Artwork Details

Title
Eleven-headed, Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara
Dimensions
54 3/4 x 37 3/4 in.
Medium
Pigments on cloth
Origin
Central Tibet
Classification(s)
paintings
Date
early 20th century (before 1935)
Credit Line
Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, gift of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation
Object number
F1997.1.6
HAR Number
40
Published references
  • Glenn H. Mullin and Jeff Watt, Female Buddhas: Women of Enlightenment in Tibetan Mystical Art (Clear Light Publishers, 2003), 204-205.

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Merit

Concepts

In Buddhism merit is accumulated through engaging in positive actions that lead to positive results, such as better rebirths. Buddhists gain merit by making offerings, donating to those in need, reciting mantras, and other good deeds.

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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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Compassion

Concepts

The cultivation of a strong aspiration to help sentient beings overcome suffering. In Buddhist Mahayana teaching, compassion is the seed for attaining full enlightenment.  

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Bodhisattvas

Figure Type

Beings who aspire to become fully awakened like the Buddha and are dedicated to helping others on the path to enlightenment.

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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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