Sacred Arts of Tibet (.pdf) - Asian Art Museum | Education

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Slide 2 Sacred Arts of Tibet Avalokiteshvara 19th Century Tibet Colors and gold on cotton Gift of the Friends of Robert Davis 1988.34 Who is the central figure in this painting? The main image in this painting is Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. He is the principle patron deity of Tibet. He sits on a lotus throne upon a lunar disc. This god takes many forms, such as the Dalai Lamas of Tibet, to bring salvation to the living beings of the world. In this painting he has four arms and is white in color. His upper hands hold prayer beads and a lotus; the lower ones, poised in a hand gesture of prayer, clasp the wish-fulfilling jewel at his heart. This jewel embodies the bodhicitta—the altruistic aspiration to attain highest Enlightenment in order to thereby save all beings from misery and establish them in perfect happiness. 24 Asian Art Museum
What is a bodhisattva? Sacred Arts of Tibet A bodhisattva is a person, either human or divine (occasionally animal) who has abandoned all selfish concern and seeks only the ultimate liberation and happiness of all living beings. The bodhisattva understands that as long as he or she remains trapped in the cycle of birth and death (samsara) because of greed, anger and ignorance, there is no way that others can truly be helped. Therefore, driven by concern for the welfare of others, a bodhisattva pursues the spiritual path to Buddhahood, which involves: 1) the perfection of generosity—giving to others with the pure motivation to help them 2) the perfection of morality—avoiding all harm to others, and engaging in activities that benefit others 3) the perfection of patience—never giving way to anger, and accepting the harm perpetrated by others 4) the perfection of effort—persevering with enthusiastic efforts in all virtuous activities 5) the perfection of concentration—training the mind to hold its objects with a calm, clear mind free of all distraction 6) the perfection of wisdom/the realization of ultimate reality—seeing things as they actual are without the overlay of dualistic conceptual processes. In Buddhist art, a bodhisattva may appear in divine form wearing crowns and jewels, as an ordinary human, or even as a animal. Avalokiteshvara is one of the most popular of the hundreds of bodhisattvas commonly depicted in Buddhist art. Many, like Avalokiteshvara, appear in a variety of distinct forms. (See also Slide 15) What are “peaceful” and “wrathful” deities? To those who seek help, both spiritual and mundane, Buddhas and bodhisattvas typically appear in peaceful, benevolent forms. To those beings whose minds are set on evil, who stubbornly engage in actions that harm others, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas appear in powerful, wrathful forms to subdue them and lead them to virtue. On a psychological level, the wrathful deities represent the powerful, dynamic processes of Buddhist meditation that can destroy the underlying causes of all misery—greed, hatred, and delusion, etc. The Bodhisattva of Compassion is a peaceful deity. He emanates beauty and benevolence. However, in the lower right of the painting is Vajrapani (number 4 in the diagram on next page), a wrathful deity, who embodies the sacred power of the Buddhas. Vajrapani is deep blue in color, has bulging eyes, sharp fangs, fiery hair standing on end, and stands on a golden sun disc. His right hand shoots out in a threatening gesture and wields a vajra (see Slide 10). This attribute gives him his name meaning “vajra in hand.” Vajrapani is a great protector of Buddhism. His ferocity is a comfort to believers and terrifying to demons who seek to harm living beings and destroy their paths to salvation. In the lower left of the painting sits Manjushri, the God of Supreme Wisdom (5). He holds the Book of Wisdom and the flaming sword that cuts the roots of ignorance, and severs the sprouts of misery. He is a semi-peaceful deity and sits on a lotus throne on a lunar disc. The three deities together—Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, and Vajrapani—are the Three Great Protectors (Tibetan: rig sum gonpo) representing Wisdom, Compassion, and Sacred Power respectively. 25 Asian Art Museum
Page 1 and 2: Sacred Arts of Tibet Art from the R
Page 3 and 4: Background Reading Sacred Arts of T
Page 5 and 6: Sacred Arts of Tibet of mountain ra
Page 7 and 8: Sacred Arts of Tibet In the nomad
Page 9 and 10: RELIGIOUS PRACTICE IN TIBET Sacred
Page 11 and 12: Sacred Arts of Tibet beset by a var
Page 13 and 14: Tara and Green Tara (see Slide 2).
Page 15 and 16: Religious Rule: The “Second Trans
Page 17 and 18: Sacred Arts of Tibet of Tibetan nat
Page 19 and 20: Slide Descriptions Sacred Arts of T
Page 21 and 22: Who was Shakyamuni Buddha? Sacred A
Page 23: 2) Discussion Topic: To restore or
Page 27 and 28: Who are the Green and White Taras?
Page 29 and 30: Slide 3 Sacred Arts of Tibet The Po
Page 31 and 32: Sources Sacred Arts of Tibet Gyatso
Page 33 and 34: Buddha Vajradhara (middle), the Ind
Page 35 and 36: Slide 5 Sacred Arts of Tibet This p
Page 37 and 38: Sacred Arts of Tibet Discussion Poi
Page 39 and 40: Sacred Arts of Tibet Buddhahood, su
Page 41 and 42: Sacred Arts of Tibet tors, derives
Page 43 and 44: Slide 8 Sacred Arts of Tibet Buddhi
Page 45 and 46: Sacred Arts of Tibet Top: The Tibet
Page 47 and 48: What is a lama? Sacred Arts of Tibe
Page 49 and 50: What is the symbolism of the Vajra
Page 51 and 52: Slide 11 Sacred Arts of Tibet Praye
Page 53 and 54: Slide 12 Sacred Arts of Tibet Novic
Page 55 and 56: Slide 13 Sacred Arts of Tibet Torga
Page 57 and 58: Slide 14 Sacred Arts of Tibet Palde
Page 59 and 60: Slide 15 Sacred Arts of Tibet Saman
Page 61 and 62: Slide 16 Sacred Arts of Tibet Human
Page 63 and 64: Slide 17 Sacred Arts of Tibet Mahak
Page 65 and 66: Slide 18 Sacred Arts of Tibet Lion-
Page 67 and 68: Slide 19 Sacred Arts of Tibet Praye
Page 69 and 70: Slide 20 Sacred Arts of Tibet Bön
Page 71 and 72: Reading 1 Sacred Arts of Tibet The
Page 73 and 74: Reading 2 Sacred Arts of Tibet Visi
Page 75 and 76:
Sacred Arts of Tibet The outside of
Page 77 and 78:
Sacred Arts of Tibet 5. The most co
Page 79 and 80:
Reading 6 Sacred Arts of Tibet The
Page 81 and 82:
Sacred Arts of Tibet provisions of
Page 83 and 84:
Activity 1 Sacred Arts of Tibet Dec
Page 85 and 86:
Bibliography Sacred Arts of Tibet B
Page 87 and 88:
Sacred Arts of Tibet Reynolds, Valr
Page 89 and 90:
Appendix 1 Sacred Arts of Tibet Pos
show all

Sacred Arts of Tibet (.pdf) - Asian Art Museum | Education

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?