Sakya Resource Guide News Page

Sakya Monastery, Rajpur, India

2011-05-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Images of the main temple of Sakya Monastery, Rajpur, Dehradun, India. The SRG site was down for a few days in mid April but was then back up without any problems.

SRG Website Temporarily Down

2011-04-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

The SRG is down because the hosting company is doing some major changes to their infrastructure. Unfortunately I do not have a mirror site, so, that means SRG is down for up to a few days. They say maybe up to five. For those avid SRG viewers all I can recommend is that you spend a little time with the HAR site. I know it is a meager substitute but it is all I can suggest. On HAR look especially to the News page because this month, April, and it's only the 15th, there have already been thirty-four (34) news items uploaded. If you can get through all of those in the next few days while SRG is down then I will be impressed. Because, it is not just that there are 34 items, it is because there are numerous new pages added for each of those News items. It really is a lot of material not to mention the hundreds of new images that have gone up to accompany the News items.

Maharakta Ganapati Outline Page

2011-04-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

A new outline page for Maharakta Ganapati has been added to the Himalayan Art Resources website along with additional links and cataloguing.

Sakya Deities & Lineages Painting Set

2011-02-26T06:09:00.000-08:00

Images of various Anuttarayoga Tantric meditational deities accompanied by the initiation & teaching lineages of the Sakya & Ngor Tradition.

Sakya Anuttarayoga Iconography Painting Set

2011-02-26T06:07:00.000-08:00

Images of various Anuttarayoga Tantric meditational deities of the Sakya Tradition. The paintings are from the Kham region of Eastern Tibet and likely commissioned and created in the Dege area.

Biography of Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub

2011-02-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

A Biography of Lowo Khenchen (b.1456/1441 - d.1532/1525), the most famous Ngorpa teacher of Mustang (Lo Montang) has been added to the Himalayan Art Resources website.

Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub:

Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub (glo bo mkhan chen bsod nams lhun grub. b.1456/1441 - d.1532/1525) was born into the ruling house of Lo Montang (glo mon thang), also known as Mustang, the third son of ruler Amgon Zangpo (a mgon bzang po, b. 1420), of the Sanam (sa gnam) branch of the Kyungpo (khyung po) clan. His mother was named Palkyong (dpal skyong), a member of the Tagra Lugong (stag ra klu gong) clan. His birth name was Drub Tashi (grub bkra shis).

He was dedicated to the religious life at birth, his two elder and one younger brother all destined to become rulers of Lo. At age one, in the arms of his mother, he took refuge with man who later became third abbot of Ngor Ewam Choden (ngor e wam chos ldan), Jamyang Sherab Gyatso (ngor mkhan chen 03 'jam dbyangs shes rab rgya mtsho, 1396-1474), and received transmission and empowerment. He continued to received transmission in his infancy; at the age of two from Sonam Gyaltsen Palzangpo (bsod nams rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po, d.u.) of Kachar (khwa char) monastery in Purang (pu hrang)

At the age of five or six he received a long-life empowerment from a Nyingma Lama Geleg Gyaltsen Palzangpo (dge legs rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po, d.u.) who also gave additional empowerments related to Padmasambhava.

When he was eight Drub Tashi received the lay vows of upasaka from Yonten Chogyal (yon tan chos rgyal, d.u.), abbot of the royal monastery, Tubten Dargyeling (thub bstan dar rgyal gling). Three years later, in 1466, at the age of eleven, he was granted the shramaṇera vows of the novice monk by Kunga Wangchug (ngor mkhan chen 04 kun dga' dbang phyug 1424-1478) who later became the fourth abbot of Ngor. His ordination name was Sonam Lhundrub Legpai Jungne Gyaltsen Palzangpo (bsod nams lhun grub legs pa'i 'byung gnas rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po). Yonten Chogyal participated in the ordination.

Sonam Lhundrub then studied Madhyamaka, Prajnaparamita, and Pramaṇa for six years with Choje Rachenpa (chos rje ra chen pa, d.u.), Raton Yonten Palzangpo (rwa ston yan tan dpal bzang po. At the age of seventeen he returned to Tubten Dargyeling to study with Yonten Chogyal to study Madhyamaka and Palden Tsultrim Gyaltsen (dpal ldan tshul khrims rgyal mtshan (tshul khrims rgyal mtshan, d.u.) who also taught him Vinaya and many subjects from Tantra including Guhyasamaja Tantra.

To clarify his understanding Yonten Chogyal tasked Sonam Lhundrub with giving a three-day exposition of Abhisamayalaṅkara and Pramaṇavartika before nine hundred monks at the monastery, an event that did much to increase his reputation.

In 1472 the famous Sakya master Serdog Panchen Shakya Chogden (gser mdog pan chen shakya mchog ldan, 1428-1507) arrived in Lo and stayed two years. He taught Sonam Lhundrub Vinaya and Prajnaparamita, and for some time Sonam Lhundrub considered him one of his main teachers. Relations between the two men later declined, after Shakya Chogden's teaching became controversial among the Ngor tradition. He declined a request of Sonam Lhundrub to compose a biography of Kunga Wangchug, the fourth abbot of Ngor, who died in Lowo in 1478. Shakya Chogden declined, and included in his response a disparaging verse about Kunga Wangchug. Sonam Lhundrub publicly criticized Shakya Chogden, despite his eldest brother, Tsangpa Tashi Gon (tshang pa bkra shis mgon), then the ruler of Lo, who continued to support of Shakya Chogden. He later composed a biography of Kunga Wangchug himself.

