The image of woman in tantric buddhism : a focus on Machig Labdrön (DZG TALK)

With Professor Giacomella Orofino

This lecture explores the image of woman in Tantric Buddhism, focusing on its symbolic development within the broader Buddhist tradition. While early Buddhism often held ambivalent views toward women, later Mahāyāna and especially Vajrayāna texts reimagined the feminine in increasingly complex ways — first as a metaphor for wisdom and spiritual transformation, and later as a metaphysical embodiment of ultimate reality.
Tantric literature exalts female figures such as ḍākinīs and consorts (prajñā), not only as ritual partners, but as enlightened manifestations of transcendent knowledge. These feminine forms play a central role in advanced meditative and yogic practices.
I will continue this exploration with a focus on the life and teachings of Ma gcig Labdrön, one of the most influential female figures in medieval Tibetan Buddhism.

Schedule:
10:30 am

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Giacomella Orofino is Full Professor of Tibetan Language and Literature and of Indo-Tibetan Cultures and Religions at Naples “L’Orientale” University. She is also President of the university’s Centre of Buddhism Studies and President and a founding member of the Italian Association of Tibetan, Himalayan and Mongol Studies. She is also a founding member of the non-governmental organization, the Association of International Solidarity in Asia – Associazione di Solidarietà Internazionale in Asia (ASIA).

She has authored important philological, literary and historical-religious studies on Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. She coordinates the research unit Modelli e dinamiche di trasmissione del buddhismo in Asia (Transmission Models and Dynamics of Buddhism in Asia) at Naples “Orientale” University, curating numerous scientific and cultural events. Her main research interests concern the mystical and heterodox traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, notably the Rdzogs chen, Bon, Gcod, and Ris med traditions.