The Yoginī’s Teachings

Three Faces of the Sacred Feminine

Register Now for the Fall YOGINIS Series

Fall 2026 with Pema Khandro

The Yoginī’s Teaching is a fall 2026 offering from the Buddhist Studies Institute presenting the teachings of yoginīs and Ḍākinīs alongside practice of the three forms of the sacred feminine in Tibetan Buddhism: peaceful, fierce joy (semi-wrathful) and wrathful. Each aspect is offered through a complete standalone program consisting of a weekend retreat and four Monday evening sessions of continuing teaching.

Each program is complete in itself. Students may register for one, two, or all three programs according to their calling. Nothing is a prerequisite for anything else. Those who complete the full arc progress through the traditional Nyingma sequence from sutra through tantra to Dzogchen, culminating in the transmission of the Lion-Faced Ḍākinī.

Moon Moon

Peaceful

SUTRA
The Peaceful Path of Loving Compassion

Moon Moon

Fierce Joy

TANTRA
The Fierce Joyful Heart of the Tantras

Moon Moon

Wrathful

DZOGCHEN
The Wratheful Guardian of the Whole Cycle

Longchen Nyingthig Treasure Cycle

One lineage, three forms

The three programs share a deep coherence and teachings that are rare to access. In Pema Khandro’s own lineage, the Longchen Nyingthig, revealed by Jigme Lingpa in the eighteenth century and drawn from the transmission Padmasambhava gave to Yeshe Tsogyal, the sacred feminine appears in all three of the forms held across this fall’s programs.

The peaceful form White Tara is drawn from the Longchen Nyingthig’s Wish-Fulfilling Wheel practice, composed by Jigme Lingpa from Tara’s own direct visionary blessing.

The fierce joyful, semi-wrathful, form is Vajrayogini, understood in the cycle as the sambhogakāya source from which the queen of great bliss, Yumkha, manifests. Jigme Lingpa himself wrote that “since Vajrayoginī is the source of all things and the mother of all the victorious ones, all the maṇḍalas of the various sections of the tantras are complete within her body.”

The wrathful form is Simhamukhā, the secret aspect of Yumka and the principal guardian of the entire Longchen Nyingthig cycle.

To walk the full arc is to enter the sacred feminine as one lineage cycle has held her for over two hundred years, held for you now by a female tulku who carries the living transmission.

Monitor Monitor

Online

Online via Zoom
with recordings provided for all sessions

Bookmark Bookmark

Empowerments + Retreats

One Weekend a Month
9am-1pm PT

Bookmarks Bookmarks

Monday Sessions

Mondays
5pm – 6:30pm PT

The Three Programs

Program One: The White Tara Retreat and Program. The peaceful sacred feminine through the lens of the Great Vehicle, Mahayana, the path of loving compassion. A two-day retreat with transmission of the Longchen Nyingthig White Tara Wish-Fulfilling Wheel practice and a concise Tara generation stage meditation on September 12–13, followed by four Monday evening sessions on the great women of Indian Mahayana Buddhism, running September 14 through October 5. Open to all. No prior background required.

Program Two: The Vajrayogini Empowerment Retreat and Yoginis of Tantra Program. The fierce joyful, semi-wrathful sacred feminine through the lens of the tantras. A two-day empowerment retreat with Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche and Tulku Pema Khandro on October 10–11, followed by four Monday evening sessions on the yoginīs of Tibetan Buddhism, running October 12 through November 2. Complete in itself and open to all who wish to receive this transmission.

Program Three: The Simhamukhā Retreat and Program. The wrathful sacred feminine through the lens of Dzogchen. A two-day transmission and retreat with Pema Khandro from the Longchen Nyingthig lineage on November 7–8, followed by four Monday evening sessions on the wisdom ḍākinī and the origins of the Great Perfection, running November 9 through November 30. Complete in itself and open to all who wish to receive this transmission, ngondro as preparation is highly recommended.

Individual, or together.

Each program stands complete on its own. You may register for one, two, or all three according to your calling. Those who complete all three walk a full arc from the peaceful face of the sacred feminine through her semi-wrathful and wrathful forms, receiving transmission at each level and moving through the Nyingma sequence of Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen, all held within one treasure cycle.

About the Teacher

Pema Khandro is a female tulku, and a scholar-practitioner whose work centers on the recovery of women’s contemplative lineages. She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia, where her research examined the role of female yoginis in fourteenth-century Tibetan Buddhism and she is currently a professor of Buddhist Studies. In particular, her scholarly research examines how Great Perfection (Dzogchen Nyingthig) transformed frameworks for women’s spiritual roles and contemplative practice and documenting the histories of the Great Perfection meditation curriculums. Pema Khandro has also spent her life practicing and teaching as a yoginī and lineage holder in the Nyingma tradition. She is the founder of the Buddhist Studies Institute and was enthroned to carry forward the lineage of Pema Khandro, a Tibetan yogini who taught in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her teaching brings together rigorous scholarship and lived practice, framing Buddhist study within its full historical and intercultural context.

Special Tuition for the Entire Arc

  • Special Tuition for entire Fall YOGINIS Series
  • $950
  • a $220 Savings
  • Register Now

Tuition
Sliding scale pricing is offered to support broad access. Please choose the rate that aligns with your financial reality, including factors like income, exchange rates, or other life circumstances.

Member Benefits
Members receive 10-100% discounts on standard tuition. Apply your member code at checkout. Learn More about Membership.

Financial Aid
As a non-profit organization, program costs are supported through tuition and donations. For those experiencing extreme financial hardship, limited scholarships may be available for some programs. Assistance must be requested in advance. Financial Scholarship Application

Monastics
Programs are always free for monastics. Monastic Scholarship Application

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

No formal background is required. Ngondro is recommended and students complete at least 10% of ngondro before beginning the journey of daily accumulation of the 100,000 Vajrayogini mantras and Lion Faced Dakini practice. The empowerment ceremonies will be given with sufficient context that participants can enter the transmission with understanding so that they can practice when they are ready. For those that need it, Ngondro is offered annually through the Buddhist Studies Institute.

 No. Each program is complete in itself and open to the public independently.

No. Monday evening sessions may be attended live or through recordings, according to your schedule and timezone. All sessions are included with your registration and available for one year.

Yes. All registered participants receive recordings, usually available within 48 hours.

Yes. BSI offers reduced tuition rates and a limited number of full scholarships for those who need them.

These programs are online only, to allow the broadest possible access. BSI hosts in-person retreats usually three times a year — see our calendar for upcoming gatherings.

The Buddhist Studies Institute is a project of Ngakpa International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to sustaining the householder yogi traditions of Tibet.