Among his other teachers were Konchog Gyaltsen (ngor mkhan chen 02 dkon mchog rgyal mtshan, 1388-1469), the founder of Yama Gon Monastery (ya ma dgon in 1459), and the second abbot of Ngor, and Tsang Nyon Heruka (gtsang smyon he ru ka, 1452-1507), who visited Lo three times.

In 1477, at the age of twenty-two, Sonam Lhundrub received full ordination at Jampaling from Kunga Wangchug, Yonten Chogyal, Raton Yonten Palzangpo, and Kachupa Sanggye Gyaltsen (bka bcu pa sangs rgyas rgyal mtshan). Soon after he was appointed abbot of Tubten Dargyeling, a position he served for twelve years.

During his tenure as abbot he composed, in 1482, his first works: two commentaries on Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen's (sa skya paN+Di ta kun dga' rgyal mtshan, 1182-1251) Tsema Rigter (tshad ma rigs gter). These were the first of several commentaries of Sakya Pandita's works, which were so highly regarded that Sonam Lhundrub later became considered an incarnation of Sakya Pandita.

Several years into his tenure at Tubten Dargyeling he moved to Riwoche Korlo Dompai Podrang (ri bo che 'khor lo sdom pa'i pho brang), which had been founded by Ngorchen in 1436. The move was partly due to a visit of Guge Panchen Dragpa Gyaltsen (gu ge paN chen grags pa rgyal mtshan, d. 1486), and partly because his eldest brother was taking strict measures against critics of Shakya Chogden. He considered a trip to Tibet but his teachers, including Dragpa Gyaltsen, and students convinced him to stay.

In 1489 he completed a work that reflects the doctrinal dispute: a commentary on Sakya Pandita's Domsum Rabje (sdom gsum rab dbye), much of it a refutation of Shakya Chogden. The work furthered the conflict between him and his brother, and finally, in 1493, Sonam Lhundrub left for Tibet.

He first stayed at Se Rinchentse (srad rin chen rtse) monastery near Sakya, and then moved on to Ngor Monastery by way of Tanag Tubten Namgyal (rta nag thub bstan rnam rgyal) monastery. [See Ngor Tradition Main Page]. At Ngor he taught the seventh abbot, Konchog Pelwa (ngor mkhan chen 07 dkon mchog 'phel ba, 1445-1514) and stayed in his residence. He returned to Se Rinchentse for the winter, and then to Tsedong (rtse gdong), having been invited by Namkha Tashi Gyaltsen Palzangpo (nam mkha' bkra shis rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po, b. 1458), the father of his disciple Jamyang Kunga Sonam Dragpa Gyaltsen ('jam dbyangs kun dga' bsod nams grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1485-1533), to whom he gave lay vows in 1495 there at Tsedong. Later, back at Ngor, he gave the same boy novice ordination.

In the meantime his eldest brother died, and the second brother of the four, Aseng Dorje Tenpa (a seng rdo rje brtan pa), and he returned to Lo. On June 6 or 7, 1505 the central Himalaya region suffered a massive earthquake, recently estimated to have had a seismic movement (Mw) of 8.2. It destroyed buildings along a 500 kilometer swath of territory in southern Tibet, Lo, Dolpo and other kingdoms, as well as parts of northern India.

In the wake of the destruction, Sonam Lhundrub was invited to return to Tsedong. He left in 1506 and stayed in Tsang until 1509. He worked on additional compositions, including his biography, done at Ngor, of Gowo Rabjampa Sonam Sengge (go bo rab 'byams pa bsod nams seng ge), the sixth abbot of Ngor.

During the last decades of his life he continued to propagate the Ngor tradition of the Sakya teachings in Lo, teaching and writing there and in neighboring kingdoms. Among his patrons were the king of Gungtang (gung thang). He taught the men who would become the ninth and tenth abbots of Ngor: Lhachog Sengge (ngor mkhan chen 09 lha mchog seng+ge, 1468-1535) and Konchog Lhundrub (ngor mkhan chen 10 dkon mchog lhun grub, 1497-1557), who he also ordained; the "Lhundrub" aspect of their names come from him. In 1511 Sonam Lhundrub presided over the ordination of Ngari Panchen (mnga' ris paN chen pad+ma dbang rgyal, 1487-1542). In 1527 he composed a long commentary of Sakya Pandita's Entrance Gate for the Wise (mkhas pa rnams 'jug pa'i sgo) at Samdrubling (bsam grub gling), requested by his patron, Namgyal Pelzangpo (rnam rgyal dpal bzang po), the religious preceptor to the Guge King.

Among other disciples were the Twenty-third Sakya Trichen, Jampa'i Dorje (sa skya khri chen 23 'jam pa'i rdo rje, 1485-1533) and Kunga Drolchog (kun dga' grol mchog 1507-1565/66).

The most complete edition of the works of Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub contains two hundred fifty eight small texts collected into seven volumes, of which the first five are manuscript and the last two are of Derge block-prints. In addition to his commentaries on the works of Sakya Pandita and other diverse topics are a history of the Sharpa lineage of Sakya, and a study of tathagatagarbha theory.

Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub passed away at Samdrubling in 1532.

Name Variants: Gyaltsen Palzangpo; Legpai Jungne; Sonam Lhundrub

Sources:

Blo gros dpal mgon. 1534. 'Jam dbyangs bsod names lhun grub kyi rnam par thar pa.

Glo bo khen chen. 1514. Rje btsun bsod nams lhun grub legs pa'i 'byung gnas rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po'i rnam par thar pa zhus lan.

Grags pa 'byung gnas and Rgyal ba blo bzang mkhas grub. 1992. Gangs can mkhas grub rim byon ming mdzod. Lanzhou: Kan su'u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, pp. 74-75.

Jackson, David. 1984. The Mollas of Mustang: Historical, Religious, and Oratorical Traditions of the Nepalese-Tibetan Borderland. Dharamsala: Library and Tibetan Works and Archives.

Jackson, David. 1989. "Sources on the chronology and Succession of the Abbots of Ngor e wam chos ldan." Berliner Indoligische Studien, vol 4/5, pp. 49-94.

Jackson, David. 1990. "The Identification of Individual Teachers in Paintings of Sa-skya-pa Lineages." In: Tadeusz Skorupski, ed. Indo-Tibetan Studies Papers in Honour and Appreciation of Prof. David Snellgrove's Contribution to Indi-Tibetan Studies. Tring: The Institute of Buddhist Studies, pp. 129-146.

Jackson, David. 1991. "Fragments of a 'Golden' Manuscript of Sa kya Paṇḍita's works." Tibet Journal, vol. 16 no. 3-33.

Jackson David. 2002. The great western-Himalayan earthquake of 1505: A rupture of the central Himalayan gap? In Tibet, Past and Present. Henk Blezer, ed, pp.147-159. Leiden: Brill.

'Jam dbyangs kun dga' bsod nams. N.d. (16th c.) Bsod nams lhun grub kyi rnam thar. In Gsung thor bu, pp. 265-302.

'Jam mgon a myes zhabs ngag dbang kun dga' bsod nams. Lam 'bras gdams ngag zab mo byung tshul gyi yi ge don gnyer dga' ba bskyed byed, pp. 547-553.

Khu Byug. 2004. Glo bo mkhan chen gyis ngor e waM chos ldan dang sa skya sogs su dbu ma'i 'chad nyan mdzad pa. In Bod kyi dbu ma'i lta ba'i 'chad nyan dar tshul blo gsal mig 'byed, pp. 277-278. Beijing: Krung go'i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang.

Kramer, Jowita. 2008. A Noble Abbot from Mustang. Life and Works of Glo-bo mKhan-chen (1456-1532). Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien.

Kun dga' grol mchog. 1535. Dpal ldan bla ma 'jam pa'i dbyangs kyi rnam par thar pa legs bshad khyad par gsum ldan.

Mi nyag mgon po. 1996. Gangs can mkhas dbang rim byon gyi rnam thar mdor bsdus bdud rtsi'i thigs phreng. Beijing: Krung go'i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang, vol. 1, pp. 201-205.

Mu po. 2002. Mkhan chen bsod nams lhun grub. In Gsung ngag rin po che lam 'bras bla ma brgyud pa'i rnam thar kun 'dus me long, pp. 173-176. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang.

Ngag dbang kun dga' bsod nams. 2000. Kun mkhyen bsod nams seng+ge'i rnam par thar pa dad pa rgya mtsho'i rlabs phreng rnam par g.yo ba las/ glo bo mkhan chen gyis mdzad pa'i rnam thar. In Dpal sa ska pa chen po sngags 'chang thams cad mkhyen pa ngag dbang kun dga' bsod nams kyi gsung 'bum, vol 29, pp. 16r-30v. Kathmandu: Sa skya rgyal yongs gsung rab slob gnyer khang.

Smith, Gene. 2001. "'Glo bo Mkhan chen and Buddhist Logic in Tibet." In Among Tibetan Texts. Boston: Wisdom Publications, pp. 111-116.

Samten Chhosphel, February 2011

[Extracted from the Treasury of Lives, Tibetan lineages website. Edited and formatted for inclusion on the Himalayan Art Resources website. February 2011].

Khenpo Appey (1927-2010)

2010-12-31T06:30:00.000-08:00

It is again, within two weeks, with a very sad heart that I announce that Khenpo Appey has passed away, December the 28th, 2010. I first met Khenpo Appey in 1975 in Rajpur India during the Lamdre Tsogshe given by Sakya Trizin. It was there that I had an opportunity to spend time with Rinpoche, ask questions and learn that he was truly one of the great living Sakya masters - a Dzongsar Khenpo in the true spirit of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Chokyi Lodro.

It is also fair to say that of all the great Tibetan teachers to come out of Tibet it was him that I found most intimidating - it was in front of him that I felt I always had to be on my best behaviour.

Gorampa himself would be proud of the accomplishments of Khenpo Appey. He was the foundational rock for Sakya scholarship for the last 50 years and has tirelessly prepared the way for innumerable scholar practitioners of the future. Bravo to a life well lived in the service of others.

