Khandro Pumo

Khandro Pumo — the main consort of Tertön Sogyal. She was known simply as Pumo (meaning ‘girl’).

Khandro Pumo was from the noble Khangsar family in Konjo, and lived to a very old age, spending her later years in caves and hermitages high up in the mountains of Nyarong. She became famous for her clairvoyance and her ability to avert frost or bring rain.

Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, who met her in his youth, remembers that whenever anyone fell sick, they would go to her and she would recommend a particular prayer or practice to be done. As well as this, she would also give them a protection cord. It was noticed that if she gave one of these, it meant the person would live, but if she gave them amrita nectar, it meant that their illness was fatal. She would never admit that she had the power of knowing whether a person was going to live or die, but when people examined the statistics and checked, they found that this was actually the pattern. This was a sign that she had attained an omniscient or clairvoyant state of realization, and she was held to be the same as Dorje Pakmo (Vajravarahi). She was also a great practitioner of Vajrakilaya and recited his mantra three hundred million times; through the practice of Vajrakilaya, she attained full realization.