Women of Wisdom Quotes

“Though in Tantra a vast assortment of images of the feminine were propagated, Western culture splits the feminine between prostitute and the Madonna who passively adores her male offspring. In Tantra, we see the emergence of the female images which are sexual and spiritual, ecstatic and intelligent, wrathful and peaceful. How refreshing not to have to be chaste and peaceful with downcast eyes in order to be spiritual. We can be sharp and insightful, even angry, and still celebrate our womanhood.”
― Tsultrim Allione, Women of Wisdom

“There were many practices based on subduing, or cutting through the ego. Gradually, I realized this approach did not work well for me and as I began to teach, I saw it often did not work well for students either, especially women.

They responded more positively to nurturing their innate wisdom and buddha nature rather than to attempts to cut through their egos. Perhaps because they struggle more with self-esteem and self-hatred, the battle motif turns practice into another way to beat themselves up, another battle among many.”
― Tsultrim Allione, Women of Wisdom

“The descent I experienced from the disappointment of my marriage and Chiara's death was about finding wholeness within myself, the birthing of the capacity to be separate and to be an authority unto myself.

Writing "Women of Wisdom" was part of that birthing. This meant I had to find the dark goddess, the wrathful feminine who could negate, burn, assert, and take a stand and not just always ask men what to do or to define who I am.

I had to know that my source was within and I had to cease seeking validation from the outside. This has been a huge challenge that I have worked on for the last fifteen years, a struggle mirrored by that of many women.

Patriarchal consciousness has not accepted the dark goddess. She has been repressed and relegated to the far reaches of the underworld. Ereshkigal rages when she is not met with respect, but if she is given her rightful place in the psyche she is able to contribute her strength and power.”
― Tsultrim Allione, Women of Wisdom

“Tantric practitioners who visualize themselves as these deities understand that in order to be whole we must embody and appreciate both the masculine and feminine in ourselves.”
― Tsultrim Allione, Women of Wisdom

“In The One Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, Milarepa encounters some dakinis who have been offended by being burned by the smoke of a shepherd's foul-smelling fire. They have reacted by creating a pestilence. The dakinis say to him:

'According to the reciprocal-relation principle of the Law of Causation, when we recover from a disease so will the people. It is the common oath of all worldly Dakinis that if one of us has been made unwell or unhappy, we are all offended and the Devas and spirits support us, throwing the world into confusion.”
― Tsultrim Allione, Women of Wisdom

“He saw everything external as being separate from himself, and fell into the trap of dualism, rather than seeing the mind as a mirror with the capacity to reflect without dualistic notions of good and bad. Her home is the first thought before we solidify what we perceive, when we let perception in without putting all impressions into pigeonholes.”
― Tsultrim Allione, Women of Wisdom

“Although many women in Tibet found ways to practice spirituality, they did so in a culture which gave them mixed messages. On the one hand they were subject to religious and cultural negation of women as equal vehicles for spirituality; on the other hand they were supported by the notion of women being the essence of wisdom and the dakini principle. They had to prove themselves in ways that men and monks did not. We Western women are also conditioned by the limited examples of truly spiritual women as role models within our patriarchal society. We must seek to recover from the alienation from ourselves and articulate our experiences with very few resources from which we can draw inspiration and in which we can recognize ourselves.”
― Tsultrim Allione, Women of Wisdom

“Apo Rinpoche had four children and a wonderful wife, and he had a wonderful sense of humor. When I told him I was having repeated dreams about a baby he laughed so hard he almost fell off his seat, and then he said, "All nuns should have babies." I didn't know quite how he meant this, and I continued to struggle with my decision until one day I told him I was having a lot sexual thoughts and feelings and that I really felt I could not continue as a nun. I asked him when he thought I should give back my vows. He said: "It depends how much longer you can wait!" Then he laughed so hard that tears were streaming down his face.”
― Tsultrim Allione, Women of Wisdom