(See Khenpo Appey at International Buddhist Academy)

(See Khenpo Appey at Rigpawiki)

(See Khenpo Appey at Tsadra)

Gene Smith - Icon & Legend

2010-12-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

It is with a very sad heart that I announce that Gene Smith has passed away, Thursday, December the 16th, 2010. I have known of Gene through his writings and publications since 1973, visited his home in New Delhi, India, in 1980 and worked closely with him since 2001 to the present in New York City.

What always struck me most about Gene was his drive to not have students undergo the difficulties that he went through in learning and studying Tibetan literature and associated subjects. This is what was close between us and came up most often in conversation, the next generation - the future - making the literature and tools accessible. Gene and I shared a very important teacher, Dezhung Rinpoche Lungrig Tenpai Nyima. Dezhung Rinpoche was maybe the most important influence for what was to become the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, the second crowning jewel of Gene's career. The first great accomplishment, the first great crowning jewel, was of course the publication of thousands upon thousands of rare Tibetan texts and manuscripts while he worked in the New Delhi office of the U.S. Library of Congress.

As just one individual, Gene has been the most important single figure in the last half century working for the preservation of Tibetan literature. Gene has been the singular figure to galvanize the most important Tibetan scholars in the last 45 years in the preservation of Tibetan literature. In a half century, again, Gene has been the most important single figure to tirelessly work for the literary culture of Tibet and the Himalayan regions - to publish, to modernize, to digitize and to electronically archive for the present and future generations. Gene was truly a man suited for his time, an individual that accomplished what he set out to accomplish, responding to the needs of others. His passing is not a time for sadness but a time to celebrate the truly enormous accomplishment of his life that has benefited so many of us and in so many ways.

Sakya Paintings: The Field Museum, Chicago

2010-11-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

The Field Museum of Chicago has a large collection of paintings and sculpture collected between 1908 and 1909. Displayed here are the few Sakya paintings and subjects found within the collection.

Three Ngorpa Lamas

2010-11-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

A recent upload to the HAR website of three Ngorpa Lamas. Two of them are Great Abbots of Ngor Monastery and the third was a famous retreat practitioner from Kham.

Bhutadamara Vajrapani

2010-11-11T13:59:00.001-08:00

I know I have posted this image of Bhutadamara in the past but this image today is a different scan and possibly better than the previous images. As we all know it is very hard to find good iconographic representations for Bhutadamara. I believe this image is probably the best painted example currently known to exist. The physical painting itself belongs to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (see full painting).

A new Bhutadamara painting from the Field Museum in Chicago has been added to the HAR webpage - HAR #54374.

Bhutadamara Vajrapani:

In Vajrayana Buddhism there are the three famous bodhisattvas, elevated to ishtadevata - Buddha status - which represent the essential characteristics of all the buddhas of the ten directions and three times. Manjushri represents wisdom, Avalokiteshvara compassion and Vajrapani power. All three of these deities have many Tantric forms and practices associated with them.

According to Vajrayana, Vajrapani is the caretaker and guardian of all the Tantra teachings and texts taught either by Shakyamuni or in the form of Vajradhara. Vajrapani is also the special deity for removing the various types of obstacles that arise during intensive Tantric practice.

The practice of the specific form of Vajrapani known as Bhutadamara is found in the Kriya, Charya and Anuttarayoga Tantras. Within Anuttarayoga it arises from the exclusive explanatory tantra to the Hevajra called the Vajrapanjara Tantra (chapter two).

Within the Sakya School in general and the Lamdre Tradition in particular Vajrapani in the form of Bhutadamara is the foremost practice for removing obstructions on the path of a practitioner. The basic meditation and explanatory teachings of Bhutadamara used in the Sakya Tradition are based on the ritual text (sadhana) of the Indian Pandit Trailokyavajra and the teachings coming down through Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, the sons Sonam Tsemo and Dragpa Gyaltsen, and Ngorchen. The standard meditation text is written by Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub, (1497-1557). The Tibetan commentary most commonly used was written by the great Zhuchen Tsultrim Rinchen and called the Shining Sun. A shorter commentary was written by the Tsarpa teacher Zimwog Lhagsam Zangpo.

Historical Background from the Shining Sun Commentary

"...generally it is said, in the precious Tantras of the great secret Vajrayana there are immeasurable deities of great accomplishment and deities for accomplishing the increase of activities; this is the main [method] of the deity accomplishing the increase of activities, making firm the common attainments. Practicing this is also the method for the arising of the supreme attainment. This is special for pacifying obstacles, daemons, hindrances, bhutas, rakshas, and the like - commonly, and the four maras which are obstructions to enlightenment - [specifically]. All the great superior teachers [of Sakya] say; 'before entering any retreat it is foremost to do the Achala or Vajrapani retreat first.' To elaborate, of the six great [Vajrapani practices]: the Powerful [1] Great Wheel [Mahachakra], [2] Fierce Garuda, [3] Dharma Protector for the Benefit of Beings, [4] Tantra of the Great Stick, [5] Mantra of the Wrathful Acharya and the [6] Subduer of Daemons, the latter one, the Subduer of Daemons Bhutadamara is the most well known and found in many Tantras. The [long] Bhutadamara Tantra of 160,000 verses has remained in Oddiyana." [(See Kriya Tantra Toh.747, for the short Bhutadamara Tantra)].

