Explore the link between the Pamthingpa Brothers & Vajrayogini, and their role in transmitting tantric wisdom and awakening
In the Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism tradition, some lineage holders are also revered as realised practitioners who transmitted, embodied and preserved deep spiritual transmissions. Some of them are the Pamthingpa brothers, who are traditionally linked with the sacred Vajrayoginii teachings and the continuation of this powerful practice from generation to generation in the Himalayan Buddhist world.
In Vajrayana Buddhism, Vajrayogini is one of the most important female tantric deities. She is the power of enlightened consciousness; the ability to perceive beyond what's known, beyond the sweetness of desire and the attachment to it, beyond the sweetness of the sensualities, beyond the sweetness of ordinary perception. Her practice is in the highest grade of tantra and is considered a direct and quick route to realisation, typically used by advanced practitioners who seek to meditate deeply and to do inner work.
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In this way of life, the Pamthingpa Brothers are venerated as faithful guardians and custodians of Vajrayogini instructions. It is believed that they maintained the purity of these teachings and contributed to spreading them from India to Tibet and the rest of the Himalayan region. They also helped to keep the lineage alive and ensure that these teachings were made available to those who were sincere and wanted to attain liberation and awakening.
Who Were the Pamthingpa Brothers?
In the Vajrayana tradition, the Pamthingpa Brothers are two realised practitioners, Pamthingpa Drubchen (the Elder Brother) and Pamthingpa Yeshe (the Younger Brother). They are not just seen as historical figures but as important bearers of the tantric lineage, in particular, to the deep teachings of the Mahasiddha lineage.
Pamthingpa Drubchen (Abhayakirti)
Abhayakirti, better known as Pamthingpa Drubchen, is considered one of the elder Pamthingpa Brothers and a very enlightened practitioner of the Vajrayana tradition. According to tradition, he went to India and engaged in deep study and practice with the great Mahasiddha Naropa. He has spent many years under the disciplines of training, devotion, and direct transmission in the profound tantric realisations, earning the title of “Drubchen”, or great accomplished master.
His life is a typical example of the direct realisation of the Vajrayana path. He was an important inheritor of the Vajrayana lineage, having been given and practised the secret teachings of Naropa. Abhayakirti's journey is a testament to the transformative influence of guru devotion and a dedicated meditation practice, where wisdom is not merely learned and studied but lived in realisation.
Pamthingpa Yeshe (Vagindrakirti)
Pamthingpa Yeshe, or Vagindrakirti, is a monk and a younger brother who has played a crucial role in maintaining and consolidating the Vajrayogini lineage in the Himalayas. Unlike his elder brother, who went out for realisation, Yeshe was more or less attached to Kathmandu Valley and its nearby regions, where he practised and carried on the teachings he had received in the family and lineage tradition.
He was instrumental in maintaining continuity and the uninterrupted passing on of tantric teachings. His efforts to keep the teachings alive and to keep them part of the Himalayan spiritual fabric secured the Vajrayogini tradition for future generations. He is always accompanied by his brother, embodying the necessary complementarity of practice and transmission in Vajrayana Buddhism.
Their Role in Vajrayogini Transmission
In Vajrayana Buddhism, not only are texts preserved, but also a living transmission: empowerment (wang), oral instructions (lung), meditation guidance (tri), and direct experience (nyams). These four qualities keep the teachings alive, experiential and transformative, rather than simply intellectual.
Pamthingpa Brothers are honoured as practitioners who received and meditated on these transmissions, particularly the ones related to Vajrayogini sadhana. They are not important for their social or monastic rank, but for their realisation and experience; and in Vajrayana, this is taken as the highest qualification for holding and maintaining the lineage.
Connection with Vajrayogini Practice
Vajrayogini practice is part of the Highest Yoga Tantra system of Vajrayana Buddhism, regarded as one of the most direct and powerful routes to enlightenment. It's about changing all of our normal human experiences into something conscious instead of rejecting them.
In this practice, desire becomes wisdom or understanding, attachment becomes clarity, and normal perception becomes pure awareness. Ego gradually fades away, as does the sense of separate individuals, into the awareness of non-dual reality, which uncovers the nature of the mind.
In this context, the Pamthingpa Brothers are remembered as accomplished practitioners who delved into the teachings of Vajrayogini. Their role is not only studied but also lived and realised, and reflects the essence of the tantric path.
They represent three key aspects of the Vajrayogini path:
Direct Experience: They moved beyond intellectual understanding and entered meditative realisation.
Completion Stage Practice: Their practice is connected with subtle body yoga involving channels, winds, and inner energy transformation.
