Dakini Ngan Ne Ma

Dance has been defined as a motion that arises from emotion. The human body has a natural appetite for rhythm, and while dancing, not only does the dancer's body vibrate, but by its rhythmic character, also spurs the viewers to a vibrating response. A primitive or a child emotionally aroused, say by some pleasurable observation, will break into a dance of glee. Repeating that particular dance action can recapture the emotion, and thus in dance, motion and emotion are interchangeable. The capacity for such interchange and build-up of feeling is at the root of the identification of dance as a sacred overture.

Dance is an ancient and instinctive expression of the life force, and probably predates drawing and painting as a form of creative activity. It is a form of magic: the dancer becomes amplified into a being endowed with supra-normal powers, and her personality is transformed. Dance is also an act of creation. It brings about a new situation and summons into the dancer a new and higher personality.

The word dakini is translated as women who dance in the sky or interpretable as women who revel in the freedom of emptiness. Here too, the dakini Ngan ne ma, believed to possess the "great magical talent of subduing the enemies of Dharma by performing her special dance of compassion that transforms the antagonists," dances her grotesque dance in the air, where howling wolves and growling lions float in attendance amidst smoke-filled curls. Leaping coils of fire enframe her like a halo.

The diminutive short bodice is unable to retrain her hag-like pendulous and prodigious breasts, which tumble out adding to her gruesome persona. A long necklace of severed heads, each of which grins ironically, hangs down her buxom, yet supple form. She stretches a human skin behind her back like a cape. The long-flowing hair, manifestly wrathful visage, and the awesome gesture of hostile triumph are all evidence' of her fury.

Contemplation of the dakini icon makes one conscious that their essential trait is dynamism. As with all Buddhist imagery this too has to be interpreted in an allegorical manner. The vigorous restlessness of the dakini is nothing but the cyclical and rhythmic vibrancy of Mother Nature herself. According to Iris Stewart, noted scholar of feminine spirituality "The rhythms that make up a woman's body are the same rhythms that make up the dance of the Universe; when we feel the two as one, we know we are a part of nature." As the seasons change, as the cosmos vibrates with resounding resonance, giving rise to the energetic and active intensity that characterizes the harmonies making up our existence, so does a woman, the quintessential microcosm of the creative aspect of the universe, rejuvenate herself through her monthly cycle of periods.

The dakini dances her vigorous dance in the void or emptiness characterized by the sky. While doing so her hands spread out, engaged in various incessant and peppy dance gestures. Thus she maps out her own space and domain, and carves out her own sacred mandala. Asserting, that though she confirms her identification with the male of the species she is not be taken for granted nor imposed upon, the blazing fires behind her ever ready to consume the enemies of the Dharma.

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