"...of the many mahasiddhas to come to Tibet, Acharya Tathagata Rakshita made famous the teachings of the short Charya Tantra of Bhutadamara. In the Vajravali of Acharya Abhayakaragupta there are three mandalas of Bhutadamara, these, extracted from the Tantras contain the essence letters, the long mantra is not taught. Both Trailokyavajra and the Omniscient Buton Rinchen Drup wrote from this Charya Tantra..."

"...now, for the Non-dual Anuttara uncommon explanatory Tantra to the Hevajra, called the Vajrapanjara, it is said; Trailokyavajra's greater and lesser Bhutadamara meditations are based on this - which is found in the Sadhanasamgraha [Sadhanamala]. For the lineage of Atisha the text is found in the Narthang Gyatsa, a very famous collection of teachings. Also, there are the texts of Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub and Panchen Drangti who wrote the abridged Sadhanasamgraha. Again, Lhachen Shakya Palwai who actually saw the face of Bhutadamara wrote a meditation and initiation text. From the various meditation texts, that of Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub is used as the basis for the explanation of the practice." [from the commentary of Zhuchen Tsultrim Rinchen].

Jeff Watt, 12-1998 [slightly updated 11-2010]

Biography of Nasa Dragpugpa

2010-10-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

A biography of Nasa Dragpugpa (1277-1346/50) an early Lamdre Lineage Holder.

Biography of Buddhashri

2010-10-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

A Biography of Buddhshri (1339-1419) a teacher of Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo.

Biography of Sanggye Sengge

2010-10-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

A biography of Sanggye Sengge ((b.1504, d.1569) the 11th throne holder of Ngor Ewam Monastery.

Gorampa Sonam Sengge Biography

2010-09-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Gorampa is one of the most important figures in Sakya history and especially important for understanding the philosophical teachings of Sakya Pandita. See the new biography of Gorampa on the Himalayan Art Resources website.

Vira Vajradharma - Unique Sakya Iconography

2010-09-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

This painting is iconographically unique because it is the only known composition depicting Vira Vajradharma as a central figure and the only painting known that depicts the two figures of Vajradhara and Vajradharma paired together in a single composition. Vajradharma originates with the Chakrasamvara cycle of Anuttaryoga Tantras and is another form of the Tantric Buddhist primordial Buddha. Vajradharma is red in colour and has two different iconographic forms. The first form, shown in this painting is considered common, Vira Vajradharma, and the second form is regarded as more profound, or uncommon. The second form does not use the initial term 'vira' meaning 'hero' (referring to the appearance of Vira Vajradharma with hand drum and skullcup) and simply goes by the name Vajradharma. The profound form of the primordial Buddha Vajradharma has the same identical appearance as Vajradhara except Vajradharma is red in colour rather than blue. (The primordial Buddha Vajradharma should not be confused with the red form of Avalokiteshvara also with the name Vajradharma [see image])

Unique Iconographic Features:

1. Vira Vajradharma (red) as a central figure.

2. The group of three Vajrayogini figures: Naro, Indra & Maitri.

3. The group of three power deities: Kurukulla, Takkiraja & Ganapati.

4. The inscriptions written on the cloth hangings in front of the two thrones - specifically the Kalachakra monogram.

5. The two Pamting brothers seated on the same lotus.

The Village & Temples of Tsarang (Charang), Nepal

2010-09-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

The village of Tsarang is just south of the walled town of Lo Monthang, the capital of the Kingdom of Mustang in North Western Nepal. The village of Tsarang (Charang) has numerous stupa structures, a monastery with a main temple (gompa) and a fortress (dzong). The monastery is made up of several buildings and structures. Some are in the process of being renovated and others are in a state of serious disrepair. The inner walls of the main temple are painted with murals depicting the deities of the Medicine Buddha mandala. They have recently been cleaned and restored. It has been suggested by some local informants that depictions and rituals of Medicine Buddha are a special object of devotion in the Kingdom of Mustang and can be found in the temples of almost every Mustang village.

By far one of the most interesting buildings in the small walled monastic complex is located at the back of the property, looking like nothing but a ruin, almost falling over a cliff. The structure is referred to locally as the Ani Gompa, or Ani Lhakang (nunnery). Navigating the only entrance, a set of small wooden double doors, flanked by a Wheel of Life and murals of the Four Guardian Kings, arriving inside, it is imediately noticable that the roof has large gaping holes, numerous rafters with blue sky behind. The floor is an uneven surface of mud and dirt and the entire place seems like it could collapse at any momenent. Yet despite all of that, the inner walls are completely decorated with brightly coloured murals, some of which appear to have been cleaned and restored in very recent years. It is like an oasis of colour and palacial grandeur, unexpected, awesome and immediately comforting and strangely well grounded, stable and solid.

The inner layout of the room, clearly a temple or shrine room of some sort, is not completely typical. The main inner wall at the front of the room (across from the door) has a large depiction of the Buddha Vajradhara, the primordial Buddha, surrounded by the lineage teachers of the Sakya Lamdre - based on the Hevjra Tantra and teachings of the Indian mahasiddha Virupa (depicted with six different forms in the murals of the main temple). On the viewer's left hand side is a very large painting of Padmasambhava surrounded by a Nyingma lineage. On the right side of the room is a large painting of a Drugpa Kagyu teacher surrounded by a Drugpa Kagyu lineage. The side walls of the room appear to depict the Five Symbolic Buddhas accompanied by smaller buddhas representing the One Thousand Buddhas of the Age. To the immediate right and left of the entrance are protector deities of the Sakya Tradition on one side and protectors of the Drugpa Kagyu Tradition of the other side.

