JUDITH SIMMER-BROWN, 2022

Judith Simmer-Brown, a senior teacher in the Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche lineage and author of Dakini's Warm Breath, explains why Vajrayana without a grounding in bodhicitta becomes, in her words, “just a power trip.” She walks through yidam practice — self and front visualization, creation and completion stages, the siddhis that arise from it — and unpacks the four levels of dakini, from human women to the nature of mind itself. She closes by reflecting on why the feminine principle feels especially urgent now, as her own Shambhala community has weathered scandal and division, describing the dakinis as protectors safeguarding the teachings until conditions are right for them to be released again.