Nairatmya the Black Dakini: The Dark Face of the Void
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Nairatmya
Yidam (Dagmedma)
This dark-blue figure appears as both a single yidam and also in union with her consort, the Highest Yoga Tantra male yidam Hevajra.
The name Nairatmya in Sanskrit and Dagmedma in Tibetan means 'No-Self'. This was also the name of the wife of Marpa, founder of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Yidam Nairatmya appeared to the great Mahasiddha Virupa and offered to him the practise of Hevajra. He became then the founder of the Lamdre lineage of the Sakya tradition.
I am the black dakini, goddess of the Void
I am the night sky empty of stars
the lake without reflections
When I take on human form, I am wrathful in appearance
With skin and hair that is blue-black
And jewelry that is of jet and ebony
In a sky of deep sapphire blue
I sit on a lotus with petals of gold,
and a center of black velvet
When I have two hands, I hold the vajra and bell
When I have four hands, I also hold the noose and the goad
In my six armed form, I add the axe and the mala.
My true form is in the depths of space,
The vast reaches of silence
But with the sound of HUM I emerge,
in the form of a spinning black vajra edged in gold
Around me are HUMS like beads on a string
Spinning, exploding, shooting blue pearls of light
in every direction.
I am called by many names.
As Nairatmya, I am the dark face of the Void
the waves upon the lightless ocean
I am the crow-headed goddess, flying high
my feathers in black, green, blue, and purple
I am the black goddess of death
holding the world in my arms
as I return to the deep waters
I am the mother who brings forth children from dark nothingness
who watches their lives and their deaths.
I am a wrathful emanation of Vajra Dakini,
she of rainbow crystal
Yet I am also her origin out of the dark void.
I dance with my bhairava
to the drumbeats of the heart of the universe
And from our dance come millions of whirling comets
Who form the guardians of the vajra worlds
When the dance is stopped, the comets return
And the universe is re-absorbed into our footsteps.
I create from the void and call things back to return
I tear apart form and attachment
My nails tear bonds to ribbons
which dance in the winds of prana
Those are my prayer-flags, and the banners of my warriors
They scatter the shreds of karma
before the winds of the Void
To create the dances of the worlds
I may be of help to the aspirant, but I am dangerous
For I will take away all he possesses
If he gives them up gladly,
we will dance together in their ashes
But if he clings to them
He will lose his mind and his heart.
I seek only beings ready for full liberation
Leave all behind and we will find beauty
In the emptiness that remains.