Despite being called an Ani Gompa, the structure is more likely to be a Lamdre Lhakang or a building created for use during the Monastic Summer Retreat - and later painted. As a backdrop to the monastery, on the steep cliff sides of the valley surrounding the village are evidence of extensive cave dwellings both for religious as well as secular use. Only some of these caves are accessible, most are not. Only a small percentage of the caves have been explored by trained climbers and cultural specialists.

Manjushri: Principal Tantric Forms & Emanations

2010-03-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

Manjushri - forms, manifestations and function - an outline page on the HAR website.

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo Outline Page

2010-03-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

A new outline page and biography of Jamyang Khysentse Wangpo has been added to the HAR website.

Brahmarupa Mahakala Outline Page on HAR

2010-03-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

Brahmarupa Mahakala is a unique Sakya image that is actually a place card holder for a Mahakala that most people are not allowed to see. Learn more...

The Earliest Sakya Refuge Field Painting

2010-03-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

See the HAR website for a discussion of the earliest Sakya Refuge Field painting which isn't really that early.

The Shangpa & Jonangpa

2010-01-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

It could be said that the Shangpa and Jonang are sister traditions to the Sakya Tradition. For an interesting insight into the Shangpa and Jonang Traditions see the article by Michael Sheehy on the TBRC blog.

The Little Red Volume

2010-01-09T20:30:00.000-08:00

The Little Red Book is a Lamdre text compiled by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo. See the TBRC blog entry for more information about this important text.

What to do at India's Buddhist Holy Sites

2010-01-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

Preview of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's New Book: What to do at India's Buddhist Holy Sites

January 1, 2010

Siddhartha's Intent and Khyentse Foundation jointly announce that a preview of
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's advice, What to do at India's Buddhist Holy Sites, is
available as a free PDF download upon formal request.

"The aim of all Buddhist practice is to catch a glimpse of the awakened state. Going
on pilgrimage, soaking up the sacred atmosphere of holy places and mingling with
other pilgrims are simply different ways of trying to achieve that glimpse."

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Sakya Refuge Field Identification Key

2009-12-31T12:54:00.000-08:00

The Sakya Refuge Field poster created for the 1980 Puruwalla Lamdre has been colour coded on the Himalayan Art Resources website and the lineages differentiated. The next step is to separate the different lineages and sections and to create another image of only that section along with a numbered identification key for those parts individually. Each figure will be numbered and a Romanized transliteration of the name provided for the lineage teachers and the Sanskrit name provided for all of the deities. This has already begun. See the earlier post from September Sakya Refuge Field Poster.

Mahakala Visual Model - Updated

2009-12-31T10:22:00.000-08:00

A new visual model page has been added to further simplify the identification of all the figures of the Panjara Mahakala painting HAR #87227. It has already been discussed previously but, this painting is both unique and special because it is so clear and easy to follow and also because it represents precisely the form of Mahakala described in the Vajrapanjara Tantra along with so many of the other deity forms described in that same tantra, such as White Prajnaparamita, Vajra Tara, Bhutadamara Vajrapani, etc. This is one of the only paintings in existence that depicts the correct iconographic form of the Vajrapanjara Tantra Mahakala as passed on through the Lamdre (Margapala) tradition of Sakya.

Hevajra Mandala: More Visuals

2009-12-30T18:50:00.000-08:00

Here is another page to help with navigation for the Hevajra Mandala discussed below (HAR #87225). The two Himalayan Art Resources visual key pages have been placed alongside the main mandala image with the identification keys for the numbers and colours located below - all on one page.

See Mapping a Mandala: Hevajra - A Visual Model.

Hevajra Resource Page

2009-12-29T21:54:00.000-08:00

A new Hevajra Resource Page has been added to the HAR website. Additional new pages have also been created and added to the Hevajra section. See the new Hevajra Masterworks Page and the Hevajra Deity Forms Page. The many scattered and miscellaneous Hevajra pages have been brought together under the Resource Page. The main topics of the new page are mediums, mandalas, reading a mandala and deity forms.

The Masterworks page on the HAR website is based almost exclusively on art and aesthetics while maintaining a standard of iconographic accuracy. From a religious perspective, a Sakya perspective, or a Lamdre perspective, the Masterworks Page would change and reflect predominantly iconography and the chronology of small changes in iconography that reflect changes in the teachings and commentaries that have taken place over the last millennium. A religious Masterworks page might also include unique and rare subjects that pertain to Hevajra in general, or to the specific Lamdre system such as the Hevajra Balimta Offering painting.

Mapping a Mandala: Hevajra - A Visual Model

2009-12-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

Paintings of the Hevajra Mandala are quite numerous and at times of a very high artistic quality. This painting from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is one of the finest and best preserved in the world. It was painted in 1461 as recorded by inscription on the reverse of the composition and very likely commissioned at Ngor Monastery in Tsang Province, Tibet. Ngor was founded by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456) and this painting was likely commissioned by a principal student or nephew less than five years after the founders passing.