Dakini Wisdom: Vajrayogini is the supreme dakini, and the brothers represent practitioners who embody her fearless, clear, and non-dual awareness.
Symbolic Meaning of the Two Brothers
In the nature of Vajrayana symbolism, the term “brothers” usually has a deeper meaning than a literal one, and one that goes beyond blood relationships. They can be two facets of the same one awakened insight, two formless aspects, each one likened to a figure embodying different functions of the same awakened mind. They can also represent complementary energies in the tantric practice, both qualities being used to maintain a full spiritual transmission.
The Pamthingpa Brothers can thus be considered symbolic figures for unity in diversity in the Vajrayana tradition. They reflect the essential balance between method and wisdom, practice and realisation, as well as transmission and preservation. These are not opposing or conflicting elements, but rather aspects of one process, illustrating that innerrealisation can only be sustained in continuity with the teachings.
When taken together, they constitute a complete Vajrayana system, both in terms of direct spiritual experience and in the protection of lineage. The balance that is achieved is that Vajrayogini's teachings are not just realised by practitioners but also preserved and passed on for future generations, and keep the living flow of awakening wisdom alive.
Vajrayogini: The Essence of Transformation
Vajrayogini is not only known as a deity in Vajrayana Buddhism but also as the very expression of the enlightened mind itself. The practice is a total transformation of ordinary perception, where the ego-identity completely melts, and the practitioner starts viewing everything that appears as pure and luminous awareness.
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In this way, feelings are not denied, but transformed into wisdom energy, and the sense of duality slowly fades away to non-duality realisation. Within this tradition, the Pamthingpa brothers are honoured as practitioners who realised and solidified this insight in their own lives, demonstrating the transformative and meaningful nature of Vajrayogini practice, which goes beyond mere symbolism.
Transmission from India to Tibet and the Himalayas
The Vajrayogini teachings are part of a broader transmission of Indian Mahasiddhas from India to Tibet and the Himalayas that is associated with the Pamthingpa Brothers. It has been carried on by realised masters such as Naropa himself, Tibetan translators, and Yogic practitioners who held the experiential nature of the teachings.
In this flow, the Younger Brother was said to have had direct Vajrayogini instructions from Naropa in India and to have ensured the continuation of the flow and the practice of Vajrayogini and its transmission in the Himalayan region, particularly the Kathmandu Valley. They preserved the Vajrayogini tradition as an active and experiential teaching through the generations.
Inner Meaning of Their Role
The Pamthingpa Brothers also symbolically represent to the meditative mind the transformation process which happens within the practitioner's own mind. The Elder Brother is the time of direct awareness and awakening, first knowledge of the nature of mind, beyond concepts, thoughts, and dualistic perception.
The Younger Brother is the period of stability and integration – the time when the initial realisation is sustainably maintained and integrated into everyday life. This helps to make insight not just a fleeting experience, but a lived experience in day-to-day living and awareness.
They take us, together, through the full cycle of Vajrayana inner development – awareness of the nature of mind, stabilising that awareness, integrating it into daily life, and finally expressing it in a way that is of natural benefit to others. Their story is, therefore, a historical account as well as a source of psychological and spiritual change.
Living Lineage of Vajrayogini
In Vajrayana Buddhism, a lineage is truly alive when there is direct realisation and lived experience being transmitted, generation after generation. It is not limited to history or a collection of scriptures but is an ongoing process of empowerment and oral teachings, meditation guidance, and personal realisation. This keeps the teachings alive, experiential and spiritually transformative, and not simply a collection of ideas in the student's mind.
The Pamthingpa brothers are not just remembered within this awareness but also seen as an emblem of realised continuity in the Vajrayogini tradition. Their significance extends beyond the mere transmission of teachings; they are a symbol of the realisation that true transmission relies on experience and inner awareness. By doing so, Vajrayogini practice keeps alive and relevant; it is not a theoretical or distant tradition, it is a living path of awakening.
Conclusion: The Living Stream of Vajrayogini Wisdom
The Pamthingpa Brothers, Pamthingpa Drubchen (Abhayakirti) and Pamthingpa Yeshe (Vagindrakirti), play a significant role in the Vajrayana tradition related to the practice of Vajrayogini and the teachings of the Mahasiddha Naropa. They are remembered as important personalities who played a pivotal role in passing on the deep tantric knowledge from India to the Himalayas and preserving this living spiritual lineage.
The Elder Brother is the result of years of discipline and study with Naropa in India; the Younger Brother is the preservation and continuity of those teachings in the Himalayan region. They are a reflection of the Vajrayana teaching that enlightenment is not achieved but also lived and shared, and that Vajrayogini practice is never finished but a continuous journey of change.
