The Nyingma Refuge Tree
The subject depicted in this thangka is called guru parampara, a “Line of Teachers.” It depicts the family tree of Nyingma lineage, as it were, and its function is to indicate a line of descent. The meaning of this presentation is to show a refuge for believers. It creates a kind of structure with several deities and teachers in whom devotees take refuge, because they will help believers in the course of their spiritual development. Gurus have always been venerated in
Buddhism, Jainism, Brahmanism and the religion and faith originated in Indian-subcontinent and in many other regions. They show right path to their disciples for emancipation. There are different lineage or guruparampara, in Tibetan Buddhism and this painting, as mentioned above, depicts Nyingma lineage.
Here all the figures of the personages have brought together in and around a tree that stands in the cosmic ocean. The tree is an ancient symbol in Asia. The Buddha attained enlightenment under a Pipal tree. The tree of life is a very popular motif in arts and crafts. This tree has its roots in the life-giving primal waters and rises up by of earth into the higher layers of air, it is crown extending into the universe. Conceptually, the concept “tree” and “mountain” are interchangeable. The cosmic mountain, Mount Meru, where the gods live, is located in the cosmic ocean.
The Nyingma School is the oldest in Tibetan Buddhism. This school was founded by Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) who came to Tibet in the 8th century A.D. at the invitation of then King Trisong Deutsan. It is said that Padmasambhava tamed many local Bon deities and initiated Tantric Buddhist teachings and practices in Tibet. He is still highly revered in Tibet. The honorific title by which he is generally known is Guru Rinpoche, “Precious Teacher.” He is regarded as a major
spiritual ancestor of all Tibetan Buddhists in general and father of the Nyingma Order in particular. Tibetans consider him as a second Buddha. He was deified and incarnated into eight forms, one for each of eight important actions he performed during his lifetime. He gave many Tantric teachings in Tibet. He had many followers and disciples in Tibet among them his twenty-five chief disciples were well known. It is said that Padmasambhava brought a large number of books with him from India, and he also wrote many sadhanas .
Guru Padmasambhava is seated on a lotus in the center of the Refuge Tree in yab yum. He is holding a vajra in his right hand, while his left hand is embracing his consort and holding a skull cup with a small nectar vase. He wears heavy multi-color beautiful monastic robes, a scholar’s hat with half vajra on the top. The consort of Padmasambhava is represented with two
arms and two legs. Both the legs are wrapped around his waist. Her left hand is holding a skull cup, while her right is behind his neck. On the each side of Padmasambhava’s lotus throne, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Red Tara Kurukulla have been depicted.
Growing out from the central lotus are more lotuses. On lotuses in front of Padmasambhava are Buddhas of three times – past, present and future. At their head is Shakyamuni, the Buddha of present age. He is flanked by Kashyapa Buddha and Maitreya Buddha. On the furthest away, back of Padmasambhava, is a great heap of books of the
Dharma sutras, Tantras, and commentaries. They are all wrapped in precious silk cloths and give off rays of light and the sound of the Dharma in the form of teaching and mantras.
On the lotus to the proper right side of Padmasambhava is a great assembly of eight Bodhisattvas. They are all young and attractive, dressed like Indian princes that symbolize the beauty of their practice of generosity and the other perfection. Their bodies give off brilliant light, surging waves of love and compassion. Though all the
Bodhisattvas are in princely costumes, but they are not holding any attributes and that makes their identification a matter of conjecture. However the eight Bodhisattvas are - Kshitigarbha, Akashagarbha, Maitreya, Sarvanirvarana Vishkambin, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani.
On the lotus to the proper left side of Padmasambhava are great Eight Arhats. They are of various ages, dressed in saffron-color monastic robes, and each holds a pinda-patra and the Khakkhara, the sounding staff. The Eight Great Arhats depicted here are -Rahula, Aniruddha, Subhuti, Katyayana, Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, Mahakashyapa and Ananda.
