Vajrayogini: The Fierce Dance of Diamond Wisdom
Naked Truths and a Secret Path to Light-Body Awakening
By B.A. Crisp
The other day, a stranger on the street looked me dead in the eye and asked, “Are you Shakti? Or a yogini?”—as casually as one might ask for the time. I blinked, muttered a confused “No,” and kept walking, wondering if I had unknowingly failed a secret password test or just looked especially cosmic that morning.
Later, over Turkish coffee with a new acquaintance who hosts actual Buddhist monks from Tibet and Nepal (the real robe-wearing, chanting-their-way-through-enlightenment types), I confessed that I’d make a terrible Buddha.
My resume includes more than a wild decade as a stripper, and later, a strip club owner. I also have an unrepentant penchant for colorful language—not exactly monastery material. But apparently, that’s exactly the kind of karmic spice that makes certain sects of Tibetan monks think I might be an emanation of a Buddhist goddess—hence my meeting with this outstanding individual—to learn more.
My spiritual scavenger hunt began years ago when I picked up a ceremonial WhiteTara at a thrift store. This was followed by catching a ghostly monk, known as a Tulpa, in my living room on camera late one night (which is exactly as freaky as it sounds). Then, I was bombarded with a series of bizarre coincidences too perfectly timed to be anything but cosmic intervention and comedy-drama.
My new friend hit me with it: “Have you ever heard of Vajra Yogini?”
I said no.
What followed cracked open my brain as if being struck by lightning...
In the hidden scrolls, caves, and minds of reincarnated master lamas of Tibet, lives an ongoing esoteric wisdom tradition. It might be described as a Buddhist’s version of wizard-like dark arts—and oxymoronic dichotomy of epic proportions. Within this lore also dances a blazing figure who embodies a surprisingly divine and refreshing paradox.
Vajrayogini—also known as Ugra Tara—is no serene statue of stillness or paragon of virtue. She is fire, lightning, and sky—energy unleashed. She is a naked dancer—a stripper of sorts—a blood-red goddess wielding skulls and a curved knife. She dances not for pleasure but for liberation—yours.
Born from the tantric currents between the 8th and 10th centuries, Vajrayogini is the supreme dakini (skygoer or sky dancer), who defies convention, rips through illusion, and transforms desire into transcendent wisdom. Her secret mantra is open only to those that reincarnate lamas, who guard the Vajrayana path, seek and locate in unexpected places.
Naked Yet Armored: The Power of Spiritual Liberation
Vajrayogini’s naked form isn’t meant to be erotic—it’s spiritual sculpture in motion. Her unclothed body is a declaration of liberation from duality and programmed cultural conditioning. She refuses to clothe herself in the illusions of society, materialism, or ego. Her nudity says: "Only authenticity remains when everything else is stripped away."
The red hue of her skin represents both the burning energy of transformed desire and the lifeblood of all sentient beings. She is sensual and sacred, fearless and free. This fierce goddess teaches that embracing the raw reality of our being and letting go of mirages and tricksters, is the path to awakening.
Dancing over Ego and Crushing Illusions Beneath Her Feet
Look closely at her pose: Vajrayogini dances on the bodies of a man and a woman. But these aren’t mere mortals—they represent the ego and the false, grasping self-identity to which we cling. Her footstep shatters illusion. She eschews passive reverence, hero worship, and demands internal revolution through awakened perception.
The curved knife she holds in her right hand cuts through delusion. Her rolling tongue mocks ignorance. Her fangs devour mental affliction and sentient laziness. It is also crucial to note that her drinking of blood from a chalice is not to be taken literally. It represents the elevation of Life Force and the destruction of negative energies. She is not a gentle teacher—she is the liberator with diamond eyes and uncompromising discernment.
Wisdom and Compassion, Married in Fire
Despite her fearsome form, Vajrayogini is not a goddess of wrath—she is the tantric embodiment of prajña (wisdom) and karuṇā (compassion). Her terrifying and erotic performance is not destruction but a dance of awakening. Her emphasis is in the transformation of impure substances, suffering, and acts into illumination and spiritual ascension.
She teaches that reality is śūnyatā—empty of inherent meaning—and that it is only through piercing this emptiness that true freedom arises. Her vision is one of simple insight: our perceptions shape our world, and when we transform our perception, we transform our reality.
Symbols of Impermanence and Transcendence
Skulls drape Vajrayogini’s body—reminders of impermanence and the ever-circling cycle of birth and death. She drinks from a skull cup, accepting death not as an end but as part of the transformational process. The silver khatvanga staff resting over her left shoulder represents gnosis through the integration of opposites—masculine and feminine, form and formlessness. Her halo of fire symbolizes the burning away of attachments. She is raw energy incarnate—striking not to wound or seduce, but to awaken.
A Secret Path to Supreme Enlightenment
To walk Vajrayogini’s path is not for the faint of heart. One must be initiated through a qualified lama to receive her supreme mantra. This is the highest yoga tantra in Tibetan Buddhism—a super positioned path to traversing dimensions, but also the most dangerous if approached without reverence and adept guidance. The ego must be put on hold to avoid a ‘hitch-hiker’ effect or delusions of grandeur.
Consequently, Vajra means diamond or lightning bolt. Yajrayogini is both—unyielding clarity and sudden awakening. To chant her mantra with proper initiation is, I’m told, to invite a sudden storm of transformation.
The Skygoer’s Gift
Ultimately, White Tara, another revered Buddhist deity, is here to gently comfort humans in time of need, using ambient energy and compassion. Conversely, Vajrayogini is here to boldly confront our mind and hitch it to greater consciousness. She doesn’t whisper sweet mantras or coddle humans—she emanates cosmic truths and invites seekers to burn away ignorance, desire, and ego—not to become ascetics or followers, but to become awake.
For those she deems ready, she offers a gift: the collapse of illusion and the revelation of reality.
