Himalayan Art Resources

Padmasambhava: Meditational Forms

Padmasambhava Iconography

Subjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
- Outline
- Eight Forms (Life Story)
--- Dorje Drolo
---
Sengge Dradog
- Revealed Treasure
- Guru Dragpo
--- Guru Dragpur
--- Guru Dragtro
- Ngar Pan Yontan Dzo
- Totrengtsal: Five Forms
- Simhamukha
- Masterworks
- Confusions
- Others...

Padmasambhava is represented in a main form, specialty forms and as a Meditational Deity with numerous forms, peaceful, wrathful, male and female. Meditational forms of Guru Rinpoche are generally defined as not appearing as the main form or the specialty forms also based on the main form. All of these various appearances arise from a genre of religious texts known as 'terma' - Revealed Treasure. The deification of Padmasambhava appears to have been primarily the result of the work of the two early teachers Nyangral Nyima Ozer (1136-1204) and Guru Chowang (1212-1270).

Jeff Watt [updated 8-2013, 8-2018]