On the lotuses in sky above the Eight Great Bodhisattvas are Lineage Gurus - Jigme Gyalwey Nyugu, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Dodrupchen Kunsang Shenpen, Khenchen Pema Vajra, Thubten Chokyi Dorje/5th Dzogchen Rinpoche, Drodul Kargyi Dorje/Adzom Drukpa? and Gyalsé Shenpen Tayé.
On the lotuses in sky above the Great Eight Arhats are also the Lineage Gurus - Dola Jigme Kalsang, Jigme Tenpey Nyima/3rd Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, Jigme Phuntsok Jungne, Yukhok Chatral, Apang Terton and Patrul Rinpoche.
In the sky directly above Padmasambhava sits Garab Dorje, dressed as a mahasiddha. He is the founder of Dzokchen lineage, a form practice that claims to go beyond schools. However, many of its most important practitioners have been Nyingmapa teachers. Then sits Vimalamitra and above him in the sky is Vajrasattva, in radiant white, holding the vajra to his
heart and vajra-bell to his left side. Moreover, there are a series of Gurus in the sky above Padmasambhava. Finally, at the zenith, between the rainbow lights, sits the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra – symbol of the ever-present potentiality for Buddhahood, which is inherent in the universe, beyond space and time. He is naked and his body is in deep blue color. He is seated in yab yub posture with his white complexioned consort, Samantabhadri. Gods and goddesses are making delightful offering to Padmasambhava and all the Refuges.
On the lowest tier are dakinis and dharmapalas, which includes Yamantaka, Hayagriva, Takyung Barwa, Vajra Heruka, Vishuddha Heruka, Dechen Gyelmo (Queen of Great Bliss), Vajrakilaya and Lion Faced Dakini etc.
Thus, as discussed above, purpose of this presentation is not only a collection of deities and saints, but is also a concentration aid for the believer who can approach the presentation as a mandala, and penetrate to the essence of veneration by way of the various groups of deities and teachers. This type of thangka is often used to give religious instruction to laypersons and those who are uneducated, and has the same didactic function as the bhavachakra or wheel of life. Further
this particular tree portrayal often renders a religious tradition that starts off with the founder of a monastic order, for instance, an abbot or a guru. Because believers take refuge in those who are portrayed on the branches of the tree, with their teacher or head of sect as the central figure. That is why this kind of portrayal is called Tree of Refuge.
This painting is brilliantly drawn and painted. The extended brocade is decorated with good luck symbol bats and stylized flowers. The painting is very much suitable for sadhana and practices.
This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, whose Doctorate thesis is on “Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D.)”. </poem>
For the last time, we shall enter the vast blue sky of sunyata, allowing ourselves to let go of worries and concerns, to drop all limiting concepts, and to expand into the freedom of the unchained mind.
Amid that vast blueness appears a cloud made of rainbow light, pouring its rays into the surrounding sky. Out of this multicolored cloud grows the stem of a great white lotus flower. Seated on the lotus, his body blazing with light, is Guru Padmasambhava - the source of the Nyingma tradition. He is dressed as a king of Zahor, as we saw in Chapter Four,
wearing the three royal robes, holding a golden vajra and a brimming skull cup, and with his khatvanga in the crook of his left arm. The only differences here are that he is seated cross-legged in the vajra posture, and his right-hand does not rest on his right knee but clasps the vajra to his heart.
Growing out from the central lotus towards the four cardinal points are four more lotuses. On the lotus closest to us, in front of Padmasambhava, is a great assembly of Buddhas of the three times - past, present, and future. At their head is Sakyamuni, the Buddha of our own age. He is flanked by Dipankara and Maitreya.
Dlpankara was the Buddha who, long ago, predicted that Sakyamuni would gain Perfect Enlightenment. He is usually depicted in monastic robes and wearing a pandit's cap. Maitreya is the Buddha who will rediscover the path to Enlightenment after the teaching of Sakyamuni has died away.
