Artwork Details

Title
Tara in her Pure Realm
Dimensions
47 5/8 x 36 3/8 in. (121 x 92.4 cm)
Medium
Pigments on cloth
Origin
Tibet
Classification(s)
paintings
Date
19th century
Credit Line
Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin
Object number
C2006.66.567
HAR Number
1049
Published references
* Glenn H. Mullin and Jeff Watt, Female Buddhas: Women of Enlightenment in Tibetan Mysticism, Rubin Museum of Art, Clear Light, Santa Fe, 2003, p. 66-67.

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Visualization

Concepts

A meditation technique primarily used in tantric practice that involves imagining a deity in one’s mind or imagining oneself becoming a deity and carrying out various activities. Such techniques are intended to help a practitioner transform ordinary perception and achieve enlightened qualities.

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Divine

Concepts

Buddhist practitioners in some traditions believe that cutting through ordinary perceptions that keep us in the endless cycle of death and rebirth, known as samsara, can create a powerful and enhanced divine identity that leads to enlightenment.

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Meditation

Concepts

A contemplative practice in which a person uses concentration and visualization to achieve aims such as transforming the mind and generating feelings of compassion. Techniques include focusing on breathing or visualizing oneself as a deity.

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Female Deities

Figure Type

Female bodhisattvas and tantric deities embody specific enlightened qualities such as wisdom, power, and protection, and can be peaceful or wrathful in appearance.

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Tibetan Regions

Region

Today, Tibetans primarily inhabit the Tibetan Plateau, situated between the Himalayan mountain range and the Indian subcontinent to the west, Chinese cultural regions to the east, and Mongolian cultural regions to the northeast. During the 7th to 9th century, Tibetan rulers expanded their empire across Central Asia, and established Buddhism as the state religion.

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