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RobeRt beeR

th e ha n d b o o k o f

tibetan buddhist symbols

ExcErpt

ExcErpt

The Handbook of

T i b e t a n b u d d h i s t S y m b o l s

Handbook of Tibetan Buddhis#128 9/1/10 11:23 AM Page i

The Handbook

of

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T i b e t a nb u d d h i s tS y m b o l s

Written and Illustrated by

R O B E R T B E E R

S h a m b h a l a Boston 2003

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Shambhala Publications, Inc.4720 Walnut Street

Boulder, Colorado 80301www.shambhala.com

© 2003 by Robert Beer

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and

retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataBeer, Robert.

The handbook of Tibetan Buddhist symbols / Written and illustrated by Robert Beer.

p. cm.isbn 978-1-59030-100-5eisbn 978-0-8348-4000-3

1. Art, Tibetan—Themes, motives. 2. Symbolism in art—China—Tibet. I. Title: Tibetan symbols. II. Title.

n7346.t5b436 2003704.9'46'09515—dc21

2003045433

Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols ebook_pp00i-xviii 11-17-15_Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols_pp00i-xviii 7-10-03 11/17/15 9:47 AM Page iv

Contents

Acknowledgments ixIntroduction xi

THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUSSYMBOLS 1

The parasol 3The golden fishes 5The treasure vase 6The lotus 7The right-turning conch shell 9The endless or glorious knot 11The victory banner 12The wheel 14

THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUSSUBSTANCES 16

The mirror 19The precious medicine 20The curds or yogurt 21The durva grass 21The bilva fruit 23The right-turning conch shell 24The vermilion powder 24The mustard seed 25

THE FIVE ATTRIBUTES OFSENSORY ENJOYMENT 27

Sight or form 29Sound 29Smell 32Taste 33Touch 34

THE CHAKRAVARTIN 36

The Seven Possessions of the Chakravartinor the Seven Precious Jewels 37

The precious wheel 37The precious jewel 38The precious queen 40The precious minister 40The precious elephant 40The precious horse 41The precious general 41

The Seven Secondary Possessions of the Chakravartin or the Seven AuxiliaryJewels 42

The sword 42The naga skin 43The royal house 43The robes 43The royal gardens 43The throne 44The boots 44

The Seven Jewel Insignia of theChakravartin 46

The unicorn or rhinoceros horn 46The elephant’s tusks 46The queen’s earrings 46The minister’s earrings 46The general’s insignia 46The triple-eyed gem 46The coral branch 46

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SYMBOLIC EMBLEMS ANDOFFERINGS 49

The three jewels 49The three victorious creatures of

harmony 50The four friends or harmonious

brothers 51The six symbols of long life 53The emblem of the three great

bodhisattvas 55The seven water bowl offerings 56The wheel and deer emblem 58

ANIMALS AND MYTHICALCREATURES 60

The elephant 60The deer 62The lion and snow-lion 63The tiger 64The horse and wind-horse 66The four supernatural creatures of the

four directions 67The dragon 69The naga 72The garuda 74The water-monster or makara 77The kirtimukha or face of majesty 78

COSMOLOGICAL SYMBOLS 80

The sun and moon 80The five elements of earth, water, fire,

air, and space 82Mount Meru 82The mandala offering 84

MAIN RITUAL AND TANTRIC IMPLEMENTS 87

The vajra 87The bell 92The crossed-vajra 95The swastika 97

The ritual dagger 98The tantric staff or khatvanga 102The hand-drum or damaru 107The thighbone trumpet 110The skull-cup 110The curved knife 112

WEAPONS 115

The bow and arrow 115The arrow-banner or silk arrow 118The fire-arrow 120The tiger-skin bow case and leopard-

skin quiver 121The flower bow and flower arrow 121The sword 123The shield 124The scorpion-hilted sword 125The scorpion 126The water-knife or wave-bladed knife 127The razor 128The dart or shakti dagger 128The scythe or sickle 129The plowshare or plow 129The trident 130The trident pike or spear 132The caduceus or serpent-trident 133The spear 135The spear-flag 135The javelin 135The harpoon 137The club 137The transverse club or ‘wooden gong’ 139The skull club 140The skeleton club 141The corpse club 142The impaled corpse club 142The forked stick 143The axe 144The hammer 145The foundry hammer and bellows 145The iron hook or goad 146The rope noose or snare 147The flower hook and flower noose 149The serpent noose 149The iron chain 150

Contentsvi

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The chakra or discus 150The wooden pestle 152The brazier 153The mass of fire 153The fire-wheel and wind-wheel 154The firebrand 154The net 154The weapons of Mara’s army 155

THE FIVE MAGICALWEAPONS OF SHRI DEVI 156

The bag of diseases 156The bundle of red curses 157The white and black spotted dice 157The ball of thread 158The demon cross-stick 159

WRATHFUL ATTRIBUTESAND OFFERINGS 161

The head of Brahma 161The severed head 162The garland of severed heads and

skulls 162The severed arm and leg 164Intestines or entrails 164The heart 165The piece of skull 166The cemetery shroud 166The wind-cloth 167The needle and thread 167The sorcerer’s magical horn 168

HAND EMBLEMS ANDRITUAL ATTRIBUTES 169

The lotus 169The golden wheel or dharmachakra 171The conch shell 171The umbrella or parasol 172The victorious banner 172The makara banner 173The wolf, bull, and tiger banner 174The flag 174The silk ribbon 175The triple banderole 176

The jeweled tassel 177The yak-tail flywhisk 177Peacock feathers 178The peacock-feathered fan and mirror 179The peacock-feathered parasol 180The book 180The basket 182The alms-bowl 182The monk’s staff 184The possessions of an ordained monk 185The image of the Buddha 186The stupa or caitya 186The rosary 189The jewel or gem 190The wish-granting gem 192The wish-granting tree 193The crystal 193The gzi stone 194The mongoose 196The golden horsewhip 196The gold earrings and jeweled crown 197The celestial palace 197The incense-burner or censer 197The mirror 198The water-pot or flask 198The ritual vase or flask 199The long-life vase 201The treasure vase 202The treasure box 202The amulet-box 203The basin and bowl 203The lute and vina 204

PLANT ATTRIBUTES 205

The picula fruit 205The citron 205The radish 205The myrobalan fruit 206The ear of corn 206The ear of grain 207The ear of rice 207The bodhi-tree or tree of enlightenment 207Divine trees and flowering branches 208The ashoka tree 208The naga tree 208

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THE REALITY-SOURCE ORDHARMODAYA 209

The wheel of joy 209The reality-source or dharmodaya 209The dharmodaya of Vajrayogini 210

TORMAS AND SYMBOLICOFFERINGS 212

The torma 212The thread-cross 213The ransom offering of an arrow and

spindle 215The wrathful offering of the five senses 215The inner offering 217

HAND GESTURES ORMUDRAS 221

The boon-granting gesture 223The protection gesture 223The gesture of giving refuge 224The earth-touching gesture 224

The wheel of dharma gesture 225The enlightenment gesture 226The meditation gesture 226The palms-folded gesture 227The humkara gesture or gesture

of victory over the three worlds 228The spirit-subduing gesture 228The threatening forefinger 229The mandala gesture 229The cunda gesture 230

APPENDICES 231

Appendix One – The Legend of the Churning of the Ocean 231

Appendix Two – The Five Buddha Families 234

Appendix Three – The Three Kayas 237

Appendix Four – The Channel Wheel System 239

GLOSSARY 245

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Primarily I would like to express my grati-tude to my partner Gill Farrer-Halls for

lovingly taking care of me throughout themany months of solitude in writing this text,and for making many helpful editorial sug-gestions. I express my thanks to AnthonyAris and his wife Marie Laure, and to ShaneSuvikapakornkul of Serindia Publicationsfor their constant encouragement, and toJonathan Green and the staff of ShambhalaPublications in Boston. For financial assis-tance I would like to thank Jane Reed andthe Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation inLondon. The layout and design of this bookwas accomplished with the assistance ofToby Matthews in London, a man of greatskill, diligence, and patience.

Gratitude is expressed to all my manyfriends around this world for their support.In particular I would like to thank AniJampa, Phunsok Tsering, Evan Dvorsek,

David Ford, Liz Specterman, Robert Svo-boda, Marc Baudin, Judy Allan, KhalilNorland, Danah Zohar and Ian Marshallfor their constant friendship and generosity,and to Christina, Thomas, Kali, Mac, andto Mike, Phil, and Leigh of Wisdom Booksin London. I would also like to thank myfriends Edward Henning, Martin Willson,Martin Boord, Ani Tenzin Palmo, Stephenand Martine Batchelor, and Karma Phunsokfor their dedicated work and insight into Va-jrayana Buddhism. My thanks are also ex-pressed to my daughters Carrina and Rosia,and to Helen for bringing such jewels intothis world.

True democracy occurs when soul meetssoul on the open road. There are so manyfine people whom I have met upon this ‘roadof the alone’ that have touched me deeply.They know well who they are, even thoughthey are not all mentioned by name.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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INTRODUCTION

In the summer of 1999 I completed the textof The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols

and Motifs (Boston: Shambhala. & London:Serindia). This book took a long time in itsmaking. The brush drawings alone took al-most eight years to complete, and were cre-ated in a prolonged period of semi-retreat inthe remote Western Highlands of Scotland.By comparison the writing of the text wasrelatively quick and painless. When there ismuch to say words are easy to come by, andperhaps my greatest difficulty was in know-ing when to stop. After writing nearly aquarter of a million words my publisher andeditor ‘brought the chopper down’. Thebook was way past its deadline, and therewasn’t even time left to create an index. ButI felt it was a good and original work, al-though I also felt it was virtually being pre-sented in its first draft.

At the beginning of 2000 I wrote a con-cise pictorial index for Deities of TibetanBuddhism (Willson, M. and Brauen, M.2000. Boston: Wisdom). Martin Willsonspent around fourteen years translating andannotating the Tibetan texts for this work,which covers the abridged descriptions ofjust over five hundred deities. With the al-most simultaneous publication of these twoworks I felt that some original insight had

been presented on the complex symbolismof Vajrayana art.

This Handbook is based on a synthesisfrom the original text of The Encyclopedia,and of the condensed version that appears inDeities of Tibetan Buddhism. Although onlya limited selection of my original drawingsappear in this book, and the scope of thesubject matter has been reduced, I feel thatthis material is now presented in a more ac-cessible and user-friendly format.