On the lotus furthest away from us, beyond Padmasambhava, is a great heap of books of the Dharma: sutras, tantras, and commentaries. They are all wrapped in precious silks, and radiate light and the sound of the Dharma in the form of teaching and mantras.
On the lotus to the left of Padmasambhava as we look at it is a great assembly of Bodhisattvas. They are all young and attractive, dressed like Indian princes and princesses, wearing the jewels and silks that symbolize the beauty of their practice of generosity and the other Perfections.
Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri
Their bodies emit brilliant light, and surging waves of love and compassion. They are headed by Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, and Vajrapani.
On the lotus to our right are the great arhats, the enlightened disciples of the Buddha. They are of various ages, dressed in yellow monastic robes, and each holds a begging bowl and the wanderer's staff. They are headed by Sakyamuni Buddha's chief monastic disciples, such as Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, and Ananda.
The Buddhas of the three times, books of the Dharma, Bodhisattvas, and arhats are the embodiments of the Three Jewels in their exoteric form. However, there are yet more figures. The great white lotus on which Padmasambhava sits has three tiers of lotus petals, on which the esoteric Refuges appear in brilliant ranks.
On the tier immediately below Padmasambhava sit the great gurus. The usual practice is to have on this tier those teachers with whom one has a personal connection, by dint of having received teaching or initiation from them. Then in the sky around Padmasambhava appears the gurus of the past, especially those who preserved and transmitted the teachings that one
practices. So we see a great assembly of saintly monks, scholars in pandit's caps, wild-looking yogins, and other people through whose practice and efforts the Dharma has come down to us. Each of them, out of immense kindness, has become an embodiment of the Dharma in their own lives, and made sure that the treasures of Buddhism would be preserved for future generations. They are the living links, forming the golden chain that connects us to the Buddha - a chain that has continued unbroken for two-and-a-half millennia.
On the next tier of the white lotus, below the gurus, appear the great yidams of the four classes of Tantra. These include one or two of the figures we met in Chapter Five, as well as some other yidams specific to the Nyingma tradition. The figures of the Highest Tantra are mainly swathed in flames, clasping their consorts in the close embrace that symbolizes the union of skilful means and wisdom. These figures are the esoteric Dharma Refuge. On the lowest tier are the dakinis and dharmapalas. The ecstatic dakinis dance wildly, full of the blissful inspiration of the Dharma. Prominent
They are also likely to show Cakrasamvara and Vajravarahi prominently positioned among the yidams. For the Gelukpas the central focus is Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of their school. He is dressed in monastic robes and the yellow pandit's cap, holding the stems of lotuses which bloom at his shoulders, supporting the flaming sword and book, which denote that he is considered an emanation of Manjusri. In his heart the figure of Sakyamuni Buddha is often to be seen. (One also finds Geluk Refuge assemblies whose central figure is Sakyamuni, with Vajradhara at his heart.)
Geluk Refuge Trees tend to be less obviously lotus-like than those of other schools. Usually, the central figure sits on a lotus in the sky with figures on a many-tiered lotus below him. In the sky above and to each side of him are ranged a mass of gurus, so that the overall impression is of a kind of cruciform arrangement around the central figure.
In the sky above Tsongkhapa are great gurus from whom the Geluk school particularly draws its inspiration, including several Indian mahasiddhas. To the left, as we look, is the Bodhisattva Maitreya, usually represented with a white stupa or chorten as his emblem. To the right is Manjusri, with the flaming sword and book. They are both surrounded by a sea of gurus. Together they represent the Method and Wisdom lineages respectively, the teachings dealing with compassionate activity and the realization of Emptiness, which were synthesized by Atisa, whose tradition the Gelukpas continue.
