Khandro Tsering Chödrön

When I started attending meditation courses at the Adelaide Rigpa Centre, the first thing I noticed on the altar was not the Dalai Lama photo or the Sogyal Rinpoche photo, or any other photo of a great master, but the photo of an old woman with penetrating eyes. She was looking straight at me no matter where I sat (yes, one of those) and generated an amazing feeling in my heart. I guess she triggered my heart chakra. She had a grandmotherly look about her and maybe she reminded me of my maternal grandmother who I loved very much, but it was more than that. I felt her power, and that she was looking at me with love and compassion.

OK, she's dead. She died in 2011. But that doesn't stop her power. She was Khandro Tsering Chödrön, the aunt of Sogyal Rinpoche, and the spiritual consort of Jamyand Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (one of the most respected and influential masters in Tibet). She is described in an article about her in View: The Rigpa Journal (July 2011) as 'Queen of the Dakinis'.

She was born in 1929 in Eastern Tibet. Signs in her childhood indicated that she was special, an emanation of Shelkar Dorje Tso, a disciple and consort of Guru Padamasambhava. Khandro became Jamyang Khyentse's spiritual wife at the age of 20. Once he died, when she was just 31, she lived an 'extraordinary life of spiritual practice, prayer and devotion' (page 7). What really comes across in this article, as I will never meet her, is her humility, kindness, humour, and her simple life. She wasn't attached to wealth and possessions. It is an understatement to say I have a long way to go to be like that!
There is a website dedicated to her
And an article about her by Sogyal Rinpoche

The image of her in 2009 is from the website In Memory of Khandro Tsering Chödrön - this is the image that first captivated me and is on my bedside table. I sometimes picture her during the day - she is a good reminder of what is important in life and helps me to be more mindful.

... with her incredible humor, she was always giving us an important teaching about the ironies of life. Perhaps we don't need to take everything so seriously, she seemed to say. Even this whole cycle of existence, birth and death that Buddhists call 'samsara' looks quite ridiculous when viewed from an enlightened perspective.