Washington State is the realms of Bigfoot, the rakshasas or yakkhas. It is said that the female of the species, yakshis or yakshinis, is particularly fierce. Stories in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism emphasize that nastiness of this fearsome creature -- which often appears in human form. Whether an ogress or "demoness" shape shifts into a human or mentally/spiritually inhabits one is not always clear. But many strange things happen, as recorded in the lore of Native Americans, particularly in New Mexico and the Southwest in general. Seattle is in the wooded Northwest where the incomprehensibly inhuman behavior of a teenage girl is otherwise hard to explain. Possession or influence by the "animal spirit" of the legendary forest spirit, as odd as it is to modern ears, seems to be evident. These creatures look after treasure hidden in the earth and resemble that of fairies (devas).A yakshi/yakshini is the female counterpart of the male yaksha. They both attend on Kubera, who rules in the mythical Himalayan kingdom of Alaka, possibly Alavaka in the exclusively Buddhist language Pali. This is the site of the most famous case of a yaksha and the Buddha.
The story goes that Yaksha Alavaka possessed extraordinary supernatural powers: He created a terrifying storm, shaking and lighting up the forest with thunder, lightning, wind, and driving rain. The Buddha was unmoved. Alavaka then attacked the Buddha directly, throwing his spear and club. But before his weapons fell at the feet of the Buddha. Alavaka then asked: "Is it right that you, a 'holy man,' should enter a house and sit among someone's wives when he is away?" At this the Buddha got up to leave the cave. "What a fool I am to have wasted my energy trying to frighten this ascetic!" thought Alavaka. He told the Buddha to come back. The Buddha did. He then ordered the Buddha out again, as if hoping to try the Buddha's patience. But the third time, the Buddha refused: "No, Alavaka, I will not obey you. Do as you like, yet I will remain right where I am." There being no use in force, crafty Alavaka changed tactics, saying: "I will question you. If you are unable to answer me, I will take possession of your mind, tear your heart apart and, taking you by the feet, toss you across to the far side of the Ganges." The Buddha calmly replied: "Alavaka, I am unaware of anyone -- human, deva, brahma, or mara (fairy, divinity, or killer), ascetic, or brahmin -- who could do those things to me. But if you wish to ask something, you may." He did, and the Buddha delivered a famous sutra.*
Yakshinis are often depicted as beautiful and voluptuous, with wide hips, narrow waists, broad shoulders, and exaggerated, spherical breasts. In the Uddamareshvara Tantra, 36 yakshinis are described, including their mantras and ritual prescriptions. A similar list of yakshas and yakshinis is given in the Tantraraja Tantra, where it says that these beings are givers of whatever is desired. Although yakshinis are usually benevolent, there are also those with malevolent characteristics in Indian folklore.
SEATTLE (Q13 Fox) - Snohomish County Prosecutor Cindy Larsen is seeking to have the 15-year-old girl accused of stabbing two other students at Snohomish High School tried as an adult, saying the girl is still making threats, including [bathing in blood, sexual molestation, and] a desire to attack one of the girls again.The girl, who was a sophomore at the school at the time of the attack last Oct. 24, is accused of stabbing freshmen girls April Lutz and Bekah Staudacher. Lutz suffered severe, life-threatening injuries, and Staudacher suffered a large cut to her arm and was stabbed in the back.
A surveillance video from inside the school on the day of the stabbings shows the two victims walking into the restroom. Moments later, the [yakshi] girl accused of stabbing them can be seen, wearing a hood, entering the restroom. Students hear the attack and gather outside. Then paramedics are shown removing a victim on a stretcher. More
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*The Alavaka Sutra
Alavaka asked questions he learned from his parents, which had been handed down generation to generation. He had forgotten the answers but had preserved the questions by scrawling them down on gold leaves:
- "What is the greatest wealth?"
- "What when well mastered brings the highest bliss?"
- "What is the sweetest of tastes?
- "What is the supreme-life?"
The Buddha answered:
- "The greatest wealth is confidence (faith)."
- "The Dharma well mastered brings the highest bliss (nirvana)."
- "The truth is the sweetest taste."
- "The life wisely led is supreme."
Alavaka asked many more questions, which the Buddha answered to his delight, then one final question:
- "Passing from this world to the next, how does one not grieve?"
The Buddha replied:
- "One who possesses these four virtues -- truthfulness, sīla, fearlessness born of love, and generosity -- grieves not after passing from this world."