Below Tsongkhapa is a great array of figures on a many-tiered lotus. On the highest tiers are the yidams of Highest Tantra such as Yamantaka, Cakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja, Kalacakra, Hevajra, and Vajrayogini. Beneath them appear other figures associated with the three lower classes of Tantra. These tend to be serene and peaceful, as opposed to the flameencircled Anuttarayoga yidams. On the succeeding tiers sit a calm array of Buddhas. A set of thirty-five Buddhas is
often depicted. These are associated with a practice of confession used by those who have taken the Bodhisattva vows, based on a passage in the Upali-Pariprccha Sutra. A set of seven Buddhas, known as Manusi Buddhas (Tibetan Sangye Rapdun) are often included too.
These are Buddhas of past epochs. They are all seated in full-lotus posture, wearing monastic robes, and can be distinguished by their hand-gestures. Vipasyin has both hands on his knees, palms inwards, fingers reaching down in the earth-touching mudra. Sikhin holds his right hand up in front of him in the vitarka mudra of victorious argument, while his left
rests in his lap. Visvabhu holds his hands in the gesture of turning the Wheel of the Dharma. Krakucchanda has his right hand on his knee, palm outwards, in the varada mudra of supreme giving; with his left hand he grasps a fold of his monastic robe. Kanakamuni has his hands in the same positions as those of Buddha Sikhin. Kasyapa has his left hand in his lap, while his right makes the mudra of supreme renunciation, known as the Buddha sramana mudra. The seventh of these Buddhas is Sakyamuni, the Buddha of our current age.
Also frequently included in the assembly of Buddhas is a set of eight Medicine Buddhas (Tibetan Mentha Deshek gye). These Buddhas, who are particularly venerated for their healing powers, are led by the Buddha Baisajyaguru or Baisajyaraja (Tibetan Mentha). Though he is sometimes represented as golden in color, his characteristic colour is blue. Indeed he is also known as Vaiduryaprabharaja ('king of lapis lazuli radiance'). His left-hand rests in his lap in the mudra of meditation, supporting an iron begging bowl. His right hand is at his right knee, palm outwards, offering a sprig of the
myrobalan plant (Latin Terminalia chebula), a healing fruit well-known in Indian medicine. His retinue consists of six other Buddhas who are his brothers in healing, and Sakyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of our epoch, who is sometimes referred to as the Great Physician because he has taught the Dharma, which is the antidote to the sickness of suffering within samsara.
(The Four Noble Truths may even be based on an ancient Indian medical formula of diagnosis, cause, prognosis, and treatment.)
The Medicine Buddha appears in contexts other than the Refuge assembly. In Indian Buddhism there is a tradition of meditation on a mandala of fifty-one figures, of which he is the central one. He also became an important figure in later Chinese Buddhism. According to Raoul Birnbaum, the most common set of figures on the principal shrine in large Chinese
monasteries consists of Sakyamuni flanked by Amitabha to his right and Baisajyaguru to his left (which is symbolically the east, the direction in which the Pure Land of the Medicine Buddha is said to be located). Below the Buddhas are commonly depicted eighteen arhat disciples. These are a set of sixteen arhats mentioned in Indian tradition, with the addition of
their two attendants, Dharmatala and Hva-shang. These disciples of Sakyamuni are credited with having spread the Dharma all over India, up into the Himalayas, and even to the Karakoram. Each has his own individualized iconography.
Finally, on the lowest tiers of the great lotus, come the dakas, dakinis, and dharmapalas. Among the dharmapalas, particular prominence is given to Mahakala and Sridevi.
Below the great lotus stand the Four Great Kings. The lotus is a symbol of the total abandonment of samsara, so only those who have entered upon the transcendental path are represented enthroned on a lotus flower. The kings are commonly shown in full armour. The dharmapalas who are emanations of the dharmakaya generally scorn all protection, frequently going
naked.73 They are immune to being affected by anything mundane, for they have seen right through to its true, illusory nature. However, the lokapalas, though they stand at the summit of mundane existence, still need to protect themselves from its slings and arrows.