Aside from the artistic qualities of this Hevajra mandala it is perhaps the best, or clearly one of the best, iconographic examples of a Hevajra Mandala in the world. Anybody who is interested in the practice of Hevajra or engages in the practice should know this painting and should study this painting. Every figure depicted in the mandala is clear, iconographically detailed, and correct. Two mandala elements stand out as being particularly detailed, the Eight Great Cemeteries and the Eleven Wrathful Ones. Each of the Wrathful Ones is correctly coloured and holds the correct object, or mudra, in the right hand.

Reading a mandala is often very difficult without insider knowledge and the benefit of the explanatory literature. Painted mandala compositions are generally read from the center out and then all of the figures immediately outside of the mandala circle, followed by the top register, and then finishing with the bottom register. The important sections of the MFA Hevajra painting have been divided into colours; blue for the essential deities, red for the Eight Great Charnal Grounds, yellow for the lineage teachers and green for the miscellaneous deities added by the donor or artist. Click on the image to see the greyscale/coloured Numbered and Names Key for this painting.

Visual Models for Practice: Panjarnata Mahakala

2009-12-06T02:35:00.000-08:00

The image of the painting shown here is really quite exceptional. It may not be to everybody's taste. The style is very strongly influenced by the Newar aesthetics of the Kathmandu Valley. This style however was very popular at the Ngor Ewam Monastery of Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo. Ngorchen is depicted in the upper left corner below the image of Kalachakra.

This painting is both unique and special, not because it is so clear and easy to follow, but rather because it represents precisely the form of Mahakala described in the Vajrapanjara Tantra and also because it includes so many other deities described in that same tantra that are special to the Hevajra system of practice - such as White Prajnaparamita, Vajra Tara, Bhutadamara Vajrapani, etc.

Panjarnata, Vajra Mahakala (Tibetan: dor je nag po chen po, gur gyi gon po. English: the Great Vajra Black One, Lord of the Pavilion), special protector of the Hevajra cycle of teachings and principal protector of the Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This form of Mahakala arises from the 18th chapter of the Vajrapanjara exclusive explanatory tantra. The Vajrapanajara Tantra is exclusive to the Hevajra Root Tantra whereas a tantra such as the Samputa is an explanatory tantra shared between the Hevajra and Chakrasamvara (and Yogini) root literature.

The unique iconographic feature of Panjaranata Mahakala as described in the Vajrapanjara Tantra and according to the special Lamdre literature of the Sakya Tradition is that he has no ghandi stick laying horizontally across the forearms. In the other more common Sakya traditions of Panjara Mahakala, such as the Three Deity, Eight Deity etc., he is generally depicted with the ghandi 'stick of emanation.' There are other exceptions to this ghandi stick rule but they are rare and not commonly found in art. The two main exceptions are for the Nagarjuna lineage form and the Ngog lineage form of Panjarnata.

As with most things related to Tantric Buddhism, there is some confusion regarding the name of this Mahakala. Specifically, the name 'panjara' or 'panjarnata' is referring to deities described in the Vajrapanjara Tantra. Therefore this form of Mahakala is the Vajrapanjara or Panjara form. However, generally speaking, there are other descriptions of this same form of Mahakala found in other tantras such as the Twenty-five Chapter and Fifty Chapter Mahakala Tantras. So, how are we to understand this? Now it comes down to appearance. If the Mahakala form has one face and two hands, squat, holding a curved knife and skullcup at the heart, and generally (but not always) holding a ghandi stick across the forearms, then it is said colloquially and in Tibetan literature that this is Panjaranata Mahakala, or the panjara form of Mahakala despite the original source text. It is likely that this came about because the Vajrapanjara Tantra and the Hevajra Tantra were so well known as early Tantric literary works and practice traditions. Because the panjara name was so well known and represented the one face, two armed, form of Mahakala, it is therefore most likely that the name panjara came to be applied to all forms of Mahakala that had this same appearance.

Alternate Names: Vajra Panjara, Vajra Panjarnata, Panjara, Panjarnata, Panjara Mahakala, Panjarnata Mahakala.

Panjarnata Masterworks
Panjarnata Main Page
Panjarnata Outline Page

New Narrative Content on HAR

2009-11-30T03:56:00.000-08:00

Short biographies for the following Sakya Lamas, or Sakya related, have been added to the HAR website:
Sachen Kunga Nyingpo
Sonam Tsemo
Dragpa Gyaltsen
Drogmi Lotsawa
Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro
Dolpopa
Kedrub Kyungpo Naljor
Gyurme Dechen

Also see the Religious Traditions Section for:
Sakya Tradition
Jonang Tradition
Shangpa Tradition

Sakya Biographies

2009-11-22T19:11:00.000-08:00

The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation has started a new website called the Treasury of Lives with a mission to translate or paraphrase the biographies of the major Tibetan Buddhist Teachers. Some biographies are of Sakya Lamas. I have copied a few of these over to the Himalayan Art Resources website accompanied with links and illustrations. I will post to the SRG whenever I upload a new Sakya Biography to the HAR site.

Sakya Biographies:
Drogmi Lotsawa Shakya Yeshe
Dzongsar Khyentse Jamyang Chokyi Lodro (Also look to the biography of Chokyi Lodro, by Dhongtok Rinpoche, in the Bodhi Magazine of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche).