I have tried to structure the contents ofthis book into a logical progression, so thatthe many lists of numerical concepts, whichare so characteristic of the Buddhist teach-ings, are gradually introduced into the text.The first five sections of this Handbook cov-ers the main groups of auspicious symbols,offerings, and emblems, many of which ap-peared as the first symbolic motifs of earlyIndian Buddhism. The sixth section dealswith the origins of the main natural andmythological animals that appear in Bud-dhist art. The seventh section deals with thecosmological symbols of the sun and moon,the five elements, Mount Meru, and themandala offering. The eighth section intro-duces the main ritual Vajrayana implementsof the vajra and bell, crossed-vajra, andritual dagger, and the tantric kapalika

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attributes of the khatvanga, damaru, thigh-bone trumpet, skull-cup, and curved knife.The ninth and tenth sections cover the arrayof traditional and magical weapons that aremainly wielded by the semi-wrathful yidamand wrathful protective deities, whilst theeleventh section deals with some of the morenecromantic attributes of these deities. Thetwelfth and thirteenth sections encompassthe spectrum of hand-held implements andplant attributes that are held by many di-verse deities and human teachers. The four-teenth and fifteenth sections deal with someof the more esoteric symbols of VajrayanaBuddhism, including the ‘reality-source’ ordharmodaya, ‘sacrificial cake offerings’ ortormas, and the ‘inner offering’. The six-teenth section completes the text with a de-scription of the main hand gestures ormudras made by the deities.

At the end of the book are four appen-dixes and a glossary. The first appendixrelates the ancient Indian legend of thechurning of the ocean. The second appendixgives a brief outline of the conceptual assem-bly of the Five Buddha Families. The thirdappendix gives a brief explanation of the var-ious kayas or ‘divine bodies’ of the Buddhas.The fourth appendix attempts to briefly ex-plain the complexities of the Buddhist ‘chan-nel wheel’ systems of the Highest YogaTantras, which symbolically relate to thetransmutation of the processes of birth, life,death, and rebirth into the state of supremeenlightenment. The subject matter of theselast three appendixes is extremely profound.Although these subjects are only briefly andinadequately explained here, a deep under-standing of them is vital for a true insightinto the amazingly sophisticated principlesand practices of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Throughout the text I have used the term‘symbol’ to refer to the intrinsic meanings as-cribed to a particular object or attribute. A

more accurate interpretation of this termshould perhaps be ‘purity’, as these attributesessentially represent the enlightened qualitiesor ‘purities’ of the deities. These purities areevocatively expressed in the various ‘Praisesto the Deities’, which were composed bymany great Indian and Tibetan masters overthe last fifteen hundred years. The poeticverses of these beautiful prayers often revealthe reverence, faith, love, and devotion thatthese masters perceived in the deities as theirsources of refuge and inspiration.

Throughout the text I have also used theterms ‘often, usually, frequently, generally,and traditionally’ to refer to particular sym-bolic definitions or descriptions. The use ofthese terms does not stem from an uncer-tainty about a symbol’s meaning or depic-tion, but from the fact that these symbolsoften have iconographical variations accord-ing to different traditions or lineages. To ex-plain these tangential variations is beyondthe scope of this book, although I havesometimes partially attempted to do so inthe more voluminous text of The Encyclope-dia. In Vajrayana iconography the three lev-els of an outer, inner, and secret symbolismare sometimes given, particularly within thepractices of the Highest Yoga Tantras. Thedepths of meaning concealed within theseteachings are extremely profound and multi-faceted. Like a wish-granting gem that re-fracts a myriad rays of rainbow light, thenature of this light is one, although its as-pects of illumination appear to be many.

A similar spectrum of understanding canbe applied to the classical English terms thatare used to describe the various Buddhistlistings of mundane and enlightened quali-ties. These terms, such as the EightfoldNoble Path, the six perfections, and the fourimmeasurables, are all ‘relative’ terms withno easily definable ‘absolutes’. Their mean-ings are essentially inspirational, and as

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subjects of contemplation they continuallydeepen in significance to accord with thepractitioner’s emotional, mental, psychologi-cal, philosophical, and spiritual capacities.In the Buddhist scriptures each of these nu-merical lists may be further subdivided intovarious aspects or components. The six per-fections, for example, are each divided intoa further threefold structure. The ‘absolute’meaning of these terms exists only withinthe enlightened mind, where they sponta-neously manifest as the innate radiance ofthe Buddhas’ infinite clarity, wisdom, com-passion, and love.

The vast pantheon of Buddhist deitiesand their symbolic attributes are purely anencapsulation or visual expression of the en-tire path of the Hinayana, Mahayana, andVajrayana teachings. They can only really beunderstood through a deep comprehensionof these teachings, and they can only be di-rectly realized through the continuity ofprolonged practice, performance, and per-fection. To think that one can understandthem through historical, psychological, orcomparative interpretation is simply not ad-equate. Buddhism is a living tradition thatextends back over two and a half thousandyears, to which thousands of great scholars,philosophers, and practitioners have devotedtheir entire lives and being. These teachingsare perfectly integrated as they are and needno alternative interpretation. They can beapprehended and understood by the humanmind, and herein lies the immaculate beautyof this ‘living tradition’, wherein one ulti-mately realizes that the dharma existsnowhere except in one’s own mind, and thatwhat one has been looking for is in realitywhat is actually looking.

Buddhism evolved within its homeland ofIndia for seventeen hundred years, until theinvading Islamic armies finally destroyed itsgreat monastic academies at the end of the

twelfth century. The tantric transmissions ofVajrayana Buddhism were ‘revealed’ be-tween the eighth and twelfth centuries, andthis period of four hundred years representsthe final blossoming of Indian Buddhist cul-ture. It was during this same period that theBuddhist teachings were being transmittedinto Tibet through Kashmir and Nepal, andtranslated from Sanskrit into Tibetan. Mostof the symbols that appear in Tibetan art areof Indian Buddhist origin, and many of thesesymbols already existed in ancient Indiaprior to the advent of Buddhism itself. Simi-larly all of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, majoryidam and protective deities are of IndianBuddhist origin, and are adorned in the silkrobes and jewel ornaments of Indian royalty,or the bone ornaments and animal skins ofIndian tantric yogins and yoginis.

The indisputable Indian origin of most ofthese symbols inevitably poses the question:“What is it that distinguishes Tibetan Bud-dhism from early Indian Buddhism?” In hisbook The Jewel in the Lotus (London. Wis-dom. 1987), Stephen Bachelor writes: “Intheir presentation of Buddhism the Tibetansdid not diverge greatly from their Indianforerunners in terms of doctrinal content,but in the ways in which they organized thiscontent into systematic stages leading to en-lightenment. It is the logic of the Buddhistpath which is Tibetan, not the individualdoctrines or insights which are arranged inthe light of this logic. What gives TibetanBuddhism its own peculiar flavor, therefore,is not any uniquely Tibetan ingredient, butthe way in which these common Buddhistingredients have been blended together inthe Tibetan mind.”

I have now been involved in the studyand practice of Buddhist art for more thanthirty years, yet never have I ceased to beamazed by all of the incredible wonders andinsights that I have discovered within it.

Introduction

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Like a magic mirror it lights up with mean-ing the longer that you gaze into it, and Ibow down in gratitude before the Enlight-ened Mind that conceived all of this divinebeauty. There are some lines at the end ofSam Mendes’ film American Beauty thatseem to succinctly express this sentiment: “I guess I could be pretty pissed-off aboutwhat happened to me, but its hard to staymad when there’s so much beauty in theworld. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it allat once, and it’s too much. My heart fills up

like a balloon that’s about to burst, and thenI remember to relax and stop trying to holdon to it, and then it flows through me likerain, and then I can’t feel anything but grati-tude for every single moment of my stupidlittle life. You have no idea of what I’m talk-ing about, I’m sure. But don’t worry, youwill someday.”

Robert BeerOxford, England

Easter Sunday 2003

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After a million years of shiningThe sun doesn’t say to the earth –‘You owe me.’Imagine a love like this.

Hafiz

To the memory of John F.B. Miles, Jampafrom Lhasa, Khamtrul Rinpoche, and Sid-dhimuni Shakya – four divine artists whoshone like the sun and who will alwayscontinue to inspire me with their radiance.And to the memory of my dear friendsLayla Norland and Geoffrey Blundell, whodied during the compilation of this text,and to our cat ‘Dread’ who died upon theday of its completion.

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The Handbook of

T i b e t a n b u d d h i s t S y m b o l s

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The eight auspicious symbols (Skt. asta-mangala; Tib. bkra-shis rtags-brgyad)

are the most well known group of Buddhistsymbols, and are traditionally listed in theorder of: (1) a white parasol; (2) a pair ofgolden fishes; (3) a treasure vase; (4) a lotus;(5) a right-spiraling white conch shell; (6) anendless knot or ‘lucky diagram’; (7) a victo-rious banner; (8) a golden wheel.

Originally the eight auspicious symbolsformed an early Indian assembly of offeringsthat were presented to a king at his investi-ture, and are almost certainly of pre-Bud-dhist origin. This early Indian group of eightauspicious objects probably comprised of:(1) a throne; (2) a swastika; (3) a handprint;(4) an entwined knot or hair-curl (Skt. shri-vatsa); (5) a vase of jewels; (6) a water liba-tion flask; (7) a pair of fishes; (8) a liddedbowl. An early south Indian group included:(1) a flywhisk; (2) a pair of fishes; (3) an ele-phant goad; (4) a mirror; (5) a drum; (6) abanner; (7) a water vase; (8) a lamp.

The Jains also adopted a list of eight aus-picious symbols, which probably slightly pre-

dates the Buddhist group. This Jain list com-prised of: (1) a treasure vase; (2) a waterflask; (3) two golden fishes; (4) a swastika;(5) an endless knot; (6) a hair-curl; (7) a mir-ror; (8) a throne. In Nepal the Newar Bud-dhist form of the astamangala replaces thegolden wheel with a pair of flywhisks orchamara (see page 177), and commonlythese eight Newari symbols form a compos-ite vase-shaped arrangement.

In the Buddhist tradition these eight sym-bols of good fortune represent the offeringspresented by the great Vedic gods to Shakya-muni Buddha upon his attainment of en-lightenment. Brahma was the first of thesegods to appear before the Buddha, and hepresented a thousand-spoked golden wheelas a symbolic request for the Buddha toteach through ‘turning the wheel of thedharma’. The great sky god Indra appearednext, and he presented his mighty whiteconch-shell horn as a symbolic request forthe Buddha to ‘proclaim the truth of thedharma’. In Tibetan paintings of the Bud-dha’s enlightenment the supplicating forms

THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUSSYMBOLS

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of four-faced yellow Brahma and whiteIndra are traditionally shown kneeling be-fore the Buddha’s throne, where they offertheir respective symbols of a golden wheeland a white conch. The earth goddessSthavara (Tib. Sa’i Lha-mo), who had bornewitness to the Buddha’s enlightenment, pre-sented Shakyamuni with a golden vase fullof the nectar of immortality.

In early Indian Buddhism the image ofthe Buddha was depicted in an aniconic ornon-representational form, usually by anempty throne under a parasol and bodhi-

tree, or by a stone impression of his di-vinely marked footprints. These footprintsdisplay various auspicious symbols as in-signia of the Buddha’s divinity, such as thevictory banner, lion throne, trident, ThreeJewels, eternal knot, swastika, conch, andpair of fishes, but the most common ofthese insignia were the lotus and the wheel.In early Vajrayana Buddhism the eight aus-picious symbols were deified into eight god-desses, known as the Astamangala Devi,each of whom carry one of the auspicioussymbols as an attribute.

