Refuge Field Paintings - Vertical Lineage
Vertical Lineage: The line of lineage teachers is typically central to a Field of Accumulation painting regardless of tradition. In the text commentaries describing the visualizations and practices the teachers are typically placed either on a flat plane surrounding around a central figure or stacked vertically above the head of the central figure - Vajradhara or Shakyamuni Buddha. Regardless of how the lineage is described in texts, it is very rarely seen or depicted the same way in painting. The three images below each depict a very rare artistic rendering of a vertical lineage of teachers, the figures appearing as if stacked one above the head of another.