Chasing the Wind: Following the Call of the Dakinis

My favorite weather is the stormy kind with gusting wild winds and teasing gray clouds. Branches sway, leaves fly, darkness looms–always most exciting before the actual downpour. Have felt this overwhelming love for a good storm since I was a little girl in India witnessing the dramatic arrival of the monsoons.

In the northern plains, we didn’t just have rainstorms, we also had swirling dust storms. 

Now, living in New York, oceans away from monsoon patterns, I enjoy a similar thrill before spring and summer thunderstorms. A series of warm days usually culminate in skyscraper clouds and passionate winds, much like the ones I enjoyed as a child. 

The other day, while watching the T-20 Cricket World Cup Final on television with my younger son, I noticed strong gusts both outside our windows, as well as on the cricket field in Barbados. Enjoyed the coincidence, and so of course, I reached for words – in this case revisiting an essay I had started writing two years ago on the wind Dakinis but left unfinished. 

In Tibetan Buddhism, a Dakini is a sky dancer, embodying the feminine principle of movement and change, just as nature itself. The image and concept resonates deeply with me as the wind has always felt like a guiding force, one which is both chaotic and purposeful. Dakinis, with their ethereal dance, personify the wild, insistent gusts in nature I’ve always loved.

The connection felt all the more visceral while watching the movie "The Dakini Code” by Himalayan explorer Laurence Brahm about the intersection of modern science and wisdom teachings. One  particular koan from the film stays with me – “If you follow the wind, it will blow in all directions. And lead you where you do not want to go. If you want to go there then just follow the wind because you have not been there before. To not go will leave only afterthoughts. So if you choose to take this journey do not ask directions or unnecessary questions. If somebody gives you directions do not follow them. Instead follow the wind.”

These words to me encapsulate the essence of what it means to follow the wind–that is our intuition, into uncharted territories. And the test, often very challenging, is whether we can trust its direction even when it seems aimless and chaotic –  a powerful metaphor for embracing uncertainty and adventure with courage.

So, in the essay on Dakinis, I explore what it means to surrender to the natural flow of life. The biggest journey we undertake does not come with maps or predetermined paths. Sometimes, the most profound experiences come from allowing ourselves to be swept away by forces beyond our control, while having no clue about where they’re taking us, or what they even are. It’s a dance of trust and intuition, of embracing the wild unknown with open arms.

Even as I tweaked that essay, the storm outside continued dancing, bringing me even deeper into connection with the wind Dakinis and what higher feminine wisdom and intuition looks like when fostered with care. 

As Tara Mandala, an international Buddhist Community with groups around the world, explains: 

“The Five Dakinis represent the transformed wisdom aspects of these five obstructed energies: Confusion becomes spaciousness, anger becomes clarity, pride or low self-esteem becomes equanimity, craving becomes knowing what we really need and envy is transformed into free-flowing activity.”

Nature’s forces are not just external phenomena but also reflections of our inner landscapes. And for me, following the breeze, whether in nature, or inside us through our own instincts, is an invitation to explore the wind dakinis and the lessons they offer in trusting our own peculiar, winding, unpredictable journeys. 

It’s about dancing inside storms, trusting tumult, and allowing ourselves to be guided to places we’ve never been before. The journey might be unpredictable, but it’s only through this tumult that we can find and finally experience our most profound insights and experiences.

Here’s the full essay on Wind Dakinis on Medium if you fancy a 3-minute read: https://bit.ly/followthebreeze