Khyungpo Naljor, the initiator of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage, received many teachings from the dakini Niguma. The other woman that Khyungpo Naljor encountered when searching in India for someone who had received direct teachings from Buddha as Vajradhara, was Sukhasiddhi.
Like Niguma, Sukhasiddhi was discovered in a graveyard, where she granted teachings and promised to bless all future Shangpa practitioners. Unlike Niguma, however, Sukhasiddhi played an important role in several other lineages, especially as a guru to Padampa Sangye in the Pacification (Tibetan: zhije) and Severance (Tibetan: chöd) traditions. If possible, she is even more elusive than Sister Niguma.
We will explore Sukhasiddhi’s story and those many lineage connections, and then focus on Sukhasiddhi’s Introduction to Mahamudra. This was a teaching revealed to Sangye Nyentön (also known as Rigongpa), the sixth of the original “Seven Jewels” of the Shangpa one-to-one lineage. Using supporting materials from source texts, we will begin to learn the practice.
Sarah Harding has been studying and practicing Buddhism since 1974, and has been teaching and translating since completing a three-year retreat in 1980 under the guidance of Kyabjé Kalu Rinpoché. She was associate professor at Naropa University for twenty-five years in Boulder, Colorado, where she currently resides, and has been a fellow of the Tsadra Foundation since 2000. She specializes in literature with a focus on tantric practice. Her publications include Creation and Completion; The Treasury of Knowledge: Esoteric Instructions; Niguma, Lady of Illusion; and two volumes on Chö and Shijé from The Treasury of Precious Instructions.
A weekend retreat will be held March 1 – 3
Friday, March 1; 6 to 7 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, March 2 and 3; 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m.
In-person only