The eight auspicious symbols: top row, from left – the parasol; the golden fishes; the treasure vase; the lotus; bottom row, from left – the right-turning conch shell; the endless knot; the victory banner;

and the wheel.


The Eight Auspicious Symbols 3

In Chinese Buddhism these eight symbolsrepresent the eight vital organs of the Bud-dha’s body: (1) the parasol represents hisspleen; (2) the two golden fishes his kidneys;(3) the treasure vase his stomach; (4) thelotus his liver; (5) the conch his gall bladder;(6) the endless knot his intestines; (7) the vic-tory banner his lungs; (8) the golden wheelhis heart. A similar Tibetan tradition identi-fies these eight symbols as forming the physi-cal body of the Buddha, with: (1) the parasolrepresenting his head; (2) the golden fisheshis eyes; (3) the treasure vase his neck; (4) thelotus his tongue; (5) the wheel his feet; (6) thevictory banner his body; (7) the conch hisspeech; (8) the endless knot his mind.

In Tibetan art the eight auspicious sym-bols may be depicted individually, in pairs,

in fours, or as a composite group of eight.When illustrated as a composite group theyoften assume the simulacra shape of a vase.In this form the treasure vase may be omit-ted, as the other seven symbols embody thesymbolic wealth of this vase in their vase-shaped outline. Designs of these eight sym-bols of good fortune adorn all manner ofsacred and secular Buddhist objects, such ascarved wooden furniture, embellished metal-work, ceramics, wall panels, carpets, andsilk brocades. They are also drawn upon theground in sprinkled flour or colored pow-ders to welcome visiting religious dignitariesto monastic establishments.

THE PARASOL(Skt. chatra, atapatra; Tib. gdugs)

The parasol or umbrella is a traditional In-dian symbol of royalty and protection. Itsshadow protects from the blazing heat of thetropical sun, and the coolness of its shadesymbolizes protection from the painful heatof suffering, desire, obstacles, illnesses, and

The eight auspicious symbols as a composite group. The parasol.


harmful forces. As a symbol of royalty orsecular wealth, the greater the number ofparasols carried in the entourage of a dig-nity, the higher his social rank would ap-pear. Traditionally thirteen parasols definedthe status of a king, and the early IndianBuddhists adopted this number as a symbolof the sovereignty of the Buddha as the ‘uni-versal monarch’ or chakravartin. Thirteenstacked umbrella-wheels form the conicalspires of the various stupas that commemo-rated the main events of the Buddha’s life, orenshrined his relics. This practice was laterapplied to virtually all Tibetan Buddhiststupa designs. The great Indian teacher, Di-pankara Atisha, who revived Buddhism inTibet during the eleventh century, was re-puted to have qualified for a retinue of thir-teen parasols.

As the parasol is held above the head itnaturally symbolizes honor and respect, andit is for this reason that the parasol becamesuch a prominent aniconic symbol in earlyBuddhist art. A jeweled parasol was reput-edly offered to the Buddha by the king of theserpent-spirits or nagas. This parasol wasfashioned of gold, with nectar-emitting jew-els around its edges. It was hung with sweetlytinkling bells, and had a handle made of sap-phire. Images of the Buddha often display anelaborate large white umbrella above hishead, and this ‘large umbrella’ (Skt. atapatra)was later deified into the Vajrayana goddessSitatapatra (Tib. gDugs-dKar). Sitatapatra,meaning the ‘White Umbrella’, is one of themost complex of all Vajrayana deities, with athousand arms, feet, and heads, and a ‘thou-sand million’ eyes. The two-armed form ofthis goddess is often serenely depicted hold-ing her white umbrella above the seated formof the Buddha.

The typical Buddhist parasol is fashionedfrom a long white or red sandalwood handleor axle-pole, which is embellished at its topwith a small golden lotus, vase, and jewel fil-ial. Over its domed frame is stretched whiteor yellow silk, and from the circular rim ofthis frame hangs a pleated silk frieze withmany multicolored silk pendants andvalances. An ornate golden crest-bar withmakara-tail scrolling (see page 77) generallydefines the parasol’s circular rim, and itshanging silk frieze may also be embellishedwith peacock feathers, hanging jewel chains,and yak-tail pendants. A ceremonial silkparasol is traditionally around four feet indiameter, with a long axle-pole that enablesit to be held at least three feet above thehead. Square and octagonal parasols arealso common, and large yellow or red silkparasols are frequently suspended above thethrone of the presiding lama, or above thecentral deity image in monastic assembly-


An elaborate parasol with peacock feathers, jew-eled chains, hanging yak tails, and silk valances.


halls. The white or yellow silk parasol is anecclesiastic symbol of sovereignty, whilst apeacock feather parasol more specificallyrepresents secular authority.

The dome of the parasol represents wis-dom, and its hanging silk valances the vari-ous methods of compassion or skilfulmeans. The white parasol that was pre-sented to the Buddha essentially symbolizeshis ability to protect all beings from delu-sions and fears.

THE GOLDEN FISHES(Skt. suvarnamatsya; Tib. gser-nya)

In Sanskrit the pair of fishes is known by theterm matsyayugma, meaning ‘coupled fish’.This alludes to their origin as an ancientsymbol of the two main sacred rivers ofIndia, the Ganges (Ganga) and Yamuna.Symbolically these two great rivers represent

the lunar and solar channels or psychicnerves (Skt. nadi), which originate in thenostrils and carry the alternating rhythms ofbreath or prana.

In Buddhism the golden fishes representhappiness and spontaneity, as they havecomplete freedom of movement in the water.They represent fertility and abundance, asthey multiply very rapidly. They representfreedom from the restraints of caste and sta-tus, as they mingle and touch readily. Fishoften swim in pairs, and in China a pair offishes symbolize conjugal unity and fidelity,with a brace of fishes being traditionallygiven as a wedding present. As fish were soplentiful in China, and formed an importantpart of the staple diet, the Chinese word yu,meaning both ‘fish’ and ‘great wealth’, be-came synonymous with material prosperity.In the Chinese tradition of feng-shui thekeeping of goldfish is similarly believed toattract wealth.


Various examples of the two golden fishes.


The auspicious symbol of a pair of fishesis common to the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhisttraditions. In ancient Egypt a pair of fishessymbolized the fertile waters of the RiverNile. The early Christians adopted thepaired fishes as an emblem of Christ as the‘fisher of men’, and acrostically interpretedthe letters of the Greek word for fish,ichthys, to mean ‘Jesus Christ, of God theSon and Savior’.

The two golden fishes, a male and a fe-male, are usually depicted symmetrically andin the form of carp, with graceful tails, gills,and fins, and long tendrils extending fromtheir upper jaws. Carp are traditionally re-garded as sacred fish in the orient, on ac-count of their elegant beauty, size, andlongevity, and because of their associationwith certain benevolent deities. The pairedfish are often depicted with their nosestouching, and in Hinduism this is a symbolof the female sexual organ or yoni. A goldenfish is the attribute of the great Indian Ma-hasiddha Tilopa, symbolizing both his real-ization and his ability to liberate beingsfrom the ocean of cyclic existence (Skt. sam-sara). The auspicious symbol of the twofishes that were presented to the Buddhawas probably embroidered in gold threadupon a piece of Benares silk.

THE TREASURE VASE(Skt. nidhana-kumbha; Tib. gter-gyi bum-pa)

The golden treasure vase, or ‘vase of inex-haustible treasures’, is modeled upon thetraditional Indian clay water pot. This pot isknown as a kalasha or kumbha, with a flatbase, round body, narrow neck, and flutedupper rim. This womb-like sacred kumbhais venerated in India at the great religious‘pot festival’ of the Kumbh Mela. This

festival (Skt. mela) is held in rotation everythree years at the cities of Allahabad, Harid-war, Nasik, and Ujain, and commemoratesthe spilling of the divine nectar of the gods(Skt. amrita) at these four sacred sites (seeAppendix 1).

The treasure vase is predominantly asymbol of certain wealth deities, includingJambhala, Vaishravana, and Vasudhara,where it often appears as an attribute be-neath their feet. One form of the wealthgoddess Vasudhara stands upon a pair ofhorizontal treasure vases that spill an end-less stream of jewels. As the divine ‘vase ofplenty’ (Tib. bum-pa bzang-po) it possessesthe quality of spontaneous manifestation,because however much treasure is removedfrom the vase it remains perpetually full.

The typical Tibetan treasure vase is rep-resented as a highly ornate golden vase,with lotus-petal motifs radiating around itsvarious sections. A single wish-grantinggem, or a group of three gems, seals itsupper rim as a symbol of the Three Jewelsof the Buddha, dharma, and sangha. The


The golden treasure vase.


7

great treasure vase (Tib. gter chen-po’ibum-pa), as described in the Buddhist man-dala offering, is fashioned from gold andstudded with a multitude of precious gems.A silk scarf from the god realm is tiedaround its neck, and its top is sealed with awish-granting tree. The roots of this tree in-fuse the contained waters of longevity,miraculously creating all manner of trea-sures. Sealed treasure vases may be placedor buried at sacred geomantic locations,such as mountain passes, pilgrimage sites,springs, rivers, and oceans. Here their func-tion is both to spread abundance to the en-vironment and to appease the indigenousspirits who abide in these places.

THE LOTUS(Skt. padma, kamala; Tib. pad-ma; chu-skyes)

The Indian lotus, which grows from thedark watery mire but is unstained by it, is amajor Buddhist symbol of purity and renun-ciation. It represents the blossoming ofwholesome activities, which are performedwith complete freedom from the faults ofcyclic existence. The lotus seats upon whichdeities sit or stand symbolize their divineorigin. They are immaculately conceived, in-nately perfect, and absolutely pure in theirbody, speech, and mind. The deities manifestinto cyclic existence, yet they are completely

The Eight Auspicious Symbols

Lotuses stylized as peony and chrysanthemum blossoms.


uncontaminated by its defilements, emo-tional hindrances, and mental obscurations.

As a sacred symbol the lotus wasadopted by many of the world’s great civi-lizations, from Egypt to Japan, and widelyincorporated into their arts and architecture.The lotus opens and closes with the sun, andin ancient Egypt the sun was conceived of asrising from an eastern lotus at dawn, andsetting into a western lotus at sunset. Simi-larly Surya, the Vedic sun god, holds a lotusin each of his hands, symbolizing the sun’spath across the heavens. Brahma, the Vedicgod of creation, was born from a golden

lotus that grew from the navel of Vishnu,like a lotus growing from an umbilical stem.Padmasambhava, the ‘lotus born’ tantricmaster who introduced Buddhism intoTibet, was similarly divinely conceived froma miraculous lotus, which blossomed uponDhanakosha Lake in the western Indiankingdom of Uddiyana. The lotus, as a divinewomb or vagina, is a potent sexualmetaphor in both Hindu and Buddhisttantra. Padma and kamala are synonymousSanskrit terms for the ‘lotus’ of the femalevagina, which is soft, pink, and open. Like-wise the vajra is synonymous with the male


Lotus and flower buds.


penis, which is hard and penetrative. Theunion of vajra and padma is a sexual symbolfor the union of form and emptiness, or skil-ful means and wisdom. On an inner levelthis union symbolizes the penetration andascent of the psychic winds into the subtlebody’s central channel, which pierces andopens the ‘lotuses’ of the channel-wheels orchakras (see Appendix 3).

