home introduction collection exhibits links
Page 24 of 24

by Chris Wilkinson

Primary and Secondary Practices

In the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, it is common to take up a certain chosen Deity, or Yidam, as the primary center of one's practice. As central objects on a shrine, therefore, paintings of the Yidam are often displayed. The practitioner will use this painting to remember details of the visualization or attributes of his or her chosen deity.

A practitioner may also perform special practices for holidays at certain cycles of the sun and moon. These might involve invoking forces of prosperity, long life, health, safety, or some other good purpose. Images of the gods connected to such objectives might be found in Thangkas arrayed in a large temple. The household practitioner might have such deities painted onto the Thangka for his shrine.

In many cases, an individual's most revered Gurus of the lineage, his Yidam, and the gods that represent his interests are all painted on an individual Thangka. It is important to determine whether the Thangka is intended to show only one section of the Mandala, such as the main deity, or is a representation of every aspect of the practitioner's practice.

A very common theme is to portray the original source of the Thangka's inspiration at the top center; portray the mediators of the transmission from the extra-worldly to the current situation, portray the prominent Gurus of the tradition where appropriate, portray the guardians of the image transmitted, portray the main deity connected to a certain practice or transmission along with his/her/their retinue, and portray the supporters of this vision in the divine and human realms. Offerings are often painted at the foot of the deity, and patrons often appear as humans in the paintings, keeping in the minds of the mediators the importance of patronage.

The transmission of the Vajrayana is considered, by its followers, to be secret. Those Thangkas that depict deities and their mandalas are intended to be used by an initiated practitioner in his or her practice. Information regarding the "meanings" behind specific symbols, such as the reason some deities wear 51 skulls around their necks—to demonstrate they have brought an end to the 51 possible states of mind, are to be found in the literature of the tradition.

Some deities have a crown of five skulls to demonstrate that they have gained the five kinds of wisdom by burning out the five emotions. The five wisdoms are the Wisdom of How Things Are, the Wisdom that is Like a Mirror, the Wisdom that Does not Move, the Wisdom that Differentiates, the Wisdom that Gets Things Done. The five emotional problems are ignorance, attachment, aversion, pride, and jealousy. There are usually elaborate explanations behind each and every aspect of a deity's appearance. Only generalities are available to the uninitiated.

The general truths that the images express is, however, clear to the eye. One can appreciate the art of Tantric Buddhism without having the full training of the initiate, while the store of public knowledge on the symbolism of the art grows. The viewer of the Thangka is, at last, the recipient of the transmission. The acquisition of the initiation related to the practice portrayed should be pursued under the guidance of a teacher familiar with that practice.

As the various lineages of the transmission of certain branches of esoterica defined themselves in history, separate "schools" of Tibetan Buddhism came into existence. It is often the case that the Gurus depicted in a Thangka are not only Indian masters and Mahasiddhas, but also Tibetan Lamas. When they are portrayed as the central figure in a painting, such Lamas are given divine status, as per the practice of Guruyoga. Followers of a particular "school" of Buddhism might therefore keep paintings of all major teachers in their tradition. These lineages of teachers would also appear at the tops of Thangkas devoted to a particular practice, thus reminding the meditator of the exact branch in the river of Enlightenment in which he sat.

There are currently four main "schools" of Tibetan Buddhism, or five if we include the Bon tradition, which claims to represent the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet. In each of these traditions certain esoteric studies were emphasized above others, and certain deities became more or less associated with certain schools. It is not uncommon, however, for a single deity to be practiced by followers of all schools, or that a deity may be thought of as the special province of only one or two schools.

It is by recognition of the Gurus of the lineage displayed on the Thangka that an understanding of the Thangka's representation of sectarian interests may be found. Many Thangkas declare no sectarian interest, showing only the transmission from the deity to the viewer of the Thangka. Every Thangka offers a window into a vision of reality much different than the world we see every day, and offers itself as a vision of a world that we, the viewers, might like to be in.

In this way the Transmission of Enlightenment began with the Buddha Shakyamuni two thousand five hundred years ago. While undergoing transformations through history, this has now been presented to your eye. You have looked at the images of the founders, the lineage holders, the deities, the supporters. And so this vision of the transmission of Enlightenment is now yours, to pass on as you please.



Copyright © 1998 Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, Shelley and Donald Rubin