https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Ny%C3%B6npaNyönpa - Revision history2026-08-18T13:20:02ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ny%C3%B6npa&diff=243328&oldid=prev->Citation bot: Add: title. Changed bare reference to CS1/2. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by BrownHairedGirl | Linked from User:BrownHairedGirl/Articles_with_bare_links | #UCB_webform_linked 572/21692021-08-09T03:18:34Z<p>Add: title. Changed bare reference to CS1/2. | <a href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/BP:UCB" class="extiw" title="wp:UCB">Use this bot</a>. <a href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/BP:DBUG" class="extiw" title="wp:DBUG">Report bugs</a>. | Suggested by BrownHairedGirl | Linked from User:BrownHairedGirl/Articles_with_bare_links | #UCB_webform_linked 572/2169</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{refimprove|date=October 2018}}<br />
{{Tibetan Buddhism}}<br />
<br />
The term '''Nyönpa''' ({{bo|w=smyon pa}} "'''mad one(s)'''"; Sanskrit [[avadhuta|''avadhūta'']]) may refer to a group of Tibetan Buddhist yogis or a single individual belonging to this group. They were mainly known for their unusual style of teaching, to which they owed their names.<br />
<br />
==Spiritual practices of the Nyönpa==<br />
Recent scholarship has helped to illuminate many distinguishing features of the religious practices the Nyönpa; these practices are sometimes referred to in the literature as ''The Practice of Observance''.<ref>See Chapter Two in DiValerio (2015)</ref>{{clarify|date=October 2018}} ''The Practice of Observance'' takes as its foundation the philosophy of [[tulshuk]] or [[chöpa]] or even [[tulshuk chöpa]].<ref>See Chapter Two in DiValerio (2015)</ref> This religious philosophy is the common thread in the following spiritual practices of the Nyönpa:<ref>See Chapter Two in DiValerio (2015)</ref>{{clarify|date=October 2018}}<br />
<br />
The Nyönpa is essentially a free spirit who follows the rule of spontaneity and intuition, not subject to any external book of rules....he is one dedicated to renunciation and the path of enlightenment who does not fit within the disciplines and practises of the formal orders.<br />
<br />
*wandering homeless and taking on a new style of dress and a new mental attitude towards the world;<br />
*consuming substances considered impure;<br />
*drinking alcohol and eating meat;<br />
*singing and dancing;<br />
*behaving fearlessly;<br />
*engaging in sexual relations.<br />
*<br />
None of the practises listed above should be taken as mandatory. <br />
<br />
Practices that a Nyönpa may avoid include:<br />
<br />
*reading spiritual texts;<br />
*reciting prayers in the usual ways.<br />
<br />
Some Nyönpa were also famous for the practice of [[Chöd]].<br />
<br />
==List of some known Nyönpa==<br />
There are some recorded historical descriptions of those exhibiting the behavior and spiritual practice of the nyönpa in both Tibet and India including:<br />
<br />
*[[Drukpa Kunley]]<br />
*[[2nd Dalai Lama|Gendün Gyatso]], the Second Dalai Lama<br />
*[[Kalapa]], the "Handsome Madman", one of the [[Mahasiddha|84 Mahasiddas]]<br />
*[[Mekhala and Kanakhala|Mekhala]] and [[Mekhala and Kanakhala|Kankhala]], often called the "Two Headless Sisters", also part of the group of the [[Mahasiddha|84 Mahasiddas]]<br />
*[[Thang Tong Gyalpo]]<br />
*[[Tsangnyön Heruka]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Tsangnyon-Heruka/6856|title = Tsangnyon Heruka}}</ref><br />
*[[Ünyön Künga Zangpo|Ü Nyön Kunga Zangpo]]<ref>See DiValerio (2015) and DiValerio (2016)</ref><br />
<br />
==Women and the path of the Nyönpa==<br />
There is evidence that women also took inspiration from the spiritual practices and ways of conduct of the Nyönpa.<br />
<br />
The most famous Tibetan woman exhibiting signs of the path of the Nyönpa would be the Tibetan female saint [[Sönam Peldren]] who probably lived in the 14th century.<ref>See Bessenger, 2016</ref> Sönam Peldren was eventually understood as an emanation of [[Vajravārāhī]] in the female [[tulku]] incarnation lineage of the [[Samding Dorje Phagmo]].<ref>Bessenger (2016) and Diemberger (2007)</ref><br />
<br />
Before this, in India, there were three women in the grouping of the [[Mahasiddha|84 Mahasidda]] whose spiritual behavior would indicate that they practiced according to this spiritual path. They are [[Lakṣmīṅkarā]], the "Crazy Princess", and the "Two Headless Sisters" [[Mekhala and Kanakhala]].<br />
<br />
==Further reading==<br />
*Ardussi, J. & Epstein, L. (1978) [https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xv7--t1qU-YJ:http://www.case.edu/affil/tibet/booksAndPapers/Saintly_Madman_Tibet.pdf%2Bsmyon+pa&hl=en&tbo=d&ct=clnk "The Saintly Madman in Tibet"] in: James F. Fisher (ed.) ''Himalayan Anthropology: The Indo-Tibetan Interface'' (Paris) 327–38.<br />
*Bessenger, Suzanne. (2016). ''Echoes of Enlightenment: The Life and Legacy of the Tibetan Saint Sonam Peldren.'' Oxford University Press.<br />
*Diemberger, Hildegard. (2007). ''When a Woman Becomes a Religious Dynasty: The Samding Dorje Phagmo of Tibet''. Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-231-14320-2}}.<br />
*DiValerio, David M. (2015) ''The Holy Madmen of Tibet.'' Oxford University Press.<br />
*DiValerio, David M. (2016) "The Life of the Madman of Ü.'' Oxford University Press.<br />
*Larsson, Stefan. (2007) [https://collab.itc.virginia.edu/wiki/renaissanceold/Crazy%20Yogins%20During%20the%20Early%20Renaissance%20Period.html ''Crazy Yogins During the Early Renaissance Period'']. <br />
*Larsson, Stefan. (2012) ''Crazy for Wisdom : The Making of a Mad Yogin in Fifteenth-century Tibet.'' Leiden: Brill.<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
*[[Crazy wisdom]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references /><br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyonpa}}<br />
[[Category:Tibetan Buddhist practices]]<br />
<br />
{{Tibetan-Buddhism-stub}}</div>->Citation bot