The lotus is the emblem of Amitabha, thered Buddha of the west and the ‘Lord of thePadma or Lotus Family’. Amitabha’s quali-ties are indicative of the redness of fire, vitalfluids, evening twilight, the summer season,and the transmutation of passion into dis-criminating awareness. Amitabha’s consortis Pandara, whose attribute is also a redlotus. Amitabha’s presiding Bodhisattva isPadmapani Avalokiteshvara, the ‘Holder ofthe Lotus’, and the Bodhisattva of greatcompassion.

The Buddhist lotus is described as havingfour, eight, sixteen, twenty-four, thirty-two,sixty-four, a hundred, or a thousand petals.These numbers symbolically correspond tothe internal lotuses or chakras of the subtle-body, and to the numerical components ofthe mandala. As a hand-held attribute thelotus is usually colored pink or light red,with eight or sixteen petals. Lotus blossomsmay also be colored white, yellow, golden,blue, and black. The white or ‘edible lotus’(Skt. pundarika; Tib. pad-ma dkar-po) is anattribute of the Buddha Sikhin, and a six-teen-petaled white utpala lotus is held byWhite Tara. The yellow lotus (Tib. pad-maser-po) and the golden lotus (Tib. gser-gyipad-ma) are generally known as padma, andthe more common red or pink lotus is usu-ally identified as the kamala. The Sanskritterm utpala is specifically identified with theblue or black ‘night lotus’, but its transliter-ated Tibetan equivalent (Tib. ut-pa-la) maybe applied to any color of lotus.

THE RIGHT-TURNING CONCHSHELL

(Skt. dakshinavarta-shankha; Tib. dunggyas-’khyil)

The white conch shell, which spirals to-wards the right in a clockwise direction, isan ancient Indian attribute of the heroicgods, whose mighty conch shell horns pro-claimed their valor and victories in war.


Four examples of white conch shells, with theupper left conch turning toward the left, and the

upper right turning toward the right.


Vishnu’s fire-emanating conch was namedPanchajanya, meaning ‘possessing controlover the five classes of beings’. Arjuna’sconch was known as Devadatta, meaning‘god-given’, whose triumphant blast struckterror in the enemy. As a battle horn theconch is akin to the modern bugle, as an em-blem of power, authority, and sovereignty.Its auspicious blast is believed to banish evilspirits, avert natural disasters, and scareaway harmful creatures.

Vishnu’s fiery conch (Panchajanya) isheld in his upper left hand and paired withthe wheel or chakra in his upper right hand.These two attributes are commonly held bythe first five of Vishnu’s ten avataras or in-carnations: Matsya (the fish), Kurma (thetortoise), Varaha (the boar), Narasingha (theman-lion), and Vamana (the dwarf). In the

Hindu tradition the Buddha is recognized asthe ninth of Vishnu’s ten incarnations. It isperhaps more than coincidental that the twogreat heavenly gods, Indra and Brahma, aretraditionally painted before the Buddha’sthrone offering the attributes of Vishnu’sconch and wheel. Vishnu is also commonlyknown as the ‘great man’ (Skt. mahapu-rusha) or ‘right-hand god’ (Skt. dakshina-deva). These appellations are similarlyapplied to the Buddha, with his right-curlinghair, and his body endowed with the thirty-two auspicious marks of the great man (Skt.mahapurusha-lakshana).

Early Hinduism classified the conch intogender varieties, with the thicker-shelled bul-bous conch being the male or purusha, andthe thinner-shelled slender conch being thefemale or shankhini. The fourfold Hinducaste division was also applied: with thesmooth white conch representing the priestlyor brahmin caste, the red conch the warrioror kshatriya caste, the yellow conch the mer-chant or vaishya caste, and the dull grayconch the laborer or shudra caste. A furtherdivision was made between the commonconch shell, which naturally spirals to theleft and is known as a vamavarta; and themore rare right-spiraling conch shell, whichis known as a dakshinavarta and is consid-ered most auspicious for ritual use. The tipof the conch shell is sawn off to form amouthpiece, and the right-spiraling windpassage thus created acoustically symbolizesthe true or ‘right-hand’ (Skt. dakshina)proclamation of the dharma.

Brahmanism adopted the heroic conch asa ritual symbol of religious sovereignty. Theearly Buddhists similarly adopted it as anemblem of the supremacy of the Buddha’steachings. Here the conch symbolizes hisfearlessness in proclaiming the truth of thedharma, and his call to awaken and workfor the benefit of others. One of the thirty-


White conch shells.


two major signs of the Buddha’s body is hisdeep and resonant conch-like voice, whichresounds throughout the ten directions ofspace. Iconographically the three conch-likecurved lines on his throat represent this sign.

As one of the eight auspicious symbols thewhite conch is usually depicted vertically,often with a silk ribbon threaded through itslower extremity. Its right spiral is indicatedby the curve and aperture of its mouth, whichfaces towards the right. The conch may alsoappear as a horizontally positioned recepta-cle for aromatic liquids or perfumes (see page33). As a hand-held attribute, symbolizingthe proclamation of the Buddhadharma asthe aspect of speech, the conch is usually heldin the left ‘wisdom’ hand of deities.

THE ENDLESS OR GLORIOUSKNOT

(Skt. shrivatsa, granthi; Tib. dpal be’u)

The Sanskrit term shrivatsa means ‘belovedof Shri’. Shri refers to the goddess Lakshmi;the consort of Vishnu, and the shrivatsa isan auspicious mark or hair-curl that adornsthe breast of Vishnu. Lakshmi’s insignia onVishnu’s breast represents the devotion inhis heart for his consort, and since Lakshmiis the goddess of wealth and good fortunethe shrivatsa forms a natural auspicioussymbol. The shrivatsa either takes the formof a triangular swirl, or an upright diamondwith loops at its four inter-cardinal corners.Krishna, as the eighth incarnation of Vish-nu, also bears the shrivatsa at the center ofhis chest.

Another name given to this hair-curl isnandyavarta, which means ‘curl of happi-ness’, and this curl is shaped like a swastikaor a Greek hooked-cross (Gk. gammadion).Indian and Chinese representations of theBuddha frequently show the nandyavarta or

swastika on his breast as a symbol of his en-lightened mind. Another possible derivationof both the endless knot and swastika arosefrom the S-shaped markings on the hood ofthe cobra. This in turn gave rise to the naga-yantra, where two or more entwining snakesform an endless knot design or yantra. Theendless knot or granthi also appears on clayseals from the early Indus valley civilization(circa 2500 BCE). In its final evolution as ageometric Buddhist symbol the eternal knotor ‘lucky diagram’, which is described as‘turning like a swastika’, was identified withthe shrivatsa-svastika, since these parallelsymbols were common to most early Indiantraditions of the astamangala.


Two examples of endless knots with threaded silkscarves.



The eternal, endless, or mystic knot iscommon to many ancient traditions, and be-came particularly innovative in Islamic andCeltic designs. In China it is a symbol oflongevity, continuity, love, and harmony. Asa symbol of the Buddha’s mind the eternalknot represents the Buddha’s endless wis-dom and compassion. As a symbol of theBuddha’s teachings it represents the continu-ity of the ‘twelve links of dependent origina-tion’, which underlies the reality of cyclicexistence.

THE VICTORY BANNER(Skt. dhvaja; Tib. rgyal-mtshan)

The dhvaja, meaning banner, flag, or ensign,was originally a military standard of ancient

Indian warfare. This standard adorned therear of a great warrior’s chariot, and wasmounted behind the great parasol (Skt. ata-patra), or royal parasol (Skt. chatra). Eachstandard bore the specific ensign of its cham-pion or king. Krishna’s chariot was adornedwith a garuda-topped banner. Arjuna’s borethe device of a monkey. Bhisma’s bore theemblem of a palm tree. But primarily thedhvaja was the ensign of Shiva, the great godof death and destruction, whose banner wastopped with a trident. This trident symbol-ized Shiva’s victory over the three worlds, orthe ‘three cities’, which were located above,upon, and below the earth.

In Indian warfare the military banner fre-quently took on horrific forms that were de-signed to instill terror in the enemy. Theimpaled head and flayed skin of an enemy or

Three examples of the victory banner, with the two on the right adorned with a frieze of tiger-skin.



victim was one such gruesome emblem. Theheads and skins of ferocious animals, partic-ularly those of the tiger, crocodile, wolf, andbull, were commonly employed. Large effi-gies were also fashioned of other frighteningcreatures, such as the scorpion, snake, vul-ture, raven, and garuda.

The crocodile-headed banner or makara-dhvaja was originally an emblem of Kama-deva, the Vedic god of love and desire. Asthe ‘tempter’ (Skt. mara), or ‘deluder’ (Skt.maya), Kamadeva was the Hindu counter-part of Mara, the ‘evil one’, who attemptedto obstruct the Buddha from attaining en-lightenment. In early Buddhism the conceptof Mara as a demonic obstructer to spiritualprogress was presented as a group of fourmaras or ‘evil influences’. These four maraswere originally based upon the four divi-sions of Mara’s army: infantry, cavalry, ele-phants, and chariots. The first of these fourmaras is the demon of the five aggregates ofthe personality (Skhanda-mara). The secondis the demon of emotional defilements (Kle-sha-mara). The third is the demon of death(Mrityu-mara). The fourth is the ‘son of thegod Mara’ (Devaputra-mara), or the demonof desire and temptation. It is this fourthmara, Devaputra-mara, who is identified asKamadeva, the ‘king of the gods of the high-est desire realm’. The Buddha is said to havedefeated the sensual temptations of Kama-deva in the dusk before his enlightenment bymeditating upon the ‘four immeasurables’ ofcompassion, love, sympathetic joy, andequanimity. At dawn he overcame both themara of the aggregates and the mara of de-filements. But it was only three months be-fore the end of his long life that he finallyovercame the mara of death, through thepower of his fearless resolve to enter into theultimate nirvana (parinirvana).

As a symbol of the Buddha’s victory overthe four maras, the early Buddhists adopted

Kamadeva’s emblem of the crocodile-headedmakaradhvaja, and four of these bannerswere erected in the cardinal directions sur-rounding the enlightenment stupa of theTathagata or Buddha. Similarly the godselected to place a banner of victory on thesummit of Mt Meru, to honor the Buddha asthe ‘Conqueror’ (Skt. jina; Tib. rgyal-ba)who vanquished the armies of Mara. This‘victorious banner of the ten directions’ is de-scribed as having a jeweled pole, a crescentmoon and sun finial, and a hanging triple-banderole of three colored silks that are dec-orated with the ‘three victorious creatures ofharmony’ (see pages 50 and 176).

