Sera Khandro Kunzang Dekyong Wangmo (1892–1940) or Sera Kandro is considered an emanation of

Yeshe Tsogyal Yeshe Tsogyal (c. 757 or 777 – 817 CE), also known as "Victorious Ocean of Knowledge", "Knowledge Lake Empress" (, ཡེ་ཤེས་མཚོ་རྒྱལ), or by her Sanskrit name ''Jñānasāgarā'' "Knowledge Ocean", or by her clan na ...

, and in her lifetime was a

Tertön In Tibetan Buddhism, a Tertön () is a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or '' terma''. Many tertöns are considered to be incarnations of the twenty five main disciples of Padmasambhava ( Guru Rinpoche), who foresaw a dark time in ...

of Tibetan Buddhist

Vajrayana ''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Buddhis ...

, a biographer and autobiographer, and a highly respected teacher. She taught

Dudjom Rinpoche Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe DorjeJoseph McClellan, "Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje", ''Treasury of Lives'', February 2024 (, THL ''Düjom Jikdrel Yéshé Dorjé'') was known simply as Dudjom Rinpoche (10 June 1904 – 17 January ...

, Chatral Rinpoche, and the First Adzom Drukpa, Drodul Pawo Dorje, among other high lamas. Sera Khandro was born into a rich family, but ran away at the age of 14 to escape an unwanted engagement, and to follow the

teacher Drime Ozer, who was then in

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

on pilgrimage from

Golok A golok is a cutting tool, similar to a machete, that comes in many variations and is found throughout the Malay Archipelago. It is used as an agricultural tool as well as a weapon. The word ''golok'' (sometimes misspelled in English as "gollock" ...

in Eastern Tibet. She returned with him and his students to Golok, where she lived as a renunciate. There, Sera Khandro became life partners with Garra Gyelse. Garra Gyelsel disliked her Terma revelations, and this caused Sera Khandro to become sick. Her health returned when she left and returned to Drime Ozer with whom she subsequently revealed the specific treasure scriptures, or Terma, for which Sera Khandro is known. From when she was young she had experienced visions of Vajravarahi and exhibited many confirming indications of being a treasure revealer, a Terton. This meant that Sera Khandro had karmic connections with hidden treasures of the

Nyingma Nyingma (, ), also referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by PadmasambhavaClaude Arpi, ''A Glimpse of the History of Tibet'', Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013. ...

Terma lineage, and to those which concealed the Termas, eighth-century

master

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ('Born from a Lotus'), also known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru'), was a legendary tantric Buddhist Vajracharya, Vajra master from Oddiyana. who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries... He is consi ...

and his consort and Vajrayana master

. Sera Khandro was a teacher to many high

lamas, including

Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe DorjeJoseph McClellan, "Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje", ''Treasury of Lives'', February 2024 (, THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription, THL ''Düjom Jikdrel Yéshé Dorjé'') was known simply as Dudjom ...

and

Chatral Sangye Dorje Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche (, "Enlightened Indestructible Freedom From Activity"; June 18, 1913 – December 30, 2015) was a Tibetan Dzogchen master and a reclusive ''ngagpa'' yogi, known for his great realization and strict discipline. C ...

. She is considered an emanation of

. In Sarah H. Jacoby's ''Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014), the author wrote Khandro was "one of the few Tibetan women to record the story of her life." Khandro also wrote the biography of her guru, Drimé Özer, son of the Terton Dudjom Lingpa.

Books and academic articles

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References

External links

*
Sera Khandro Kunzang Dekyong Wangmo
- article at ''

The Treasury of Lives ''The Treasury of Lives'' is an online, open access, peer reviewed, collection of biographical essays, which can be seen as an encyclopedia of historical figures from Tibet, Inner Asia, and the Himalayan Region. Background ''The Treasury of Live ...

''
Rigpawiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunzang Dekyong Wangmo Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet 1892 births 1940 deaths Female Buddhist spiritual teachers Tibetan women