User:Dakinijones/Notes for articles

Notes for various articles I'm working on.

Sukhasiddhi[edit]

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pQZk32i2azwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=lakshmincara&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwieyoLGzqTnAhUCiFwKHYFpAZE4ChDoATAJegQIARBC#v=onepage&q=Lakshmincara&f=false Dakini’s Warm Breath
https://www.tibetanart.com/Product.asp?PID=39&MATCH=1 White Sukhasiddhi (Khechari)
https://dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=978#top Sakya Kechari
https://www.namsebangdzo.com/White-Khecari-p/17298.htm White Khechari

Lakshiminkara[edit]

https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1054 Himalayan Art
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasiddha Lakshminkara 1 of 4 Mahasiddhi (84 mahasiddhi)

? Dakini’s Warm Breath?

Shangpa Kagyu[edit]

http://www.khandro.net/TibBud_Shangpa_Kalu.htm Shangpa refuge tree/origin story

dob-dob[edit]

https://case.edu/affil/tibet/tibetanMonks/dobdo.htm dob dob photo
Lama (martial art)
[dob tibet write]

Namtar[edit]

namthar from into of The Life of Shabkar

Iconography of Tibetan Buddhism[edit]

Tibetan Buddhist art forms[edit]

Main article: Tibetan art

The iconography of any sandpainting depends on the particular yidam, or meditation deity, whose mandala is being created by Tibetan Buddhist monks or nuns from crushed stone or colored sand. However, the process of sandpainting is in itself symbolic: a sand mandala is ritualistically destroyed once it has been completed and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are formed to represent the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life. The whole process therefore represents impermanence, one of the three marks of existence.

Likewise, the iconography of the various thangkas, or silk paintings, depends on the particular image represented. Since visualization is a key technique of tantra thangkas played an important role in Tibetan Buddhism. These very portable religious tools were often used as teaching images to convey basic Buddhist doctrines through images such as the wheel of life which depicts interdependent origination. However, the portability of thangkas also made them ideal for conveying esoteric information that was not to be made known to the unitiated. Since a rolled up thanga could be easily concealed, they made an ideal form for representing the wrathful deities and other esoteric forms of Buddhas, so that an initiated meditator could clearly visualize their yidam, or meditation deity.

A namkha, or sky weaving, is a weaving of wool or silk in colors representing the five elements: blue, green, red, white, and yellow – space, air, fire, water, and earth respectively. The design varies according to the intention and may be of varying sizes, fitting on an altar or larger ones which may be ritually destroyed.

A stupa is a form of three dimensional mandala. It is essentially made up of five constituent parts: a square base, a hemispherical dome, a conical spire, a crescent moon and a circular disc. Each component is rich in metaphoric content. For example, "the shape of the stupa represents the Buddha, crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. His crown is the top of the spire; his head is the square at the spire's base; his body is the vase shape; his legs are the four steps of the lower terrace; and the base is his throne."^[2] The components of the stupa are also identified with the five elements – earth, water, fire, air, and space – held to constitute the fabric of manifest existence.

Mantra[edit]

Mantras may be interpreted by practitioners in many ways, or even as mere sequences of sound whose effects lie beyond strict meaning. In the mantra om mani padme hum, the majority of Tibetan Buddhist texts have regarded the translation of the mantra as secondary, focusing instead on the correspondence of the six syllables of the mantra to various other groupings of six in the Buddhist tradition.^[3] For example, in the Chenrezig Saddhana, Tsangsar Tulku Rinpoche expands upon the mantra's meaning, taking its six syllables to represent the purification of the six realms of existence:^[4]

Mantra-associated forms[edit]

Prayer flags are usually printed in colors symbolising the five elemnts. They may also be printed with the sanskrit letters that form the mantra of a particular Buddha. Prayer wheels traditionally have the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum written in Sanskrit externally on the wheel as well as copies of the mantra that have been blessed by a lama place inside the wheel. Also sometimes depicted are Dakinis, Dharma Protectors and the eight auspicious symbols of the Ashtamangala. According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, spinning such a wheel will have much the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers. A mani stone is a stone, rock or pebble inscribed, usually, with mantra or ashtamangala, as a form of prayer. Mani stones are intentionally placed along the roadsides and rivers or placed together to form mounds or cairns as an offering to the local spirits. Creating and carving mani stones as devotional or intentional process art is a traditional practice of piety to a practitioner's yidam, or meditational deity. Mani stones are a form of devotional cintamani, or wish-fulfilling jewel.

