The Cult of Tara

WORSHIP
lady"), who is the consort of Cakrasamvara, their high patron of the
Tantras; in some Kajii monasteries she has an annual ritual on the
twentieth day of the sixth month. Some Dragon Kajii, too, have
conceived a devotion to Naro K'achoma, the "celestial lady of Naropa,"
although she is generally considered more of a Sacha deity;
and they share with the "ancient" sect the dakinl "Lion-faced," who
is for both their "guardian of hidden texts." Some, again, are
devotees of Yeshe ts'oje, the Tibetan consort of Padmasambhava;
the sexual partner of a great yogin, like that of a great deity (and
they are often the same thing), is frequently assimilated into this
class of deity, and the terms "yogini" and "dakinl" are often used
almost interchangeably. It is interesting to note here a peculiar
Tibetan attitude toward women: Tibetans share the general Buddhist
disapprobation of the moral character of women, and yet they add
that a woman contemplative, if she is any good at all, is more often
than not the superior of a man; many Dragon Kajii exhibit the
deepest reverence for Machig labdron ("the one mother, the lamp of
practice"), the consort of Father Dampa sangje and the founder of
the contemplative ritual of cho, the "cutting off" of one's body. She
is pictured in art as a naked white dakini, beating a drum and
blowing a thighbone trumpet, one leg raised and turned in the
posture of the yogic dance.
The Protectors of the Law
The highest of the protecting deities is called simply the "Lord,"
or sometimes the "Lord of Knowledge," to indicate his status as a
fully enlightened Buddha and to distinguish him from the lesser
oath-bound guardians who are also occasionally addressed as lords;
this generic distinction is sometimes expressed as the difference
between mundane and supramundane deities. One of the holiest
rooms of the monastery is the house of the Lord, from which there
echoes throughout the day the sound of cymbals and of the great
drum (or "drum of the Law"), a large flat drum hung up in a frame
and struck with two sticks. Here sits the "lama of the Lord," his texts
lit only by the butter lamps on the altar, surrounded by representations
of the fierce deities whose worship is his only function. The
walls are covered with paintings of their offerings, skullbowls filled
with blood and the flayed skins of human corpses for them to wear;
their huge images dominate the altar; in the corner might be stacked
P'les of ancient arms long used in warfare and presented to the
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