Within the Tibetan tradition a list ofeleven different forms of the victory banneris given to represent eleven specific methodsfor overcoming defilements. Many varia-tions of the banner’s design can be seen onmonastery and temple roofs, where fourbanners are commonly placed at the roof’scorners to symbolize the Buddha’s victoryover the four maras. In its most traditionalform the victory banner is fashioned as acylindrical ensign mounted upon a longwooden axle-pole. The top of the bannertakes the form of a small white parasol,which is surmounted by a central wish-granting gem. This domed parasol isrimmed by an ornate golden crest-bar withmakara-tailed ends, from which hangs abillowing yellow or white silk scarf. Thecylindrical body of the banner is drapedwith overlapping vertical layers of multi-colored silk valances and hanging jewels. Abillowing silk apron with flowing ribbonsadorns its base. The upper part of thecylinder is often decorated with a frieze oftiger-skin, symbolizing the Buddha’s vic-tory over all anger and aggression. As ahand-held ensign the victory banner is anattribute of many deities, particularly thoseassociated with wealth and power, such as



Vaishravana, the Great Guardian King ofthe north.

THE WHEEL(Skt. chakra; Tib. ’khor-lo)

The wheel is an early Indian solar symbol ofsovereignty, protection, and creation. As asolar symbol it first appears on clay seals un-earthed from the Harappan civilization ofthe Indus valley (circa 2500 BCE). The wheelor chakra is the main attribute of the Vedicgod of preservation, Vishnu, whose fiery six-spoked Sudarshana-chakra or discus repre-sents the wheel of the phenomenal universe.The wheel represents motion, continuity,and change, forever turning onwards likethe circling sphere of the heavens. As aweapon the rimless chakra had six, eight,

ten, twelve, or eighteen sharply pointedblades, and could be hurled like a discus orswung upon a rope. The wooden wheels ofthe ancient India chariot similarly bore anequal number of spokes.

Buddhism adopted the wheel as the mainemblem of the ‘wheel-turning’ chakravartinor ‘universal monarch’, identifying thiswheel as the dharmachakra or ‘wheel ofdharma’ of the Buddha’s teachings. The Ti-betan term for dharmachakra (Tib. chos-kyi’khor-lo) literally means the ‘wheel of trans-formation’ or spiritual change. The wheel’sswift motion represents the rapid spiritualtransformation revealed in the Buddha’steachings. The wheel’s comparison to the ro-tating weapon of the chakravartin representsits ability to cut through all obstacles and il-lusions. The Buddha’s first discourse at theDeer Park in Sarnath, where he first taughtthe Four Noble Truths and the EightfoldNoble Path, is known as his ‘first turning ofthe wheel of dharma’. His subsequent greatdiscourses at Rajghir and Shravasti areknown as his second and third turnings ofthe wheel of dharma.

The three components of the wheel -hub, spokes, and rim - symbolize the threeaspects of the Buddhist teachings uponethics, wisdom, and concentration. The cen-tral hub represents ethical discipline, whichcenters and stabilizes the mind. The sharpspokes represent wisdom or discriminatingawareness, which cuts through ignorance.The rim represents meditative concentra-tion, which both encompasses and facilitatesthe motion of the wheel. A wheel with athousand spokes, which emanate like therays of the sun, represents the thousand ac-tivities and teachings of the Buddhas. Awheel with eight spokes symbolizes theBuddha’s Eightfold Noble Path, and thetransmission of these teachings towards theeight directions.The eight-spoked golden wheel.


The auspicious wheel is described as beingfashioned from pure gold obtained from theJambud River of our ‘world continent’, Jam-budvipa. It is traditionally depicted witheight vajra-like spokes, and a central hubwith three or four rotating ‘swirls of joy’(Tib. dga’ ’khyil), which spiral outward like aChinese yin-yang symbol. When three swirlsare shown in the central hub they representthe Three Jewels of the Buddha, dharma, andsangha, and victory over the three poisons ofignorance, desire, and aversion. When fourswirls are depicted they are usually colored to

correspond to the four directions and ele-ments, and symbolize the Buddha’s teachingsupon the Four Noble Truths. The rim of thewheel may be depicted as a simple circularring, often with small circular gold embellish-ments extending towards the eight directions.Alternatively it may be depicted within an or-nate pear-shaped surround, which is fash-ioned from scrolling gold embellishmentswith inset jewels. A silk ribbon is oftendraped behind the wheel’s rim, and the bot-tom of the wheel usually rests upon a smalllotus base.


Two eight-spoked golden wheels to the right and left, with a sixteen spoked double wheel at the center.


The eight auspicious substances (Skt.astamangaladravya; Tib. bkra-shis

rdzas-brgyad) or ‘bringers of good fortune’form the second main group of early Bud-dhist symbols. They consist of: (1) a mirror;(2) precious medicine; (3) yogurt or curds;(4) durva grass; (5) bilva fruit; (6) a whiteconch shell; (7) cinnabar or vermilion pow-der; (8) mustard seed. Like the eight auspi-cious symbols, these eight items are probablyalso of pre-Buddhist origin and were adoptedinto early Buddhism during the period of itsinitial inception. They represent a specificgroup of offerings that were presented to theBuddha as symbols of his Eightfold NoblePath of right view, thought, speech, action,livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and medita-tion. Like the eight auspicious symbols, theeight auspicious substances were later deifiedin Vajrayana Buddhism to form a group ofeight offering goddesses.

The mirror represents the radiant offer-ing goddess of light, Prabhavati (Tib. ’Od-’chang-ma), who presented Shakyamuniwith a stainless mirror, symbolizing both the

clarity of his realization and the unerringkarmic vision of all his previous lives. Themirror represents right thought or analysis,as it truthfully reflects all things as they are,without favoritism, prejudice, delusion, ordistortion.

The medicine (Skt. gorochana), derivedfrom the vital glands in the forehead of anelephant, represents the great guardian ele-phant Dhanapala (Tib. Nor-skyong), whoprotected the meadows at Bodh Gaya wherethe Buddha attained enlightenment. Thismedicine represents right mindfulness, as itcures the disease of ignorance, which is theroot cause of all suffering.

The curds represent the offering of milkrice that the farmer’s virtuous daughter

THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUSSUBSTANCES

Facing page: Various examples of the eight auspi-cious substances. The mirror (top row); the medi-cine (second row); the yogurt (third row); thedurva grass (fourth row); the bilva fruit (fifthrow); the conch (sixth row); the vermilion pow-der (seventh row); and the mustard seed (bottomrow).

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The Eight Auspicious Substances 17



Sujata (Tib. Legs-skyes-ma) presented to theBuddha before he sat under the bodhi-tree.The curds represent right livelihood, as it isfree from any impurity and is producedwithout harming any living creature.

The durva grass represents the eight arm-fuls of grass that were presented to the Bud-dha as a meditation seat by the grass-cutter

Mangala (Tib. bKra-shis). Durva grass is asymbol of longevity and tenacity, and repre-sents right effort as the enduring resolve topractice the dharma.

The bilva fruit was presented to Shakya-muni by the god Brahma, and representsright action as the fruition of all virtuousactivities.

Bowl containing the mirror, yogurt, bilva fruit, and durva grass (top left corner); bowl containingconch, medicine, vermilion, and mustard seed (top right corner). Immediately below are a cluster of

jewels with the eight auspicious substances behind them. At the bottom center is a bowl containing theeight auspicious substances, with a futher bowl of the eight auspicious substances to the right, and a

bowl containing the five sense offerings to the left.



The white right-spiraling conch shell waspresented to the Buddha by the god Indra,and represents right speech as the proclama-tion of the Buddhadharma.

The tilaka or sacred mark of redcinnabar was applied to the Buddha’s fore-head by the Brahmin astrologer Jyotisharaja(Tib. sKar-rgyal), and represents right con-templation as the samadhi of one-pointedmeditative equipoise.

The white mustard seed was presented tothe Buddha by Vajrapani, the great Bodhi-sattva of power, and represents right view as the ability to annihilate all false views ornotions.

The eight auspicious substances listedabove also represent the four karmas or ac-tivities of an enlightened being. The mirror,medicine, and curds represent peaceful activ-ities. The durva grass, bilva fruit, and conchshell represent activities of increase. The redvermilion powder represents the activity ofsubjugation, and the mustard seed repre-sents wrathful or destructive activity.

Like the eight auspicious symbols theseeight precious objects may be represented in-dividually, with each object appearing aloneor in a separate bowl. They may also be col-lectively grouped behind rows of offeringjewels, in the branches of a small wish-granting tree, or in a shallow bowl or tray.

THE MIRROR(Skt. darpana, adarsha; Tib. me-long)

The mirror, as the reflective ‘witness’ of light,represents form as the sense faculty of sightand the sense organ of the eye. Its function isto enable one to see oneself clearly, and as acosmetic accessory or household object itsauspicious importance is obvious. In Bud-dhism the mirror is a perfect symbol ofemptiness or pure consciousness. The mirror

reflects all objects impartially, and yet re-mains completely unaffected by the imagesthat arise in it. It reveals all phenomena to bevoid in essence. Like a ‘passing show’ it re-flects all objects of the phenomenal world,but reveals them to be without substance.

In the ancient Indian ritual of abhisheka,meaning ‘consecration by sprinkling’, sacredimages or ritual objects were ritually bathed,or consecrated by sprinkling. Pouring waterover a mirror that reflected the image alsocleansed the reflection of the sacred image.This rite is known as pratibimba, which liter-ally means ‘reflected’. In Tibet this ritual isknown as the ‘divine ablution’ (Tib. khrus-gsol), where water is sprinkled over the re-flected image of a statue or thangka. Thewater, having bathed the form of the deity, isthen considered to be consecrated water.

The mirror that the offering goddessPrabhavati presented to the Buddha was ab-solutely clear, flawless, bright, and untar-nished. As a symbol of the enlightened mindit reflected everything perfectly, without dis-tortion or impediment. Artistically the mir-ror is depicted as a small white or silver disc,with its perimeter usually decorated with athin circular golden frame. A small centralcircle and four directional circles are ofteninscribed upon its surface, symbolizing theenlightened qualities and wisdoms of theFive Buddhas.

The mirror.


THE PRECIOUS MEDICINE(Skt. gorochana; Tib. gi-wang)

The precious medicine is derived from theintestinal-stones or gallstones that are foundin certain animals, particularly elephants,bears, and cattle. The Sanskrit term goro-chana refers specifically to the stones or ‘be-zoars’ found in cattle (Skt. go), such as thebull, cow, ox, and yak. The presence of be-zoars is reputedly indicated by the snoringor nocturnal sounds that the animal makesin its sleep.

