Wisdom Rising

Through her own story of loss and spiritual seeking, paired with mandala meditations and rituals, bestselling author of Feeding Your Demons Lama Tsultrium Allione teaches you how to embody the enlightened, fierce power of the sacred feminine—the tantric dakinis.

Ordained as one of the first American Buddhist nuns and recognized as an incarnation of the Mother of Tibetan Buddhism, Lama Tsultrim has a unique perspective on female strength and enlightenment. In Wisdom Rising, she shares from a deep trove of personal experiences as well as decades of knowledge as one of the preeminent teachers of the mandala of the five dakinis.

Dakinis are a type of Buddhist female spirit comprised of five families, each with a set of unique qualities, as well as an encumbered pattern or emotional block that gets in the way of your true brilliance: Buddha dakini—ignorance to the all-encompassing wisdom; Vajra dakini—anger to the mirror-like wisdom; Ratna dakini—pride to the wisdom of equanimity; Padma dakini—craving to the wisdom of discernment; Karma dakini—envy to the all-accomplishing wisdom.

As a Buddhist nun, Lama Tsultrim yearned to become a mother, ultimately renouncing her vows so she could marry and have a child. When she subsequently lost her first child to SIDS, she was overcome with grief and unsure of where to turn for guidance. She once against found courage through Buddhist female role models and meditations, and, using the mandala of the dakinis, she transformed her pain into faith.

Tantric Buddhism developed the mandala as a mediational tool for transformation—a map for integration and wholeness. And through the mandala of the five dakinis, we learn how to embrace the fierce feminine energy of the dakinis. Rather than trying to remove or repress their patterns in our lives, you will instead discover how to transform them into wisdom through meditation, sound, visualization, and other practices. Both practical and inspiring, Wisdom Rising guides you to explore an ancient yet accessible path to enlightenment.

About the Author

Lama Tsultrim Allione is founder and resident lama of Tara Mandala, located outside Boulder, Colorado. She is author of Women of Wisdom and Feeding Your Demons. Born in New England to an academic/publishing family, she traveled to India in her late teens and at the age of twenty-two, was the first western woman to be ordained as a Buddhist nun. After living in the Himalayan region for several years she returned her vows and became the mother of three, while continuing to study and practice Buddhism. She has been awarded the international Outstanding Woman in Buddhism by a panel of distinguished scholars and practitioners in Bangkok, Thailand.