The Treasury of Lives

'Dzam thang mkhan po, p. 77.
Machik Jobum was born in the late eleventh or early twelfth century. Her father, who was known as Dharmeśvara, the Sanskritized version of his Tibetan name, Chokyi Wangchuk (chos kyi dbang phyug), and her grandfather was Yumowa Mikyo Dorje (yu mo ba mi bskyod rdo rje), both of whom were important figures in the early Kālacakra transmission in Tibet, specifically of the Dro lineage ('bro lugs). Yumowa composed several treatises on the topic that were later misattributed to Buton Rinchen Drub (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364). Her brother, Semo Chewa Namkha Gyeltsen (se mo che ba nam mkha' rgyal mtshan), was also a master of the Kālacakra and its main commentary, the Vimalaprabhā. Jobum herself memorized the Vimalaprabhā in her youth.

According to the Blue Annals, when she was still young her mother urged her to study black magic in order to murder enemies of the family. According to Tāranātha she studied the rites of Yamāntaka "Gesture of Vanquishing," and she forced deities such as Tsedak (tshe bdag) and Lhachen Pelbar (lha chen dpal 'bar) into her service. She engaged in these practices—making hail and the like—until she was thirty-six, when she suffered a serious illness and experienced a religious awakening. She then practiced the Six Yogas, which she had learned from her father. She is said to have practiced in isolated hermitages, surviving without food for weeks on end.

She is generally credited with having transmitted the Kālacakra to Jamsar Sherab Wozer ('jam gsar ba shes rab 'od zer), although the Blue Annals has him as the disciple of her brother instead.

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Alexander Gardner is Director and Chief Editor of the Treasury of Lives. He completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan in 2007. He is the author of The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul The Great.

Published January 2014

Bibliography

Byang sems rgyal ba ye shes. 2004.Dus 'khor jo nang lugs kyi bla ma brgyud pa'i rnam thar. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, p. 39.TBRC W27321.

'Dzam thang mkhan po blo gros grags pa.1983. Jo nang pa'i chos 'byung gsal byed zla ba'i sgron me. New Delhi: D. Tsondu Senghe. BDRC W27924.

Martin, Dan. 2005. “The Woman Illusion? Research into the lives of Spiritually Accomplished Women Leaders of the 11thand 12thCenturies.” InWomen in Tibet, eds. Janet Gyatso and Hanna Havnevik. New York, NY: Columbia, pp. 49-82.

Roerich, George, trans. 1996.The Blue Annals. 2nd ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, p. 768.

Sheehy. Michael R. 2009. “A Lineage History of Vajrayoga and Tantric Zhentong from the Jonang KalachakraPractice Tradition”InAs Long As Space Endures: Essays on the Kalachakra Tantra in Honor of the Dalai Lama.Snow Lion Publications, 219-236.

Tāranātha. 1983.Dpal dus kyi 'khor lo'ichos 'khor gyi byung khungs nyer mkho. InThe Collected Works of Jo-nangTāranātha, vol. 2, pp. 1-43. Leh: C. Namgyal & Tsewang Taru, pp. 17-18.TBRC W22277.

View this person’s associated Works & Texts on the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center’s Website.