Rubin Museum of Art

Geluk Teacher Champa Tashi

Central Tibet
16th century

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Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.View from behind of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Side view of figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.
Figure sitting cross legged on a pedestal wearing a pointed hat with long earflaps. Both hands are raised to his chest with index fingers touching thumbs.

This figure has a finely modeled face with a serene, even contemplative expression, but silver eyes and copper lips add a spark that makes it appear very much alive. The monk is dressed in rich Tibetan monastic garments and wears a pointed hat with long earflaps used in the Sakya and Geluk traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The details of the monastic dress are executed with great care on both the front and back of this sculpture. Lighter motifs indicating brocade patterns are found on the main garment, while its hem has a thick, finely modeled scroll. This is a bronze sculpture of an important Gelukpa teacher identified as Champa Tashi in the inscription along its base. The teacher is seated in meditation and holds his hands in the gesture of teaching (dharmacakramudra). Once his hands also held the stalks of lotuses of which only fragments to the sides of the upper arms remain. The teacher sits on a double petaled lotus base to which the figure is attached with rivets. The inscription includes wishes that the donor Sanggye Lhaksam Dakpa and all beings may attain awakening and even mentions the artist, Buddhasimha, presumably a Newar from the Kathmandu valley.

Artwork Details

Title
Geluk Teacher Champa Tashi
Dimensions
17 × 11 1/2 × 7 5/8 in.
Medium
Bronze with silver and copper inlays
Origin
Central Tibet
Classification(s)
sculpture
Date
16th century
Credit Line
Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art
Object number
C2011.5

Iconography

Teaching

The hands form the shape of a wheel, symbolizing the “turning of the wheel of dharma,” a reference to teaching the Buddha’s doctrine.

Lotus Position

Also known as vajra position, this posture is associated with meditation.

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Transmission

Concepts

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.

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Lineage

Concepts

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.

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Devotion

Concepts

A virtuous feeling and deep respect toward an authentic teaching, teacher, or path. Buddhists believe that expansive study, analysis, and meditation are essential steps for cultivating a healthy and enduring devotion.

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Legendary and Historical Humans

Figure Type

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).

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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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