YESHE TSOGYAL PHUG, Dhukpu Danda

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

At a walking distance of five minutes uphill from the –>Padmasambhava Phug (Dhukpu Danda) is another smaller, unassuming and umarked cave. The entrance is low, and standing inside is difficult. The cave is attributed to Yeshe Tsogyal, dakini and diciple consort of Guru Rimpoche. Above the entrance is a self arisen rten [Sanskrit, Nepali: yoni, Latin: vulva], often times taken as her signature seal. Inside the cave there is no window and no fireplace. A small fire pit, filled with ashes of incense lies at the entrance, under the shelter of an overhanging rock. Inside there is no prostration board or pallet, only enough room for a small person to sleep. In the back is an old altar of stone, but three of the four images upon it are new. A slate immage of the Sakyamuni Buddha, painted by unknown hands, stands to one side of a relief statue of Vajra Yogini. To the other side is a low relief of a stupa, perhaps Swayambhu, carved into white stone. On the far right is a strangely formed pieceof white rock, upon which one can make out the vague image of a woman's body with a crudely shaped head. Legend holds that this is the naturally formed image of Vajravarahi, the white boar dakini. Why the image is found in Yeshe Tsogyal's cave is unknown, perhaps it was placed there for safer keeping, perhaps that is where it rightfully belonged (BAKER 1994: 16-17).