Machig Labdron 🪷 Emptiness: Womb Of Reality

• From Womb Power Class email September, 2022

As we continue the deep dive into feeling and embodying Space/emptiness within, we learn of yet another fascinating  woman of Tibetan Buddhism.

It is said that, “the Buddha himself  prophesied of Machig Labdrön: ‘When my teaching is thin like a tea leaf, the embodiment of [Prajña Paramita] the Great Mother, whose name is Labdrön will come and her activity will be far reaching. Anyone who is involved with her activity will be liberated.’ [source]

She is also said to be the reincarnation of Yeshe Tsogyal and a long lineage of enlightened people including an Indian (male) yogi, also named Machig.

Was Machig Labdrön divinely born?

The story goes that Machig, an ascetic yogi practicing meditation in a cave in India had a series of visions.  He was told to leave his body in the cave, while his spirit was to enter the womb of Bumcham,  Machig Labdrön’s mother to be in Tibet.  

Does this sound familiar?  Reminiscent of the story we learned of Maya Devi who conceived Buddha in a dream, where the 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, choosing to be born through her–parthenogenetically.  

In the picture, you can see the white elephant entering Maya Devi’s womb from the right as she sleeps.

Similarly, on the night Bumcham conceived, she had extraordinary dreams. 

When Machig Labdrön was born, she was bathed in a divine light, reciting syllables, and with an open third eye. She sat upright immediately, and asked if her mother was well.  Her father recognized that she had all the signs of a wisdom dakini. source

Machig Labdrön was a child prodigy at age 3 and studied Buddhist sacred texts soon after.  She had a very interesting, long life, including practicing sacred union and having to leave her community who didn’t understand these sacred sexual practices. 

After living more like a house holder for 8 years,  mother of 3 young children, Machig Labdrön leaves her family to live much like Yeshe Tsogyal and Lakshimkara in rags, practicing Tantric rites in cemeteries.  She studied with 2 great teachers and  “transformed the precious teachings of the Sutra into the new and uniquely powerful spiritual practice called Chod. This caused a kind of renaissance in Tibetan Buddhism. ” source

The essence of the Chod teachings is to find the Buddha within oneself through one’s own efforts. source Her teachings eventually ended up influencing Buddhism in India and her fame spread far and wide.  It is said that 1263 of her disciples achieved enlightenment.  Wow!  Great track record!

Emptiness- the Womb of Reality

Miranda Shaw says in  Buddhist Goddesses of India that “all things are born out of emptiness, take form in empty space like clouds coalescing in the sky, shimmer momentarily like a magician’s illusion, and then dissolve back into the cosmic source. ” 

Emptiness, in Buddhism, is seen as a way to explain that we are not as we see ourselves.  Our essence is beyond the world of appearances and matter— similar to our ongoing exploration of how  we are more space than we are matter i.e. 99.99999% space.  
Shaw beautifully describes that the 3D world we live in, of appearances,  shares “in the purity and ultimate meaningfulness from [which it comes] —emptiness, the womb of reality   [Shaw, p160]

Which is another way of saying the Buddhist catch all: ” Form is emptiness and emptiness is form “   Though we are made of some matter and look solid, aka, form,  our essence comes from and is beyond form aka emptiness.   And the only way to enter into the emptiness, we have to fully embody our form, which is what we are doing in Womb Power.

When we feel the sensations within our womb and body, we tap into the energy and emptiness of our 99.99999%  Space makeup!   In Womb Power we deep dive into the Womb, feel the Space and emptiness of our womb (and whole body) — are essentially tapping into Emptiness with a captial E, which Miranda Shaw calls the Womb of Reality! 
 

Feeling the Space is how we bridge into the cosmic womb. 
In this exploration we are cultivating our connection to the greater cosmic portal of the womb and to it’s creatrix, manifestation power!

G-spot diaries:

Without going into too much detail, I’ve been dropping a few tidbits of my sexual healing and expansion. I figure at 58, if my yoni is belatedly coming online, my expanded entries will help anyone  who has been shut down to this power source which is our birth right!  Stay tuned for how you can access the full G-spot diaries. 

The latest entry does not involve a G-spot orgasm or squirting….
However, my practitioner reflected to me that my womb is very much online and that he feels it’s potency when we are doing the work on the table.  That is a direct result of  Womb Power classes and doing my practice!  This stuff works! I encourage you to keep connecting to your womb to keep awakening it’s power!  Practicing consistently builds this power incrementally— not too fast and not too slow— at a pace your nervous system can sustain.
 

We will:
🪷 deepen into feeling the space in the:
front, back and sides of the womb, ovaries, Fallopian tubes and uterine wings
🪷 feel the space in the cervix

🪷 move through all the movement forms to soften, expand, strengthen and awaken the whole body