Kapala imagery[edit]

Bone ornaments[edit]

A group of five or six 'bone ornaments' (Sanskrit: aṣṭhiamudrā; Tibetan: rus pa'i rgyanl phyag rgya), is a recurrent theme in the iconography of various Tibetan Buddhist tantras. The sanskrit includes the term mudra, which means seal.^[5] The Hevajra Tantra associates the bone ornaments directly with the Five Wisdoms, which also appear as the Five Dhyani Buddhas. and these are elucidated by a commentary to the Hevajra Tantra by Jamgön Kongtrul^[6]:

the 'wheel-like' (Tib.: 'khor lo) 'crown ornament' (sometimes called 'crown jewel') (Tib.: gtsug gi nor bu), symbolic of Akshobhya and 'mirror-like pristine awareness' (Ādarśa-jñāna);
'earings' (Tib.: rna cha) representent of Amitabha and pristine awareness of discernment (Pratyavekṣaṇa-jñāna);
'necklace' (Tib.: mgul rgyan) symbolizing Ratnasambhava and pristine awareness of total sameness (Samatā-jñāna);
'bracelets' (Tib.: lag gdu) and 'anklets' (Tib.: gdu bu) as symbolic of Vairochana and pristine awareness of the ultimate dimension of phenomena (Tathatā-jñāna);
'girdle' (Tib.: ske rags) symbolizing Amoghasiddhi and the accomplishing pristine awareness (Sansrit: Kṛty-anuṣṭhāna-jñāna);
The sixth ornament sometimes referred to is ash from a cremation ground, smeared on the body (Tib.: thal chen).^[7]

Tibetan Buddhist symbols[edit]

Ashtamangala[edit]

The ashtamangala (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྟགས་བརྒྱད།, Wylie: bkra shis rtag brgyad, Lhasa dialect: [ʈʂáɕitaʔ cὲʔ]) or eight auspicious symbols, are recurrent themes in household, public and sacred art in Tibetan Buddhism. These symbols are held in common by a number of religions from the Indian subcontinent and references are made to various of the symbols in the Pali Canon, Buddhism's oldest historical text. The eight symbols are:

the shankha, or right-turning white conch shell representing the thoughts and words of the Buddha;
the endless knot (Tibetan:Dpal be'u), representing a variety of inter-pairings. Examples include the the union of wisdom and method, the inseparability of emptinesss and dependent Co-arrising on the path); at the time of enlightenment the union of 'wisdom and great compassion. Knot symbolism and binding also relate to the etymology of Tantra, Yoga and religion) which all are rooted in meanings of entwining strands and unifying disparate parts. In general knot, net and web metaphors can be seen as conveying the Buddhist teaching of the Doctrine of Interpenetration
the two golden fish (Tibetan: gser nya gser nya), representing the dharma practitioner's state of fearless migration through samsara, which is often called the 'Ocean of Suffering'. In Dzogchen the fish metaphorically often refer to 'buddha-eyes' or 'rigpa-sight'.
the lotus flower (Tibetan: ka dag), representing the primordial purity and Buddha-nature of the Three Vajras of body, speech, and mind, floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire
the precious parasol represents canopy of the sky and therefore the expansiveness and unfolding of space and the element æther. In twilight language the precious parasol corresponds to the sahasrara or seventh chakra, which is positioned on the top of the head and itself symbolizes detachment from illusion.
the bumpa, or urn of wisdom, (Standard Tibetan: bum.pa) representing the vessel of the universe, health, wealth and wisdom. In particular, the wisdom represented is that arising from understanding the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness
The Wheel of Law, (Tibetan: chos kyi 'khor lo), representing Sakyamuni Buddha and the Dharma In Tibetan Buddhism the term Khorlo signifies wheel but is also used to represent chakras and mandalas. The wheel is commonly used by Tibetan Buddhists where it sometimes also appears as an inner wheel of the Gankyil, but in Nepal the Wheel of Law is not used in Newar Buddhism in the eight auspicious symbols. Instead of the Dharma wheel, a Fly Whisk may be used as one of the ashtamangala, symbolizing Tantric manifestations and is made of a yak's tail attached to a silver staff and used during ritual recitation and fanning the deities during pujas, or religious ceremonies. Another guise of the Dharmacakra, uniting the functionality of the yak's tail with the doctrinal aspect of the "Wheel of Law" is the Mani wheel, or prayer wheel.
Dhvaja (Tibetan: rgyal-msthan), or victory banner, representing victory over the mental defilements that lead to suffering. Within the Tibetan tradition a list of eleven different forms of the victory banner is given to represent eleven specific methods for overcoming defilements. Many variations of the dhvaja's design can be seen on the roofs of Tibetan monasteries to symbolyze the Buddha's victory over four maras.

Vajra[edit]

The vajra (Tibetan:dor je), is so central to tantric Buddhism that it is known as the Vajrayana, or diamond way. The vajra also represents a thunderbolt and symbolizes the sudden awakening to the union of the two truths of concentional and ultimate reality.

Swastika[edit]

Buddhism originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BC and inherited the manji or swastika. Also known as a "yung drung"^[8] in ancient Tibet, it was a graphical representation of eternity^[9]. Today the symbol is used in Buddhist art and scripture, known in Japanese as a manji (literally, "the character for eternality" 萬字), and represents Dharma, universal harmony, and the balance of opposites. When facing left, it is the omote (front) manji, representing love and mercy. Facing right, it represents strength and intelligence, and is called the ura (rear) manji. Balanced manji are often found at the beginning and end of Buddhist scriptures (outside India).