A Vedic legend relates how the god Indraonce cast the five precious minerals: gold,silver, coral, pearl, and sapphire or tur-quoise, into the great ocean. These precioussubstances were eventually consumed by ele-phants, bears, snakes, frogs, vultures, geese,and pigeons, which then formed bezoarswithin their bodies. The intestinal stones ob-tained from these creatures consequentlypossess different colors and potencies. Theirmedicinal properties are reputed to counter-act poisoning, promote clear thoughts, andalleviate fevers and contagious diseases. Thesuperior, mediocre, and inferior forms ofthese stones are reputed to respectively cureseven, five, or three patients who have beenpoisoned.

The word ‘bezoar’ is derived from thePersian pad-zhar, meaning ‘protectingagainst poisoning’, and its general meaningis ‘antidote’. In medieval European medical

traditions animal bezoars were highly es-teemed as an antidote against the rathercommon practice of poisoning. Of particu-larly value were the ‘oriental bezoars’ ob-tained from the East, which consisted oforganic resin layers formed around a smallforeign body. The common Indian antelopeis known as the bezoar antelope, and thewild Persian goat as the bezoar goat. It is re-puted that in Turkestan bezoars were ritu-ally worshipped to bring rain. In Tibet smallmineral stones, of a white or orange color,are found at hot springs as calcium and sul-phur accretions. These calcified stones or‘pills’ (Tib. ril-bu) are believed to possesssimilar medicinal qualities to animal be-zoars.

It is believed that the finest quality ofgorochana is obtained from the brain or fore-head of an elephant, and the second bestquality is obtained from the stomach of acow. In size and appearance gorochana issaid to resemble the yellow yoke of a boiledegg. The yellow pigment obtained from it isused as a tonic and sedative, and may also beapplied as a sacred mark or tilaka to the fore-head. When mixed with honey and applied tothe eyes, gorochana is believed to bestowclear vision, enabling one to perceive all ofthe treasures of the world. Similarly the grayor white stone obtained from the crown of aking cobra’s head is believed to enable asnake charmer to control all lesser serpents,and bestows immunity against their venom.The occidental ‘toadstone’, obtained fromthe skull of an old toad, was similarly cred-ited with the antidotal qualities of serum.

In Tibetan art this precious medicine isrepresented in many different ways. It ap-pears in the form of pills, or in the shape ofan egg, bean, spiral, fruit, gland, or fungus.It is usually colored white or yellow, and iscommonly illustrated as a solid oval shapesuspended in a viscous white liquid.


The precious medicine.



THE CURDS OR YOGURT(Skt. dadhi; Tib. zho)

Curds have always been regarded as a pureand nourishing dietary supplement in India.In the Ayurvedic medical tradition curds arehighly esteemed as a digestive stimulant, andare traditionally prescribed as a remedy fordiarrhea and emaciation. Curds made fromcolostrum, the first milk that a cow givesafter delivering a calf, are considered espe-cially regenerative. The pure white nature ofcurds symbolizes spiritual nourishment andthe abandonment of all negative actions.The ‘three white substances’, milk, curds,and ghee, which are derived from the sacredcow are viewed as the concentrated essenceof plants, and are widely employed as puri-fying ingredients in many tantric rituals.

As one of the eight auspicious sub-stances, curds symbolize the forty-nine-mouthful meal of milk-rice, which thefasting Buddha received from the cowherdgirl, Sujata. This meal provided the fastingBuddha with the strength to attain enlight-enment under the bodhi-tree, and to recog-nize with clarity the truth of the ‘middleway’. For this reason white curds or ‘nectar’are often represented within the blue alms-bowl of the Buddha.

As a cool, heavy, creamy, smooth, andsoft substance, curds personify the phleg-matic (kapha) humor or constitution of thewater element. Because of this the eating ofcurds was not medically advised during thehot Indian summer and rainy season. TheIndian monsoon, which occurs during themonths of July and August, was tradition-ally a period in which the Buddhist sanghawould undergo a seasonal meditation re-treat. Curds were ritually consumed as thefirst celebratory meal after this rainy seasonretreat ended. In Tibet this tradition foundcontinuity in the Zhoton or ‘curd festival’,

held at great monasteries such as Sera andDrepung, where the monks would be servedcurds at the end of their hundred-day sum-mer retreat.

The ‘three whites’ of milk, curds, andghee, form three of the ‘five nectars’ ob-tained from the sacred cow, with the othertwo being urine and dung. For ritual pur-poses the cow’s urine and dung are collectedin vessels before they touch the ground, andare then mixed with the three white sub-stances in a bronze bowl. This mixture isthen boiled. When cool the upper scum andlower sediment of this viscous liquid are dis-carded, leaving only the middle section,which is then spread and dried in the sun.The dried powder is then blended with saf-fron and made into small pills. In Tibet thesepills (Tib. ril-bu) are employed in ritualpractices, together with consecrated medici-nal pills, known as dutsi (Tib. bdud-rtsi).The sacred cow, from which the five nectarsare obtained, should be pregnant, of agolden or orange color, and endowed withintestinal stones or bezoars, from which theprecious medicine gorochana is obtained.

THE DURVA GRASS(Skt. durva; Tib. rtsva dur-ba)

Durva, durba, or darbha grass is a commongrass with a variety of names. In the West it

The yogurt.



is known as Bermuda grass (Capriola dacty-lon), Bahama grass, scutch grass, or devilgrass, and is commonly grown as pasturage.In the East it is identified as ‘panic grass’(Panicum dactylon) or ‘bent grass’. It alsogrows as a white species of grass, known inSanskrit as chanda. Durva grass is veryhardy, and grows as a ground-trailing grasswith knotty stalks culminating in leafyheads. Its natural habitat is marsh or wet-lands, but such is its durability that evenwhen dry it will put out new shoots on con-tact with water.

Durva grass was a prerequisite ingredientin the Vedic sacrifice or yagna. The Vedicaltar itself was constructed of cow dungbricks bound together with knots of durvagrass. In rites to propitiate the gods theVedic priest often wore a finger ring wovenfrom stalks of durva grass, representing thesacred knot or hair-curl (Skt. shrivatsa) ofVishnu.

The sacredness of durva grass originatesfrom the accidental spilling of the amrita or‘nectar of immortality’ during the legendarychurning of the ocean, when a few drops ofthis nectar fell onto durva grass. A similarlegend concerns the sacredness of kushagrass (Poa cynosoroides), where Garudasteals the vessel of amrita in order to ransomhis mother who has been imprisoned by hisenemies, the naga serpents. Garuda secretly

deposits this ransom vessel in a grove ofkusha grass, but his deceitful act is wit-nessed by the god Indra, who swiftly re-moves the vessel of amrita from the grasp ofthe nagas. In their eagerness to consume theamrita, the nagas mistakenly identify the di-vine scent of the nectar with the kusha grass,and as they licked the sharp edges of thegrass their tongues split into the forkedtongues of serpents (see Appendix 1).

Durva and kusha grass became synony-mously sacred, and both are commonlyknown as darbha grass. Kusha grass is a longbrush-like grass, which grows to around twofeet in height. In India a bundle of kushastalks are bound together with a handle ofcoiled rope to produce the common house-hold broom. Traditionally kusha grass wasused to purify defilements, and Brahminswould sleep in a grove of kusha grass whenritual purification was required. The sharppoints of a stalk of kusha grass proverbiallysymbolize a keen intellect, and in Buddhismthe grass is believed to enhance the clarity ofvisualization and meditation. In many tantricinitiations, such as the Kalachakra, twostems of kusha grass are employed to revealclear dreams on the night prior to the initia-tion, with a long stalk being placed length-wise under the mattress, and a short stalkplaced horizontally under the pillow. Kushagrass soaked in water often provides the con-secrated water used for oblations, and thesacrificial homa fire is initially kindled with abundle of dried kusha grass.

On the eve of his enlightenment the fu-ture Buddha approached the sacred bodhi-tree, which stood within a meadow of softgrass. Here he was approached by the grass-cutter Mangala, who offered him eight arm-fuls of kusha grass as a meditation seat.From Vedic times a mat of woven kushagrass (Skt. kushasana) served as a sacredmat in religious ceremonies, and the BuddhaThe durva grass.



was observing an age old tradition in usingkusha grass as his seat or asana. Icono-graphically many Buddhist ascetics, yogins,and siddhas are depicted seated upon suchwoven kusha grass mats. The ancient capitalof the Malla kingdom, where the Buddha at-tained his final parinirvana, is known asKushinagara, which means ‘the city of kushagrass’. Artistically, both durva and kushagrass are represented with many stylisticvariations in Tibetan art.

THE BILVA FRUIT(Skt. bilva; Tib. bil-ba)

The bilva fruit (Aegle marmelos) is alsoknown as the bel or bael fruit, and as theBengal quince. It is a round fruit about thesize of a large orange, with a hard skin and adappled reddish-brown color. When Britishbotanists were first confronted by the bewil-dering array of exotic Indian fruits during theearly nineteenth century, they chose to re-name many of these fruits in the then fash-ionable manner of the English apple, creatingsuch names as the pineapple, custard apple,rose apple, and thorn apple. The bilva fruit,with its tough woody skin, was appropriatelynamed the ‘wood apple’. Medicinally it is apotent astringent, and highly regarded for itspurifying qualities in traditional Ayurvedicand Indian folk medicine. The unripe interiorof the fruit, especially when boiled as apreservative jam, was the best-known curefor diarrhea and dysentery.

In ancient India the bilva was regardedas the most sacred of all fruits, and wasused as the main food offering to the templedeities. Only in comparatively recent timeshas the coconut superseded the bilva as theprincipal fruit of religious offering, or as asymbol of self-surrender. The bilva tree issacred to many Hindu deities, particularly

Shiva, Parvati, Lakshmi, Durga, and Surya.In an early Hindu legend the bilva tree issaid to have originally germinated from thedrops of sweat that fell from the foreheadof the goddess Parvati onto Mt Mandara,the sacred hill that was used to churn theocean in the Vedic creation legend. Its trifo-liate leaves symbolize both the trinity ofBrahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (as creator, pre-server, and destroyer), and the trident ofShiva. The tree is especially sacred to Shiva,who is often represented with a trifoliatebilva leaf crowning his matted hair. Wetbilva leaves are also traditionally placedupon the phallic stone symbol or lingam ofShiva as a cooling offering during the heatof an Indian summer. The tree is also theabode of the various shaktis or emanationsof Shiva’s consort Parvati, and the breast-like fruit of the bilva is believed to containthe milk of the great mother goddesses ormatrikas. The bilva fruit is also known asshriphala, meaning ‘the fruit of Shri’, whichis another name for Lakshmi, the goddessof wealth and prosperity.

Much of the Shaivite and Shakti sym-bolism applied to the bilva arose during thelater Hindu tantric period, at a far later date than the time of Shakyamuni Buddha.But whatever its pre-Buddhist symbolismmay have been, the bilva has been endur-ingly regarded as the most sacred of allfruits. Brahma, the Vedic god of creation,

The bilva fruit.



is said to have presented Shakyamuni withthe bilva fruit, and in this gesture of vener-ation and supplication he humbles himselfbefore a wisdom-enlightenment greater thanhis own. Brahma is traditionally representedoffering the golden wheel to Shakyamuni,but occasionally a tray containing bilva fruitmay replace the wheel. In Tibetan art thebilva is often represented as a group of threefruits, symbolizing the Three Jewels. It isgenerally depicted like a pomegranate with a rounded nipple-like tip, and its trifoliateleaves may be depicted in a variety of styl-ized forms.

