According to Judith Simmer-Brown - who writes from the point of a long-time scholar and experienced practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism - such interpretations are inadequate. In the spiritual journey of the meditator, she demonstrates, the dakini symbolizes levels of personal realization: the sacredness of the body, both female and male; the profound meeting point of body and mind in meditation; the visionary realm of ritual practice; and the empty spacious qualities of mind itself.
Judith Simmer-Brown Ph.D., is professor and chair of the religious studies department at Naropa University (formerly the Naropa Institute), where she has taught since 1978. She has authored numerous articles on TIbetan Buddhism, Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and Buddhism in America. She is an Acharya (senior teacher) in the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa. A practicing Buddhist since 1971, she lives in Boulder, Colorado.
404 pages, paperback, illustrated
