Himalayan Art Resources

Subject: Eight Fears Page

Glossary: Abstract Concepts

Subjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
- Outline Page
- Avalokiteshvara & the Eight Fears (All Forms)
--- Avalokita Eleven Faces, Eight Arms
--- Avalokita One Face, Eight Arms
- Tara & the Eight Fears (single composition & sets)
--- Green Tara
--- White Tara
- Masterworks
- Confusions
- Others...

Video: The Eight Fears

The Eight Fears:
1. Lions
2. Elephants
3. Snakes
4. Ghosts (Kandro)
5. Fire
6. Water
7. Robbers (Barbarians)
8. False Imprisonment

From the Mind Ornament of Padma (page 86) by Dudjom Rinpoche it says:
"Outer obstacles are the sixteen major fears: the [1] earth fear of pride, the [2] water fear of desire, the [3] anger fear of fire, the [4] envy fear of wind, the [5] lightning fear of thunderbolts, the [6] weapon fear of what is sharp and piercing, the [7] tyrant fear of prisons, the [8] enemy fear of bandits and thieves, the [9] ghost fear of flesh-eaters, the [10] wrath fear of elephants, the [11] beast fear of lions, the [12] poison fear of snakes etc., the [13] illness fear of plague etc., the [14] fear of untimely death, the [15] fear of poverty and scarcity, and the [16] fear of vanishing sense pleasures."

Eight Fears Examples:
1. Lions: 40314, 80626, 831, 73430
2. Elephants: 40315, 80627, 833, 90525
3. Snakes: 40317, 80629, 73428
4. Ghosts: (Kandro 40318), 80633, 827, 73431
5. Fire: 40312, 80628, 834, 73424
6. Water: 40313, 80632, 829, 73425
7. Robbers: (Barbarians 40319), 80630, 828, 73427
8. False Imprisonment: 40316, 80631, 830

Alternates:
Armies/Barbarians: 40319, 73426
Kandro/Kandroma (Daka/Dakini): 40318

Jeff Watt [updated 3-2020]

(The images below are only a selection of examples from the links above).