Yeshe Tsogyal––first Enlightened Tibetan (Free Picture Download)

Yeshe Tsogyal, the first Enlightened Tibetan

Yeshe Tsogyal was a female practitioner who met Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) when he came to Tibet to establish Buddhism there. She became one of his closest disciples and helped him with many sacred activities such as hiding secret teachings (termas) to be recovered years later when Tibetans would be able to understand them. 

She is pictured here with a treasure vase and a staff which is a representation of Guru Rinpoche and has a feather at the top which is a symbol of the magician that Guru Rinpoche was.

It has been pointed out that since Padmasambhava was the first Buddhist teacher to come to Tibet and he was not Tibetan. Only a few can dispute that Yeshe Tshogyal did reach enlightenment. This then makes her the first Tibetan to reach enlightenment.