Thus says the Shaktisangama Tantra:

Woman is the foundation of the world;
The universe is her form.
Woman is the foundation of the world;
She is the true form of the body.

The Yoginis of days gone by were sometimes wanderers who had left behind their normal social roles as daughter, wife, and mother in order to answer the call of their Beloved. There are many stories of these women going against social conventions in so many ways, including being digambari, wearing only the sky like Lalla and Akka Mahadevi. 

Thus said Lalla:

 

Some people abandon their homes.

Others abandon hermitages.

 

All this renunciation does nothing,

if you’re not deeply conscious.

 

Day and night, be aware

with each breath,

and live there.

 

My teacher, you are God to me!

Tell me the inner meaning

of my two breathings,

the one warm, the other cool.

 

“In your pelvis near the navel is the source

of many motions called the sun,

the city of the bulb.

 

As your vitality rises from that sun,

it warms, and in your mouth it meets

the downward flow through the fontanel

of your higher self, which is cool

and called the moon, or Shiva. 

 

This rivering mixture feels,

By turns, warm and cool.”

(Barks 1992:49)

 

Here we see Lalla not only discussing the importance of renunciation in her own life, but also receiving teachings about the mysteries of pranayama and the inner yogas. 

We are fortunate to have the teachings, the poetry, and names of some Yoginis like Lalla and Mirabai and Akka Mahadevi. Yet, the majority of the Yoginis who might be role models for us today are actually nameless, unnamed, or referred to only in relation to a named Yogi. For example, an unnamed Yogini was one of the teachers and initiators of Padmasambhava. Most of the biographies of the great male practitioners include brief mention of an enlightened woman who gave them precious teachings at a key moment in their development. Maybe she pounded sesame seeds for a living, or herded pigs, or pressed grapes into wine. These Yogis searched out these Yoginis because in Shakta Tantra—and some other forms of Hinduism and in some forms of Buddhism—it is said that women have a better chance of becoming enlightened just by nature of their residence in a human form and thus women are revered as teachers, gurus, consorts, partners, and embodiments of the Goddess. Some even say, that having a female teacher, a female guru, is preferred.

These named and unnamed Yoginis were gloriously alive, free, embodied, and devoted themselves to a life of union with the divine. I honor these amazing women who against all odds lived their lives in accordance with the deepest yearning of their hearts without any mirroring of their path. They made their way by listening to that inner lamp.

Like a silkworm weaving her house with love from her marrow, and dying in her body's threads winding tight, round and round, I burn desiring what the heart desires. Cut through, O lord, my heart's greed, and show me your way out, O lord white as jasmine. --Mahadeviyakka

THE GODDESS SPOKE: I imagine into being the whole world, moving and unmoving, through the power of my Maya. Yet that same Maya is not separate from me; this is the highest truth . . . In me this whole world is woven in all directions, O Mountain. I am the Lord and the Cosmic Soul; I am myself the Cosmic Body. I am Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra, as well as Gauri, Brahmi, and Vaishnavi. I am the sun and the stars and I am the Lord of the stars. I am the various aspects of beasts and birds; I am also the outcase and thief. I am the evil doer and the wicked deed; I am the righteous person and the virtuous deed. I am certainly female and male, and asexual as well. And whatever thing, anywhere, you see or hear, That entire thing I pervade, ever abiding inside it and outside. There is nothing at all, moving or unmoving, that is devoid of me; For if it were, it would be a nonentity, like the son of a barren woman. Just as a single rope may appear variously as a serpent or wreath, So also I may appear in the form of the Lord and the like; there is no doubt in this matter. The world cannot appear without an underlying basis. Accordingly, the world comes to be only through my own being and in no other way. --from the Devi Gita (in "Teachings of the Hindu Mystics" edited by Andrew Harvey, Shambhala, 2001, pp. 49-50)

"I don't know who it is who lives or dies, who rests or wakes, but it is your heart that distributes all the graces of the daybreak in my breast." Pablo Neruda

More advice from Mira about inviting God as Lover into our lives. The "flute" in this piece refers to the flute of Krishna, Miera's beloved. It refers not just to the lyrical flute that Krishna plays that opens our hearts with music, but is also a double entrendre for the phallus. Enjoy. Girls, think twice before inviting God near. His charms will turn you into a slave--are you ready for such a wonderful bondage? What if your human lover is just about ready to insert a pulsating mass into your forest and rain there; what if just as he/she enters --you hear His flute calling, could you run outside in a second, naked, and ready for the world to make fun of you; for you who can really see Him. Everyone may think you are worshipping a mirage. And what if He asked you to give all your gold bangles and fine cloths to the next beggar you see? Giving him our clay (our body) to shape is one thing, for this can excite us, but when our jewelry and silk are at risk surely it is time to seriously ask is all this God stuff-- real? (Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West translated by Daniel Ladinsky, 2002, Penguin Books, p. 254)

Here is another one of Mirabai's poems expressing how the unity of merging with the divine can spoil us for non-spiritual encounters: Three years went by and I had not slept with a man. I consulted the moon about this and she said, it had been even longer for her, but she didn't think she was missing much (*Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West* translated by Daniel Ladinsky, 2002, Penguin Compass, p. 261).

I Write of That Journey I remember how my mother would hold me. I would look up at her sometimes and see her weep. I understand now what was happening. Love so strong a force it broke the cage, and she disappeared from everything for a blessed moment. All actions have evolved from the taste of flight; the hope of freedom moves our cells and limbs. Unable to live on the earth, Mira ventured out alone in the sky-- I write of that journey of becoming as free as God. Don't forget love; it will bring all the madness you need to unfurl yourself across the universe By Mira, aka Mirabai (*Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West* translated by Daniel Ladinsky, Penguin Compass, 2002, p. 202)

Akkamahadevi lived in the 12th century in Kannada, India. According the authors Tharu and Lalita (*Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Early 20th Century*, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993), "Akka's poetry uses the metaphor of illicit love for her intense, all-encompassing relationship with Shiva, whom she address as Chennamallikarjuna" (p.79). Here is one of her poems. Don't despise me as She who has no one I'm not one to be afraid, Whatever ou do. I exist chewing dry leaves, My life resting on a knife edge If you must torment me, Chennamallikarjuna, My life, my body I'll offer you, and be cleansed. (translated by Susan Daniel)

It seems that the worship of Goddesses in Buddhism goes back even earlier than previously thought to the 1st century CE, rather than the previous estimates of the 8th century CE. Check out these news articles with details: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?article=AP+site+yields+new+Buddhist+school+based+on+goddess&id=13747 http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/19/stories/2006081906222000.htm