Perhaps the most striking aspect of higher tantric prac-
tice is the prevalence of women’s participation, par-
ticularly in connection with the sexual yoga mentioned
earlier. In tantric literature, women are often depicted
as accomplished tantric practitioners and the teachers
and founders of specific tantric techniques. Exemplary
women such as Princess Laksmn ̇karain India or Ye
shes mtsho rgyal in Tibet are remembered and eulo-
gized as respected tantric gurus, while the life stories
of many of the most important male “founders” of
tantric Buddhism mention female teachers and con-
sorts. Male practitioners are repeatedly instructed to
serve and worship their female consorts as goddesses
and to see all human women as divine. Moreover,
women are often depicted as reservoirs of spontaneous
and enlightened wisdom, which is contrasted with the
stale intellectualism of men. A constant theme in
tantric biographies, in fact, is that of the male practi-
tioner who is stuck in habitual patterns of thought and
behavior until spurred on to a new realization through
his encounter with a wise and enlightened woman (of-
ten described as a daakinor “sky-going” goddess).
Exactly how this dramatic revalorization of female
gender on both the symbolic and literary levels relates
to the actual status of women in tantric communities
historically is open to considerable debate. While it is
clear in the case of India that some historical women,
such as Princess Laksmn ̇kara, must have attained po-
sitions of great prominence, the status of ordinary fe-
male practitioners is far less certain. Female gender is
indeed valorized in tantric literature, but perhaps this
valorization is largely for the benefit of men. One could
argue, in fact, that the constant attention paid to
women merely demonstrates that the vast majority of
tantric texts assume the perspective of a male subject.
Likewise, though wise and enlightened women often
appear in tantric biographies, the biographies them-
selves are overwhelmingly about men, while many of
the women are ethereal dakinlsencountered in dreams
and visions who seem to lack the historical specificity
of the men. Finally, it is also important to place the
revalorization of female gender within the larger con-
text of tantric Buddhism’s use of transgressive sacral-
ity. One of the basic principles of higher tantric
practice is to overcome all dualistic thinking through
the intentional violation of societal taboos and the
breaking of social conventions (such as we see in the
practices of sexual intercourse, meat eating, and liquor
drinking). From this perspective, the valorization of
women (often low-caste women) as pure and goddess-
like is effective precisely because it overturns the con-
ventional assumption that women are inferior and im-
pure. Thus, it may be the case that women, no matter
how glorified, function more as a symbolic resource
for men than as independent agents and subjects.
In any case, it is not at all clear that the tantric val-
orization of female gender has had any discernible
effect on the general status of women in tantric-
influenced cultures, such as that of Tibet. Neverthe-
less, this does not mean that women themselves can-
not make use of tantric gender symbolism in new ways,
and this is indeed a recent trend among modern fe-
male practitioners, particularly in Euro-American
Buddhism in the West.See also:Body, Perspectives on the; Mainstream Bud-
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