The Life of Sukhasiddhi: The Wisdom Dakini

Who is Sukhasiddhi?

Here is an interesting story of Sukhasiddhi, and how she became a wisdom dakini. A rather poor family of eight lived in a town in Western Kashmir. There were three sons and three daughters; and their elderly parents. The poor and hungry family were completely destitute and only had a pot of rice left. So, one day they went out in search of food, except for the mother who stayed home. The sons went south whilst the daughters went north. Their father headed west. However, a man even poorer than the family showed up at their door. The mother showed him mercy and kindness. She cooked the last pot of rice and offered it to the man. 

The father and the children had all found nothing even after going far and wide. In the end they thought why look for food when they still had the pot of rice left. They all returned home empty handed. No sooner had they stepped inside the door than they demanded for the pot of rice to be cooked. But alas! The rice was already fed to the poor man.

The mother told them that since they all went looking for food, they would return with something. When she told them that she had given away the last pot of rice, her husband and children were furious. They accused her of never going out to look for food like they did and instead giving away what little they had.

They were harsh with their words and in the end, threw the woman out of the house.

The miserable old woman decided to go west to Uddiyana, leaving Kashmir. It was said that in Uddiyana, all the men were Dakas and the women were Dakinis.

It was harvest time upon her arrival. She decided to become a beer merchant and so obtained a bag of rice.

Her Encounter with Mahasiddhi Virupa

Right around the same time, Virupa, the great teacher, lived in the wilderness of Uddiyana with a yogini named Avadhutima. Together, they would practice the yoga of sexual union. The yogini would regularly turn up to buy beer, and she only bought it from the old lady as hers was the tastiest. When the old woman finally asked her one day whom the beer was for, the yogini said that it was for the great yogi who lived in the forest. The woman then refused any payment for her beer since it was for a yogi.

Later, Virupa asked his consort how she managed to get him the beer for free. She answered that a merchant woman of unusual faith gifted her best beer to the Lama of the forest.

Virupa then wanted to liberate this woman from the three realms of samsara. He had his consort summon the old woman. The old lady was filled with faith and devotion. She went to meet the yogi with a jug of beer and some pork meat. Virupa soon enough bestowed her with the four complete empowerments for the yogic practices. It also included the secret practices of the generation and completion stages. It was after receiving these empowerments that the old lady became a Wisdom Dakini, Sukhasiddhi.

The Great Transformation of Sukhasiddhi

She was fifty-nine when her husband and children threw her out of the house. She became a beer merchant at the age of sixty. By the time she received the empowerments, she was already sixty-one. One might deem her as physically old. However, her body was thoroughly purified and transformed into a rainbow body. It was through the power of her realizations. 

How did she appear?

Sukhasidhi's appearance was now that of a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl. She was white in color, with her hair flowing down her back. Eyes never tired of beholding her because she was that beautiful. The beauty dwelt in the sky. She became known as Sukhasiddhi, dakini of magical illusions. 

This dakini was now Virupa's secret consort. She was the extraordinary victor Nairatmya. She still dwells the sky six times. And she looks with eyes of divine wisdom upon the beings of the three realms. She teaches the Dharma to those with a sacred outlook. She grants blessings to those who perform secret practices as well as those who pray devotedly to her. She bestows them both extraordinary and common siddhis. 

Stories of Sukhasiddhi from the Disciples of the Shangpa Lineage

The Account of Khyungpo Naljor

The faithful lord Khyungpo Naljor recalls how he went in search of her all over India. Sukhasiddhi did appear in a sandalwood forest one day. She was up in the sky at the height of about seven palm trees. She was surrounded by many Dakinis amid rainbow brilliance. The lord then made an offering of five hundred measures of gold to her.

He begged her for pure instructions. He was promptly granted the four empowerments for the uncommon secret practices. She also gave him the Six Yogas secret practices, and the threefold oral instructions. Eventually, she gave him all the mother tantra instructions. It would make enlightenment possible in a matter of mere years or months. 

Khyungpo Naljor had four root processes. She bestowed all her empowerments without an exception. She showed more kindness to him in the end. That is when she gave him the oral instructions Lamas. They were Niguma, Rahula, Maitripa, and also Sukhasiddhi herself. Among them, he asserts that Sukhasiddhi had been the kindest.

She showed her kindness in the beginning by prophesizing about his practice and attainments. She also acted as his tantric partner and was kind during the to put her empowerments into practice. He claims that she never left him and that he could always see her no matter where he went.

Sukhasiddhi Praises by many others

Sukhasiddhi also got further praises from Lama Mokchokpa in Tibet. Sukhasiddhi had apparently appeared when he was practicing in Dingma. And she gave him numerous prophecies. He keeps these remembrances and feels inseparable from her.

When Lama Kyergangpa had gone to the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, Sukhasiddhi taught him the yogic practices of the completion stage. She also gave him the four complete empowerments. Since then, he has experienced continuous union with her.

The great teacher Rigongpa Sangye Nyenton stated,

"The instant I went into Kyergang Cave, I saw the face of Sukhasiddhi. Three times, she said to me, 'Rest in non-referential awareness: Since then, I see her face always. I received instructions on the four complete empowerments. Then, she made prophecies such as, 'You will be a powerful yogi and will master the three doors of emancipation' and so forth."

Sukhasiddhi in Thangka painting

She, the lady master of meditation is often portrayed as magnificently white, wearing a multicolored clothes. She is smiling, peaceful, and youthful with one face and two hands. She is seated graciously upon a moon disc on a lotus.

She is adorned with all the ornaments of a peaceful Bodhisattva, her right hand holds a skull cup filled with nectar.

May the Dakini Sukhasiddhi guide us to light !