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A Dorje Drolo Page has been added to the Masterworks Main Page.

The Vajrapani Main Page has been updated with additional images and identification of forms.

The Bhutadamara Vajrapani Page has been updated. Bhutadamara originates from several different Tantra texts spanning a number of different Tantra classifications. In the Sakya, Ngor, Tsar, Dzongpa and Jonang Traditions he is especially associated with the larger practices of the meditational deity Shri Hevajra.

The Mahachakra Vajrapani Main Page has been updated. Mahachakra is a complex meditational deity belonging to the highest classification of Tantric Buddhism. He has several variant forms but all retain the essential characteristics of the three faces and six arms.

(from the Mitra Gyatsa) "...above a lotus and sun seat, Brahma and Indra, is Vajrapani with a blue cape, three faces and six hands. The right [face] is white, left red, each with three eyes. With six hands, the first two hold a vajra and a wrathful gesture upraised. The middle two are folded respectfully embracing the consort...possessed of beauty, blue [in colour], holding a curved knife and skullcup. The lower two grasp a snake, at the [level of the] waist, as food. The right leg is bent, left straight." (Description: rgyud sde kun btus, vol.23, folio 215).

The Dorje Drolo Main Page has been updated with additional images and information.

Dorje Drolo is a wrathful emanation of Padmasambhava and most often associated with the set of Eight Main Manifestations and the life story of Guru Rinpoche. He also functions as a guruyoga practice/meditational deity.

For the purpose of subduing daemons and spirits of Tibet and the surrounding Himalayan regions Padmasambhava, at the thirteen mountain retreats each known as the Tiger's Den, appeared as the wrathful Dorje Drolo. At many of these locations Guru Rinpoche left impressions of his feet and hands in the rocks. The Eight Manifestations of Padmasambhava belong to the Revealed Treasure (Terma) of the Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

In the Mahayana Buddhist Tradition, for the standing bodhisattva figure, there is an understood sculptural model, or appearance, that has become standardized over the centuries in Himalayan and Tibetan art. The model used is based on classical Indian ideas of aesthetics grounded in the textual ideas of godly/heavenly appearance along with the influence of numerous cultures and artists for over a millennium.

Principal Standing Bodhisattva Forms:

- Manjushri

- Lokeshvara

- Vajrapani

- Maitreya

- Unidentified Forms



Seated Postures:

- Relaxed Posture

- Thinking Posture (Lokeshvara)

- Others...

The Black Jambhala Main Page has been updated with additional images and information.

The bliss whorl design in Himalayan and Tibetan art can have a similar appearance to the svastika shape. Because of this similarity between the two shapes it is then possible to misidentify the symbol being observed. It is important to know the differences and also the definition and forms of the bliss whorl.

The Svastika - Yungdrung Page has been updated.

The gallery of the Eye Clearing Avalokiteshvara has been updated.

A selection of vajra scepters from various sets of initiation cards (tsakalai). Some such as the yellow and gold are considered peaceful and some like the black or with flames are considered wrathful. There are also double vajras (vishvavajra) and examples paired with bells and other ritual instruments.

A gallery of early paintings of Buddhist teachers spanning the 11th to 14th centuries. In later paintings primarily after the 14th century when large central figures are facing to the right or left it most often implies that the painting belongs to a set of compositions depicting a series of lineage teachers. In those cases the entire set of compositions is intended to be displayed together as a unit - a single work of art made up of many individual compositions.

The images in this gallery appear to be essentially single compositions intended to stand alone. In the Taglung style paintings of Kagyu themes for example the secondary figures at the top are uniformly the early Dagpo Kagyu Lineage. The secondary figures at the sides and bottom register are also fairly uniform and generally include the following figures: miscellaneous lineage teachers, Eight Mahasiddhas, Four Guardian Kings, Chakrasamvara, Vajrayogini, Hayagriva, Aparajita, Jambhala, Mahakala and Shri Devi Dorje Rabtenma.

A gallery of early painted depictions of Padmasambhava spanning the 13th to 16th centuries. Only two of the early works depict Padmasambhava as the central figure. The remaining images present him as a minor figure or within the lineage teachers in the uppermost register of the composition. The vast majority of artworks depicting Padmasambhava are post 17th century.

A page for the 'Revealed Treasure' deity Black Hayagriva Riding a Tiger has been added. More images will be included as they are identified.

A main page for Guru Chowang has been added along with a short biography. More images will be included as they are identified.

A page collecting together images of the Revealed Treasure Traditions of Nyangral Nyima Ozer has been added. More images will be included as they are identified. Five of the examples have depictions of Nyangral along with an accompanying Tibetan name inscription.

A main page for Nyangral Nyima Ozer has been added along with a biography from the Treasury of Lives website.

Krishna Yamari has been added to the Masterworks Index Page.

Samantabhadra The Primordial Buddha, representing the Dharmakaya (truth body of enlightenment) according to the Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Samantabhadra Buddha and Samantabhadra the Bodhisattva are unrelated and not the same subject or entity. The first is a special buddha unique to the Nyingma Tantric Tradition. The second is a bodhisattva that arises from the Mahayana Sutra literature.

Samantabhadra is a bodhisattva known from the Mahayana Sutras. He is most often depicted in art as a member of the group known as the Eight Great Bodhisattvas which include the famous Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani. Unlike those three figures Samantabhadra never gained the same popularity and was not elevated in the Tantric literature to the level of a meditational deity (ishtadevata). Samantabhadra the bodhisattva is unrelated to Samantabhadra the primordial Buddha of the Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.