Seduction and the Saint: Desire and the Spiritual Quest

In the year 1480 a.d., according to the legend (Dowman and Paljor, 1998), a young Tibetan man, Kunga Legpa'si Zangpos by name, now famed all over the Himalayas as Drukpa Kunley, returned home after many years of arduous monastic training. He was 25 years old.

During his years of learning and apprenticeship, an always precocious Kunley had mastered the complete doctrine of his Kagyu lineage and diligently followed its demanding regimen. After becoming enlightened, he cast off his monk's habit, abandoned systematic yoga and meditation, and decided to lead the wandering life of an itinerant mendicant. It is this life, full of ribaldry and magic, crammed with sexual adventure and the awakening of people he meets on his travels, that has made Kunley the most popular saint of Tibet and a culture hero of Bhutan. He is someone who is not only revered but also regarded with great affection by the peoples of the Himalayas.

Before he could begin his travels, the legend reports the following singular encounter with his mother. And since Kunley's “biography” does not narrate any other incidents during his short sojourn at home before he leaves it to begin his wanderings, this encounter with his mother seems to be an “unfinished” business he must complete before he can enter his destiny as the Divine Madman.

When Kunley returned home, his mother, unaware of his Buddhahood, his secret identity, gave him some unsolicited but sensible maternal advice. If you want to lead a religious life, she said, then you must lead a pure spiritual life, constantly devoting yourself to the service of others. If, on the other hand, you decide you prefer being a lay householder, then you should take a wife who will help out your old mother in the house.

As the biography (Dowman and Paljor, 1998) further describes the encounter, Kunley said he would find a wife. He selected a toothless old hag in the