THE RIGHT-TURNING CONCHSHELL

(Skt. dakshinavarta-shankha; Tib. dunggyas-’khyil)

The right-spiraling white conch shell sym-bolizes the Buddha’s proclamation of thedharma, as previously described amongstthe group of eight auspicious symbols (seepage 9). This conch was presented to theBuddha by the great sky god Indra, who istraditionally depicted in Buddhist iconogra-phy holding this attribute in supplicationbefore the Buddha. In this form Indra isidentified as Shakra, the king of the gods, oras Shatakratu, an epithet of Indra meaning‘mighty’ or ‘one who has performed the sac-rifice a hundred times’.

THE VERMILION POWDER(Skt. sindura; Tib. li-khri)

A Brahmin named Jyotisharaja, meaning‘king of astrologers’, was said to have pre-sented the vermilion powder to the Buddha.This orange or red powder is sometimesidentified as cinnabar (Tib. cog-la-ma) ornatural vermilion (Tib. mtshal), which areboth forms of mercuric sulphide derivedfrom naturally occurring mineral deposits.Mercury is extracted from cinnabar by aheating process, which separates it from itssulphur content. Recombining sulphur andmercury to produce crystalline cinnabar canchemically reverse this process. The transmu-tation of cinnabar into mercury and backinto cinnabar revealed the mutability of theelements, and gave birth to both the Indianand Chinese traditions of alchemy.

In Sanskrit vermilion powder is knownas sindura, and is identified as the mineral‘red lead’ or minium, the red oxide of leadused as a pigment. The Tibetan materiamedica identifies three forms of minium(Tib. li-khri): coarse minium from stones,soft minium from earth, and minium ex-tracted from wood. A more general interpre-tation of the word sindura defines it as redlead, cinnabar, vermilion, or sacred ash.

Both cinnabar and minium have beenused as mineral pigments since ancienttimes. In India sindura is the orange or redpowder that is used to adorn sacred images,

The vermilion powder.The right-turning conch shell.



and for a variety of other religious purposesand rituals. Along with turmeric or yellowsaffron (Skt. kumkum), red sandalwood(Skt. chandan), and white ash (Skt. vibhuti)made from burnt cow dung, sindura is usedto apply the sacred marks or tilaka to theforeheads of devout Hindus. Traditionally acircular red dot or tilaka of sindura on theforehead of a married woman indicates thather husband is still alive and that she is nota widow. Such a mark provides an impor-tant visual statement in the social order oforthodox Hindu society. The marking of theforehead or other parts of the body datesback to the Vedic period, and elaborate sys-tems of caste and sect marks have developedover the course of time. The marking or‘sealing’ with a tilaka is one of the meaningsof the Sanskrit term mudra.

Vermilion powder was certainly of greatritual significance during Buddha’s time. Itsred color symbolizes power, especially themagnetizing power of love and desire, per-sonified as menstrual blood. In VajrayanaBuddhism the color red is assigned to certainsubjugating and fertility goddesses, such asRed Kurukulla, Lakshmi, and Vasudhara.Vermilion powder is used in the creation ofsand mandalas, and as a pigment in the dec-oration of many secular and religious arti-facts. In Chinese symbolism vermilion andgold are regarded as the two harmoniouscolors of joy and prosperity.

THE MUSTARD SEED(Skt. sarshapa; Tib. yungs-’bru)

The wrathful form of Vajrapani, the Bod-hisattva of power, was said to have offeredmustard seed to the Buddha. Mustard seedwas a common household commodity at thetime of the Buddha, as illustrated by hisparable of asking a distressed and recently

bereaved mother to obtain some mustardseed from a house in which no one had died.Every householder possessed mustard seed,but none had been spared the grief of be-reavement, and as she listened to their har-rowing stories the woman’s own distresscame to be alleviated.

Mustard seed was cultivated to produceoil for cooking and for fuelling oil lamps. Itoccurs in two varieties, white mustard (Tib.yungs-dkar), and black mustard (Tib. yungs-nag). In ancient India mustard seed was con-sidered as a magical substance that couldhelp counteract all hindrances and inauspi-cious turns of fate. This common belief is re-vealed in the Buddha’s advice to the motherwho wanted her baby to be brought back tolife. Mustard seed was one of the sacrificialingredients offered to Agni, the Vedic fire-god, during the sacred fire ritual or homa,where its function was to remove all inauspi-cious hindrances. In both the Hindu andBuddhist tantric traditions it was consideredto be a wrathful substance that could be usedin destructive rites against all negativities,which arise in the form of obstructivedemons. Mustard seed may be empoweredwith mantras of exorcism, and then burnedor cast away to annihilate ghosts or malig-nant spirits. A certain form of spirit thatpossesses young children is known as a sar-shaparuna, or ‘red mustard’ demon, referringperhaps to scarlet fever. Mustard seed is oneof the main ‘magical ingredients’ (Tib. thun)used in ritual weapons against harmful

The mustard seed.


spirits during Vajrayana rituals of destructiveactivity. These weapons may take the form ofa sacrificial ‘cake offering’ (Tib. gtor-ma), askull cup, or an ox or yak horn engravedwith the images of poisonous creatures, suchas the snake, scorpion, and frog. Mustardseed is also used in Tibetan rituals of weathercontrol, where hailstorms may be either con-jured forth or prevented.

In his book Oracles and Demons ofTibet, Nebesky-Wojkowitz describes a Ti-betan magical weapon known as the ‘mill ofYama (Tib. gShin-rje)’, the ‘Lord of theDead’, which was located at Khardo Gompanear Lhasa. This weapon took the form of adouble millstone with powerful mantras in-

scribed upon its upper surface, whose func-tion was to destroy the leaders of hostile po-litical parties. The presiding lama appointedfor this task would first catch the ‘lifeessence’ (Tib. srog-snying) of the enemy, andbind it into a few grains of white mustardseed, which would then be ground under themillstones with specific mantras. Thisprocess was evidently extremely dangerous,as people who handled the mill occasionallydied soon afterwards.

The mustard seed offered by Vajrapanisymbolizes the Vajra Buddha Family, whichis presided over by Akshobya, whose activ-ity is to destroy all hatred, aggression, andharmful influences.



The ‘five desire qualities’ (Skt. pancha-kamaguna; Tib. ’dod-yon sna-lnga), or

‘offerings of the five senses’, form a group ofthe most beautiful objects which can attractor captivate the five senses of sight, sound,smell, taste, and touch. These offerings tra-ditionally take the form of: (1) a mirror forsight; (2) a lute, cymbals, or gongs forsound; (3) burning incense or a perfume-laden conch for smell; (4) fruit for taste; (5)a silk cloth for touch.

As attributes of the most delightful sen-sory pleasures they are mainly representedas offerings to the peaceful deities and lin-eage gurus. Here they symbolize the desireto please enlightened beings, and represent agesture of sensual renunciation on the partof the donor. They are traditionally placedbelow the deity’s lotus seat or throne as acomposite group in an offering bowl, butthey may also be depicted as separate sym-bols, or held as offerings by the cloud-bornecelestial gods. In many Buddhist rituals thesefive symbolic offerings are momentarily pre-sented as an offering to the presiding lama.

Here they generally take the form of a mir-ror or small golden wheel, a pair of cymbals,incense or a conch shell, a tray of fresh fruitor sweets, and a piece of silk cloth. Smallpainted images of the five sense offerings, orany of the other groups of auspicious sym-bols, may be represented as rectangularminiature paintings (Tib. tsak-li), which aresymbolically employed in many rituals. But-ter sculptures, modeled in the most exquisitedetail and colors, are also made of the fivesense offerings, and various other offeringgroups, for specific rituals or festivals. Themost impressive of these festivals was theMonlam Chenmo or ‘Great Prayer Festival’,held in Lhasa on the full moon of the firstTibetan month, when the capital’s variousmonasteries would compete to create thefinest butter sculptures. Shaped like conical‘ritual cake offerings’ (Tib. gtor-ma), thesesculptures were often over ten feet in heightand the product of many weeks of intensivework. The competition was held at nightoutside Lhasa’s main Jokhang Temple, andthe Dalai Lama judged the winning image.

THE FIVE ATTRIBUTES OFSENSORY ENJOYMENT

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Various arrangements of the five sense offerings, with the mirror or wheel (form) at the center, and the offerings of sound (cymbals or lute), perfume (conch shell), fruit, and silk cloth.The smaller images

depict the mirror, cymbals and gongs, the conch, fruit, flowers, and silk cloth.


The Five Attributes of Sensory Enjoyment 29

The five sensory offerings are related tothe Five Buddhas as the faculties of the fiveaggregates and senses. Vairocana representsform (or consciousness) as the faculty ofsight, symbolized by the mirror. Ratnasam-bhava represents feeling as the faculty ofsound, symbolized by the lute or cymbals.Amitabha represents perception as the fac-ulty of smell, symbolized by incense or aperfumed conch. Amoghasiddhi representsmotivation or will as the faculty of taste,symbolized by fruit. Akshobya representsconsciousness (or form) as the faculty oftouch, symbolized by the silk cloth.

In Vajrayana Buddhism these five sensualofferings are deified into a group of five of-fering goddesses, who bear the five objectsof the senses as attributes.

SIGHT OR FORM(Skt. rupa; Tib. gzugs)

A small silver mirror, or an eight-spokedgolden wheel, represents the sense faculty ofsight and the sense organ of the eye. Themirror represents form (or consciousness)and the element of space. It is clear, stain-less, and bright, and reflects all phenomena

with impartiality. Whatever appearancesarise as reflections, be they beautiful or ugly,inherently good or evil, the mirror passes nojudgment on them. It remains completelyunaffected, untarnished, and unchanged bythe images that appear to arise in it. Simi-larly pure consciousness is unaffected by thebeautiful or ugly, good, neutral, or evil na-ture of the thoughts which arise and passwithin it. Like reflections in a mirror theiressence is void, without substance, and yetthey continue to manifest upon the ‘screen’of consciousness or within the emptiness ofthe mirror. Like a wild animal that sees andattacks an apparent rival in its own reflec-tion in a still pool, the unenlightened mindself-identifies with its own projected im-agery. But the enlightened mind of a Buddhaperceives all phenomena to be empty of self-nature, just as a desert dweller familiar withthe appearance of mirages knows that theywill never quench his thirst.

The white or silver disc of the mirror rep-resents Vairocana, the ‘Illuminator’, and em-bodies his qualities, including those of: formor consciousness, the faculty of sight, thewhite element of water, and Vairocana’smirror-like or all-pervasive wisdom. Vairo-cana holds the attribute of an eight-spokedgolden wheel or dharmachakra, and thiswheel may replace the mirror as a specificsymbol of form.

