China / Tibet: Thangka of dancing Dakini, 20th century

A dakini (Sanskrit: 盧再 [into]; Tibetan: khandroma) is a tantric deity described as a female embodiment of enlightened energy. In the Tibetan language, dakini is rendered khandroma which means 'she who traverses the sky' or 'she who moves in space'. Sometimes the term is translated poetically as 'sky dancer' or 'sky walker'. <br/><br/> The dakini, in all her varied forms, is an important figure in Tibetan Buddhism. She is so central to the requirements for a practitioner to attain full She is so central to the requirements for a practitioner to attain full enlightenment as a Buddha that she appears in a tantric formulation of the Buddhist Three Jewels refuge formula known as the Three Roots. Most commonly she appears as the protector, alongside a guru and yidam (enlightened being). <br/><br/> Although dakini figures appear in Hinduism and in the B Theka n tradition, dakini are particularly prevalent in Vajrayana <br/><br/> Although dakini figures appear in Hinduism and in the B Theka n tradition, dakini are particularly prevalent in Vajrayana Buddhism and have been particularly conceived in Tibetan Buddhism where the dakini, generally of volatile or wrathful temperament, act somewhat as a muse for spiritual practice. In this context, the sky or space indicates shunyata, the insubstantiality of all the all things. In this context, the sky or space indicates shunyata, the insubstantiality of all phenomena, which is, at the same time, the pure potentiality for all possible manifestations.