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Not all Wrathful Deities are Protectors, Not all Protectors are Wrathful Deities

"Not All Wrathful Deities are Protectors, Not All Protectors are Wrathful Deities."


To unravel the statement above and to approach some sense of the meaning then there needs to be an understanding of Iconography. In Himalayan and Tibetan style art the study of Tantric Buddhist Iconography involves the combination of six subjects:


1. The Traditional Tantric Buddhist Hierarchy of Figurative Subjects.


2. The Manner of Depicting the Classes of Figures of the Hierarchy.


3. The Three Traditional Descriptive Categories.


4. The Four Tantric Buddhist Activities.


5. The Traditional Categories of Deities According to Function.


6. The Four Classes of Buddhist Tantra.


Some of these subjects have already been partially explored while others have only been hinted at. Over the next few weeks each of the six topics will be dealt with more fully along with lists, definitions and examples for each.