SOUND(Skt. shabda; Tib. sgra)

A lute or a pair of cymbals most frequentlyrepresents the appreciation of music as thesense faculty of delightful sound, althoughoccasionally a pair of gongs or a flute maybe depicted. The lute (Skt. vina; Tib. pi-wang) is traditionally represented as a fouror five stringed Central Asian or ChineseMirrors.


lute (Ch. ch’in), with a pear-shaped body, atapering and unfretted fingerboard, and atuning-head or ‘peg-box’ fashioned into theshape of a mythological animal or bird. Thelute is usually depicted resting behind themirror at an inclined angle towards the left,much as it would be held when beingplayed. The lute’s upper edge may also ap-pear straight, giving the instrument the ap-pearance of the Afghan rabab. A hangingtassel, or a tied silk scarf, is also commonlydepicted on the upper part of the instru-ment’s neck.

On Mongolian thangkas the lute maytake the form of the traditional horse-headfiddle, known in Mongolian as the morin-khur or khil-khur. This two-stringed bowedinstrument has a rectangular sound box, andits peg-box is ornamented with the carved

neck and head of a horse. On Chinese-stylethangkas the lute may take the form of thetwo-stringed Chinese fiddle, known in Chi-nese as the erh-hu or hu-ch’in, and in Ti-betan as the ye. This instrument has a smalland deep cylindrical or hexagonal soundbox, through the upper part of which runsits thin round wooden neck, which iscrowned above its peg-box with a carved


Four stringed Central Asian lute (left) in the formof a rabab, with a garuda head crowning its peg-box. Celestial lute of the gods (right), fashioned

from precious woods, metals, and jewels.

Four-stringed Mongolian horse-head fiddle (left)with its horse-hair bow. Two-stringed Chinese

fiddle (right) with a carved dragon peg-box andhorse-hair bow.

Indian vina in the form of a vichitra vina, withtwo lower resonating gourds.


dragon. On Indian-style thangkas the lutemay be shown in the form of the Indian vi-chitra vina, with two resonating gourds fas-tened beneath a long and tubular-sectionedwooden or bamboo neck.

When two golden cymbals are depictedto represent the faculty of sound, they arecommonly depicted in a symmetricalarrangement at the front center of the offer-ing bowl, with a draped silk ribbon loopedbetween their central handles. These cym-bals may take the form of the small Tibetanhand cymbals (Tib. ting-shag), made of bellmetal, which are about three inches in diam-eter and produce a sustained high-pitchedring. But they more commonly take the formof the large bronze cymbals, which are usedin monastic rituals and produce a clashingsound. As a sense offering to the peaceful

deities, these monastic cymbals appear in theform of the flat cymbals (Tib. zil-snyan) usedin peaceful rites, rather than the domedcymbals (Tib. rol-mo) used in wrathful rites.

When gongs are depicted they are repre-sented as a pair of symmetrical bell metalbowls, with two wooden striking sticksplaced within them, and cloth rings under-neath their bases to sustain their resonancewhen struck. The Chinese gong (Ch. lo), andthe Mongolian gong (Mon. dudaram), wereprobably the prototypes of these symbols,which began to appear in later Tibetan art.In the modern mythology of the New Agespiritual movement these gongs have cometo be known as ‘Tibetan singing bowls’, andmany fantastic tales of occult power havebeen grafted onto their recent history andinnovative techniques of playing. Brass orbronze bowls first began to appear on Ti-betan refugee stalls during the 1970’s, butthese objects were actually the eating or of-fering bowls of these impoverished refugees.Over the last few decades these Tibetansinging bowls have been widely manufac-tured for the tourist markets of India andNepal, but stories of their employment inancient Tibet as mystical musical instru-ments are a modern myth.

When a flute is depicted it generally takesthe form of the Indian bamboo flute, or thelong transverse Chinese flute or ti. The ti isfashioned from bamboo, with six or sevenfinger holes and two mouth holes. When thisflute is played a thin bamboo membranecovers one of the lower mouth holes, which


Pair of ritual bronze cymbals (top left); bowlgong with wooden striker (top right).

Below are two pairs of Tibetan cymbals joinedtogether with silk cloth as an offering.

Chinese flute (ti) with bamboo membrane (top);pair of Indian flutes tied with silk (bottom).



creates the characteristic nasal or kazoo-liketone of the Chinese flute. The flute is gener-ally positioned at an inclined angle behindthe mirror, and usually has a silk tasselhanging from its upper end.

SMELL(Skt. gandha; Tib. dri)

Smoldering incense sticks, an incense burner,or a conch shell full of perfume, traditionallyrepresent the faculty of smell. The basic in-gredient of Tibetan incense (Tib. bsang) ispowdered juniper leaf, which is burned incharcoal braziers or clay incense burners. Ti-betan stick incense (Tib. spos) is hand-rolledfrom a paste of juniper powder mixed to var-ious formulas with medicinal herbs, saffron,sandalwood, frankincense, aloes, musk, andother fragrant substances. Several upright in-cense sticks, or a thick round cluster of sticks

bound together with a yellow cotton thread,may be depicted smoldering within a grain-filled bowl or ‘granary’ box. Powderedjuniper or bsang is traditionally shown smol-dering in incense burners (Tib. spos-phor),which are commonly depicted in the form ofbronze vase-shaped vessels that stand uponthree small legs. These incense burners canbe ornately decorated, and may have carry-ing handles or be suspended upon threechains in the fashion of a swung Christiancenser. In Tibet large incense burners (Tib.bsang khung), for burning juniper leaves andbranches, are traditionally constructed uponrooftops or near the entrances to templesand monasteries. These outdoor incenseburners are made of whitewashed clay andfashioned in the shape of stupas. For indooruse a wooden incense box would be morecommonly used. This rectangular box has alower metal tray, upon which incense sticksare burned horizontally on a bed of ashes. In

Four conch shells full of swirling perfumed liquids (top row). Various examples of burning incense withtripod mounted censers (left); a wooden incense box with stick incense burning above, and a large out-

door incense burner (right).


ancient India incense was generally burned inthe form of dhup, which was mixed as amalleable and waxy paste from flower andwood essences.

In India a conch shell mounted upon asmall tripod serves as the water oblation ves-sel in pujas or rituals, and this vessel isknown as a shankhapatra or conch-bowl. Asa Buddhist oblation or offering vessel theconch is traditionally filled with saffron-scented water, or water perfumed with thefive fragrant substances of saffron, sandal-wood, musk, camphor, and nutmeg. Rosewa-ter, and aloe and champaka flower essencesare also used in India as liquids for ‘conchperfume’ (Skt. shankhanakha). As with manymedicinal substances or herbs used in Ti-betan tantric rituals, a virgin or pre-adoles-cent child should pick the herbs and collectthe water from a natural source.

Iconographically the conch shell full ofperfume is usually placed on the far right or

left of the offering bowl, and balanced withthe fruit offering on the opposite side. Thewhite conch shell is depicted horizontally,with its spiraling mouth commonly openingto the right. Its perfumed water is shown asa ‘swirling offering’ of a pale blue liquidwith white waves crests, symbolizing the ac-tive essence or permeating fragrance of theperfume.

TASTE(Skt. rasa; Tib. ro)

Fresh fruit is traditionally represented as thedelicious offering of taste, and frequently atriangular formation of three round fruitswill be depicted at the left or right side of theoffering bowl. These three fruits, which maybranch from a single stem with leaves, repre-sent the trinities of the Three Jewels (Buddha,dharma, and sangha), the Buddhas of the


Various examples of food and fruit offerings, including guavas, bananas, citrons, plums, strawberries,and sugar cane. To the left of center is a bowl of sweets; to the right of center are three ritual cake offer-

ings or tormas.



three times (past, present, and future), or theChinese symbol of the ‘fruits of the tree ofplenty’ (abundance, maturity, and ripeness).These three fruits are often depicted in theform of peaches, but they may also be repre-sented as apples, apricots, mangoes, oranges,persimmons, guavas, pomegranates, lemons,limes, or bilva fruits. The pomegranate, withits bright red skin and edible seeds, is a sym-bol of happiness, passion, abundance, andfertility. The peach is a symbol of longevityand immortality, and the citron is a symbol ofwealth and prosperity. In Chinese symbolismthese three fruits – pomegranate, peach, andcitron – are known as the ‘three fruits ofblessings’, and represent happiness, long-evity, and wealth. Occasionally a variety ofdifferent fruits may be depicted within the of-fering bowl, or the taste offering may takethe form of a ritual cake or torma (Tib. gtor-ma). However, tormas, which are hand-molded from barley flour dough, are morespecifically presented as food offerings to thewrathful deities.

The Sanskrit term for taste, rasa, has awide variety of subtle meanings. In general itrefers to the faculty of taste as juice, sap,essence, or flavor, but on a more esoteric

level it refers to the creative juice of spiritualor artistic inspiration, particularly in thefields of music, drama, and dance. The danc-ing postures and facial expressions of manyof the main Buddhist yidam deities are de-scribed as exhibiting the ‘nine rasas or dra-matic sentiments’ (Skt. navanathyarasa).These are the nine characteristic modes ofexpression that are displayed in Indiandance and drama. In tantric literature theterm rasa is also used as a synonym forsemen and mercury. Six kinds of taste aredescribed in the Ayurvedic tradition: sweet,sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. InVajrayana Buddhism these six tastes are as-signed to the wisdom qualities of the FiveBuddha Families and Vajradhara, as thesixth or primordial Adibuddha.

TOUCH(Skt. sparsha; Tib. reg-bya)

A colored silk ribbon invariably representsthe faculty of touch, as the soft smoothnessof silk is perceived as the most sensuallypleasing and unrestrictive of all fabrics. In-dian silk merchants often demonstrate the

Various examples of silk ribbons, feathers (lower left), and rolls of silk (right).


fineness of their silks by passing the width ofa bolt of silk through a finger ring. However,the gossamer thread of the divine silks of thegods is described as being so fine that asquare of this divine silk, large enough tocover Mt Meru, can be drawn beneath a fin-gernail. This divine silk is so light and subtlethat it appears as if to float upon a heavenlybreeze, with its edges and ends making themost graceful folds and twisting curves.

The silk offering ribbon may be knottedaround the base of the mirror or wheel, withits two ends twisting upwards on either sideof the offering bowl. It may pass through the

central bosses of the pair of cymbals andthen extend outwards on either side. It maybe knotted around the neck of the lute. Itmay also drape over the central lip of the of-fering bowl and then swirl upwards at eitherside. The silk offering may be colored in oneof the five rainbow colors: white, yellow, red,green, and blue, which correspond to the fiveelements and the Five Buddhas, or the partic-ular Buddha Family to which the deity be-longs. A multicolored and tied bundle of silk,a group of silk bolts, or a cluster of birdfeathers may also be illustrated to depict thefaculty of touch.



The remaining chapters are available in the full edition of The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols by Robert Beer.

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