Niguma

She was called Yogini Vimalashri, or Vajradhara Niguma, or Jñana (wisdom) Dakini Adorned with Bone (ornaments),[2] or The Sister referring to her purported relationship to the great Buddhist teacher and adept Naropa.

"[2] There is often confusion between the biographical details of Niguma's life and spiritual accomplishments and that of the renowned Vajrayana teacher and mahasiddha Naropa.

[5] While not much can be confirmed about the historical details of Niguma's life, what does remain is the corpus of her teachings and her impact on the founding of the Shangpa Kagyu Buddhist spiritual lineage, known as one of the "“Eight Great Chariots of the Practice Lineages” (Wylie, sgrub brgyud shing rta chen po brgyad), meaning one of the eight great Buddhist spiritual traditions that eventually were transmitted from India to Tibet.

[citation needed] The importance of the dakini Niguma as a spiritual practitioner, teacher, and lineage founder continues to the present day.

One author offers this explanation: The elusiveness of Niguma is typical of the lore of the dakini, the very embodiment of liminal spiritual experience.

After all, when confronted with the blazing apparition of the resplendent and daunting dark dakini bestowing cryptic advice, a background check would be rendered irrelevant.

[6] What most sources agree upon is that Niguma was born into a rich Brahmin family in the town (or monastery) of Peme in Kashmir[7] in the 10th or 11th century.

One scholar who has done extensive research presents and discusses the available evidence and concludes that Niguma was indeed Naropa's older sister, not his wife or consort.

[9] Niguma was considered an emanation of the great dakini Mandarava, Guru Rinpoche's foremost Indian disciple.

As one scholar writes: The only specific information about Niguma's teachers that I have from my sources is her connection with a certain Lavapa, according to two accounts by Taranatha.

However Lavapa is not mentioned by name in Niguma's Life Story, where it says only that 'she directly saw the truth of the nature of phenomena just by hearing some instructive advice from a few adept masters.'

[12][14] The story is told thusly, in The Life of Marpa: Naropa said, "On the shores of the poison lake in the South, in the charnel ground of Sosadvipa,[15] is Jnanadakini Adorned with Bone Ornaments.

Having arrived in the charnel grounds at Sosadvipa, Marpa met this yogini, who was living in a woven grass dome.

The Tibetan meditation master Khyungpo Neljor (Wylie: khyung po rnal 'byor) stands out both for his intensive travel to seek teachings and transmissions from qualified masters and also for receiving the entire corpus of teachings from Niguma that would become the basis of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage.

Khyungpo Neljor traveled to Nepal and India seeking teachings and transmissions from a variety of teachers, including Niguma.

Niguma then transported him to a golden mountain summit where she bestowed the complete Six Yogas, the Dorje Tsikang (rdo rje tshig rkang) and the Gyuma Lamrim (sgyu ma lam rim).

[18]Khyungpo Naljor then returned to Tibet, and established a monastery at Zhangzhong in the Shang region in western Tsang.

[31] The Six Dharmas of Niguma are classified as completion stage (rdzogs rim) practices focusing on controlling and refining the channels, winds, and energies of the subtle body.