Description
FREE: Women Lineage Holders in the Bonpo Tradition
KHANDRO OF THE WHITE SKY: A Rare Female Lineage of Bönpo Dzogchen
This talk discusses realised Bönmo women practitioners, in particular the women lineage-holders of Bönpo Dzogchen from the Yetri Thasel Mogyud cycle. These women came from all over Central and Inner Asia, received precious Dzogchen teachings and achieved complete Buddhahood of the Rainbow Body within one lifetime. Their quintessential pith instructions were recorded by the 8th century Bönpo master Lachen Drenpa Namkha. The last yogini in this lineage, Chöza Bönmo, played a pivotal role in saving the teachings of Yungdrung Bön from almost certain annihilation during the 8th century persecution waged during the reign of the Tibetan King Trisong Deutsen.
Dmitry Ermakov
Dmitry Ermakov was born in 1967 in Leningrad, USSR, and began studying music at the age of six. Two years later he enrolled for art and archaeology classes with B. Piotrovsky (Director, Hermitage Museum) and G. Mezentzeva (Prof. Archaeology, Kiev University), going on to participate in archaeological digs in Ukraine and Khakassia. He has studied Tibetan Buddhism since 1989, Yungdrung Bön since 1995, and began fieldwork on Bѳ Murgel in Buryatia, in 1990. Author of a monograph Bѳ and Bön, he has worked on over 50 edited transcripts of teachings by Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak, as well as two public books Masters of the Zhang Zhung Nyengyud, and The Heart Essence of the Khandro. He was Research Assistant to Prof. Charles Ramble, OxfordUniversity(2009-10). Founding member of the Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön. Current projects include translation and publication of Bön in Nepal: Traces of the Great Zhang Zhung Ancestor in Himalayas – The Light of the History of Existence by Nagru Geshe Gelek Jinpa.
Recorded on: 26th October 2012, 6.30pm – 8.00pm
Location: SOAS, Russell Square
Recording Copyright © 2012 Dmitry Ermakov
