Aro Yeshé
the lineage shawl of Khyungchen Aro Lingma
Khandro Déchen comments:
It is not easily possible within a thangka painting to show the exact detail of the
‘peaceful empowerment shawl’ of Khyungchen Aro
Lingma. The stripes on this shawl are highly complex in their arrangement – and in this thangka all that is shown are general areas of red, white and blue – the three yogic colours of which the shawl is comprised. Although it is called the ‘peaceful empowerment shawl’ it was also used for Dzogchen transmission and was the shawl worn on
most occasions by Aro Yeshé, A-yé Khandro, and A-shé Khandro.
This shawl was designed by Khyungchen Aro Lingma, as were the joyous empowerment shawls and the wrathful empowerment shawls, and the meaning of the shawl is connected with the Khandro pawo nyi-da mélong gyüd – the teaching which relates to vajra romance and the nyam of khandro-pawo mirroring. This shawl, unlike the joyous shawl, is the same for both men and women – but the shawls, which are asymmetrical, are worn in reverse fashion according to gender. This is also the case with the gomtag or meditation belt, which is worn differently by men and women.
