skull necklace, representing the purification of speech through the Sanskrit alphabet’s 50 sounds—16 vowels and 34 consonants. In her right hand, she wields a vajra-handled flaying knife used to sever attachment and delusion. In her left hand, she holds a skull cup filled with mahāsukha (great bliss), which she pours out as spiritual nectar for her devotees. In the crook of her left arm rests her khatvanga, symbolizing her consort and spiritual union.

Her iconography is rich with meaning:

  • One face: Realization that all phenomena are of one nature—emptiness.

  • Two arms: Union of the two truths—conventional and ultimate.

  • Three eyes: The ability to perceive the past, present, and future simultaneously.

  • Standing posture: Crushing red Kalaratri and black Bhairava—the personifications of ego and ignorance—beneath her feet.

  • Flames: Surrounded by the blazing fire of pristine awareness.

  • Upward gaze: She looks to Khechara, the Pure Dakini Land, symbolizing her guidance of practitioners toward higher realms.

Every aspect of her form is meant to convey a spiritual truth. Her red color represents inner heat (Tummo), her gaze upward signals her transcendence, and her skullcup of blood symbolizes the clear light of bliss, an enlightened state of mind.

Spiritual Purpose & Benefits

The practice of Vajrayogini is powerful and profound. Traditionally kept secret, her mantras and visualizations are now more widely accessible. Still, many masters advise proper instruction before engaging deeply in her sadhana.

Those drawn to her practice are considered spiritually fortunate, often having a karmic connection from past lives or being spiritually called in the present.

Benefits of Vajrayogini Practice:

  • Transforms death, bardo (intermediate state), and rebirth into paths to enlightenment.

  • Purifies delusions, attachments, and obstacles for all sentient beings.

  • Converts everyday experiences into profound spiritual practice.

  • Grants entry to inner and outer Pure Dakini Lands.

  • Supports fearless realization, clarity, and ecstatic wisdom.

A POEM WRITTEN FOR HER

I am the diamond maiden, the player of games

The yogini is one of my forms

Showing that I am beyond earthly attachment

I am the shining revelation to the ascetic The women in silk and roses

I am the harlot in black net and leather, who gives enjoyable punishment

I am the glass bead master, creating universes of form

And a spark of me is in each bead, for I dwell in karma.

I am the Trauma Goddess, the Lady of Pain In return for devotion

I pull thoms from the heart

In return for obedience I untie the knots in the belly and the head

I hold the vajra, which gives and receives

I reshape family karma.

The Trauma Goddess is called for people in painful situations

Where anger and hatred block the path of the soul

I evaluate the benefits of revenge And give better suggestions for spiritual growth.

I am not suited to polite society

To social striving, upward mobility, and making good impressions

I am radically honest, sensitive, brillant, and blunt

I hold up a mirror to the best and worst facets of human We

The Lady of Trauma is the mirror of pain

I reflect the disastrous ways that human beings interact

Then the reflections are stretched and distorted

with irony, and humor, and sadness

Loosening their grip on the heart

So that the person who seeks freedom

Can get a taste of being free.

My devotees pray:

Lady of Trauma, Lady of Pain Ascetic and bhairavi and sannyasini and mistress

Pull me from the disaster

I have made of my life

Save me from the evil machinations of others.

This is their prayer and I hear it in their hearts As they chant my mantra.

Savior, Lady, Mother Goddess, bodhisattva, Love me as I love you I am desperate and

bound

Free me by your grace.

I will give freedom, but not without realization

Those who have been bound, bind others

Those who have suffered, cause suffering

I let them know how they have been affected

But also how they have affected others.

I do not wear bones because of death

I wear them because they represent what is beneath the surface

The blood that I drink is the evil karma of those that I save

And the karma is then halted and does not pass to others

I appear wrathful as I take on anger, hatred, fury, and the desire to destroy

Which are destroyed within me.

I am a dancer upon the pain of ALL mankind

I destroy the dark and corrupt

My compassionate side is hidden

But for those whom I love

who have taken on my dark grace

I open a path of shining Night

with pain and sorrow left behind.

To read a meditation on how Vajrayogini can purify the Buddhist practitioner of past

traumas,