Kham Province, Eastern Tibet
19th century
Kham Province, Eastern Tibet
19th century
Machik Labdron (1055–1153), one of the most prominent female masters and lineage holders in Tibetan Buddhism, appears deified in this painting as a dakini, female spirits and deities who assist in a Tantric practitioner’s spiritual development through teaching and other forms of inspiration. This is because Machik Labdron transmitted the practice of the female meditation deity Vajrayogini so widely that she came to be identified with the goddess. Her face is sensitively painted, and fine attention is paid to details such as her bone ornaments. She is surrounded by deities and lineage masters, beginning with Vajradhara at top center, and including the feminine personification of wisdom, Prajnaparamita, orange with four hands in the clouds. To the upper left is her main instructor, the Indian master Phadampa Sanggye, who initiated her into a practice known as Chod, or severance practice, which involves the visualization of cutting away the human body, and ultimately the ego, as a means of reaching enlightenment. Machik Labdron is famous for helping establish Chod practice in Tibet.This painting, with its open and receding landscape, large portions of blank canvas, spare use of pigment, and stylized clouds with indigo back-shading at their edges to suggest volume, is an excellent example of the later development of the Encampment style in Kham Province, in southeastern Tibet.
A bell is often paired with the vajra and is another implement used in tantric practices and an attribute of tantric masters and deities. It generally symbolizes wisdom, the feminine aspect of enlightenment, and its ring is said to be the sound of emptiness.
An implement used in tantric practices, the two halves of this drum symbolize the union of the two aspects of enlightenment. When paired with a bell, it represents the male aspect of enlightenment, and its drumming is the sound of the bliss of realizing the true nature of reality. Large hand drums are used in the Tibetan practice of “cutting the ego.” Their sound represents impermanence.
The passing down of authentic Buddhist teachings from a teacher to a disciple or student, often in the form of a text in a ritualistic context.
The transmission of teachings from one generation to the next, from teacher to student, traced all the way back to the Buddha without interruption. A complete lineage is essential in Tantric Buddhist practices as it makes the blessings of the teaching more powerful.
In Buddhism gender is considered more fluid compared to some other religions. Certain traditions emphasize the importance of all genders in achieving enlightenment. The feminine is considered an embodiment of wisdom and the masculine is an embodiment of method.
Himalayan art includes portraits of legendary and historical humans, including accomplished religious teachers (lamas), the Buddha’s original disciples (arhats), and spiritually accomplished tantric masters (mahasiddhas).
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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