Atsara Salé (alternative spellings include Atsara Sale, Atsara Sahle, and Arya Salé) was an 8th-century practitioner of

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

from South India. A student of both the

dakini A ḍākinī ( sa, डाकिनी; ; mn, хандарма; ; alternatively 荼枳尼, ; 荼吉尼, ; or 吒枳尼, ; Japanese: 荼枳尼 / 吒枳尼 / 荼吉尼, ''dakini'') is a type of female spirit, goddess, or demon in Hinduism and Bud ...

Yeshe Tsogyal and the great master Padmasambhava, the co-founders of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

. He is known for being one of Yeshe Tsogyal's main consorts along with Padmasambhava, and for writing one of Yeshe Tsogyal's biographies. Born into a poor family, Atsara Salé was sold into slavery and taken to

Bhaktapur , motto = ne, पुर्खले सिर्जेको सम्पत्ती, हाम्रो कला र संस्कृति , lit=Creation of our ancestors, our heritage and culture , image_map ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

where he was sold again into the service of a powerful noble family. At the instruction of Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsogyal traveled to Nepal to find Atsara Sale, her predicted consort.Keith Dowman, ‘’Sky Dancer: The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyal’’, Routledge and Kegan Paul (1984, p. 44)The same account is also found in Gyalwa Changchub and Namkhai Nyingpo, ‘’Lady of the Lotus-Born: The Life and Enlightenment of Yeshe Tsogyal’’, Shambhala (1999, p. 45) He accompanied Yeshe Tsogyal for the remainder of his life, and together they undertook extensive spiritual retreat practices and karmamudra practices in Nepal,

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

History

What is known of the life and spiritual attainments of Atsara Salé come from the biographies of Yeshe Tsogyal. In 795ce, Yeshe Tsogyal traveled to

to meet Atsara Sale, her prophesied consort to offer support on the path of spiritual maturation. As Padmasambhava exhorted Yeshe Tsogyal, After raising enough money to buy his contract from his owners, Yeshe Tsogyal and Atsara Sale then returned together to Tibet. Along the way, they went to some of the caves famous for being places where Padmasambhava practiced meditation with his consorts, including the meditation caves of Asura and Yanglesho and there met and practiced with

Belmo Sakya Dema Jason Belmonte (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian professional ten-pin bowler. He plays on the PBA Tour in the United States and in world events. He is known for being one of the first bowlers to gain media attention for using the two hand ...

, Padmasambhava's Nepali consort. At one point, during one of his retreats with Yeshe Tsogyal, at Tidro, Atsara Salé is said to have left her alone in their isolated retreat cave once he realized that the religious practice she was embarking upon were far more advanced than he was capable of undertaking and also that the very cold winter was more than he could tolerate. Some versions of the story say that he did indeed leave their join retreat to serve as one of Padmasambhava's attendants, yet he had thought there were ample provisions for Yeshe Tsogyal to continue on alone. Yeshe Tsogyal practices with a diligence that takes her to the brink of starvation, and spiritual awakening, and then Padmasambhava goes to her to bring her out of retreat. She is unharmed and regains full health. Atsara Salé and Yeshe Tsogyal reconcile. After this, they traveled together with others to Senge Dzong, in

to continue with their meditation practices. From the biographies of other well known practitioners of the time, such as Langlab Jangchub Dorje, a student of Atsara Salé, it is clear that Atsara Salé was also a practitioner of Vajrakilaya. Yeshe Tsogyal was a renowned Vajrakilaya practitioner and it is likely that he received these teachings from her or directly from Padmasambhava. As one of her main disciples, Atsara Salé was with Yeshe Tsogyal when she died in his incarnation as Gyelwa Jangchub, the author of one of Yeshe Tsogyal's biographies.

Incarnations

Gyelwa Jangchub, an 8th-century monk, minister to the then Tibetan emperor Trisong Detsen, translator, and student of Padmasambhava, was said to be an incarnation of Atsara Sale. He is known for being the author of one of Yeshe Tsogyal's biographies. Machig Labdron’s husband, Topabhadra was an 11th-century Tibetan incarnation of Atsara Salé. The contemporary living terton H.E. Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche is believed to be an incarnation of Atsara Salé and is the head of the Ripa

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

lineage. Another

tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

of both Yeshe Tsogyal and Atsara Salé, together, is Tulku Dakyong Rolpai Dorje, a Chöd master from eastern Tibet.

Spiritual lineages of Yeshe Tsogyal and Atsara Salé

The contemporary Ripa lineage of Buddhism includes a terma cycle that comes directly from Yeshe Tsogyal and Atsara Salé.

History

Incarnations

Spiritual lineages of Yeshe Tsogyal and Atsara Salé

References

Further reading