Secrets of Shangri-La: Quest for Sacred Caves

2009-11-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

This may seem at first to be unrelated or a departure from the study of the Sakya Tradition but it is not. In the summer of 2008 I spent a month in the Mustang Region of Nepal with a National Geographic sponsored film crew to investigate previously inaccessible caves filled with ancient artifacts, texts, and Buddhist and Bon cave murals. The cave murals were primarily Sakya in origin and span the 14th to 16th centuries.

In one cave complex called Mardzong, just south of the town of Lo Monthang, in the upper chambers a stash of 14th and 15th century manuscripts were discovered - after collating, amounting to thirty large Tibetan volumes. Predominantly belonging to the Bon religion, the remaining texts were Sakya and many of them relating to the Sakya system of Lamdre.

Furthermore, Mustang is the last remaining Sakya Kingdom in the world, although also containing a smattering of Nyingma and Bon communities. Two of the main temples in the capital walled town of Lo Monthang, in Upper Mustang, are a treasure of murals in the tradition of the great Tibetan murals of the Sakya Monasteries of Gyantse, Shalu and Sakya. For Sakya Art History Lo Monthang is equally important for the study of mandalas and the Tantric systems of Maha Vairochana and Sarvavid Vairochana, along with the visual culture of other Yoga Tantra systems.

If you have access to North American Television please tune in to PBS, November 18th, 8:00 p.m., to watch the National Geographic Special, Secrets of Shangri-La.

"Tune in to PBS November 18th, 8:00 p.m., to watch the National Geographic Special, Secrets of Shangri-La (http://www.pbs.org/secretsofshangrila/). To see a trailer for the program, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRLyJbt6wvs."

Cast of Characters:
Liesl Clark: Director, Project Co-leader
Pete Athans: Chief Climber, Project Co-leader
Brot Coburn: Project Co-leader
Didi Thunder: Support Treks Mastermind
Renan Ozturk: Climber, Video, Draftsperson
Kris Erickson: Climber, Photographer
Sukrasagar Shrestha: Archaeologist
Mohan Singh Lama: Archaeologist
Prakash Darnal: Archaeologist
Dr. Mark Aldenderfer: Archaeologist
Dr. Charles Ramble: Anthropologist
Sirish Bhatt: Caves Draftsperson
Karl Swingle: HDV Camera
Edgar Boyles: HD Camera
Morgan Boyles: HDV Camera
Jean Dunoyer: Editor
Jaime Dunoyer: Assistant Editor
Luigi Fieni: Art Conservator, Photographer
Jeff Watt: Art Historian
Ian Alsop: Art History Advisor
Angela Simons: Archaeologist
Jiban Ghimire: Agent, Fixer
Ted Hesser: Climber
Jay Adams: Assistant Camera
Jyoti Rana: Sound
Korynn Rielly Kirchwey: Motion Graphics
Pixeldust Studios: Animation
Anne De Salles: Anthropologist
Olivia Ramble: Pecha Archivist
Charlotte Ramble: Pecha Archivist
Phoebe Coburn: Pecha Archivist
Tsewang Bista: Cultural Advisor
Indra Bista: Cultural Advisor
Ang Temba Sherpa: Sirdar
Tashi Wangyal: Horseman

Bodhi Magazine Fall Issue

2009-11-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

The Bodhi Magazine put out by the organization of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche has published an issue dedicated to the Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It is full of interesting teachings and histories. The most important section is probably the new translation of a rare Virupa biography. It was recently translated by Cyrus Stearns of Seattle, Washington. Dhongtok Rinpoche has also provided a biography of his teacher Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. The entire issue is well worth looking at. They plan on publishing an issue dedicated to each of the four major schools - Sakya is the second of these issues.

The Chinese Government & Google Blogs

2009-10-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

The Chinese Government and Google have a dispute over which news feeds Google provides over its internet Blog service. Subsequently Google Blogs, which the SRG and HAR websites use, are blocked in China.

There are too many people in China using the SRG site to have it hobbled by international politics. Several different options will be looked at before deciding on a remedy. This blog accessibility problem will be a priority for the next few weeks.

Wutaishan Mountain with Luding Khenpo

2009-10-28T03:38:00.000-07:00

The SRG has had no recent updates because I am still away in China. Currently I am at Wutaishan Mountain the most holy location for the bodhisattva/deity Manjushri in China.

Luding Khenpo is also here and we spent the day along with a small group of students touring the main sites on the valley floor in the morning. In the afternoon we climbed the stairs to one temple to see a shrine presenting all five forms of Manjushri associated with each of the five peaks. The concept of five Manjushri forms and five peaks is said in the Tibetan tradition to be created by Chogyal Pagpa the preceptor to Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty. It is also said that Chogyal Pagpa was physically involved with the construction of the main stupa at Wutaishan.

Google blogs are not generally accessible in China and I won't be able to post images until I return to Hong Kong or New York on Friday. Don't ask me how I was able to post this entry. The internet has many country roads and back alleys.

On the Road Again!

2009-10-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Beijing China in the morning. There are two back to back art and archeology conferences that I am attending along with the opening of a new Tibetology institute attached to the Palace Museum (Forbidden City). As internet and time permits I will try and post content to the SRG website.

There are numerous sites that are special for the Sakya Tradition. The side temples of the Aniko Stupa in Beijing follow a Sakya iconography, namely the Marpo Kor Sum of the Thirteen Golden Dharmas. There is also rumoured to be a Mahakala Temple built at the time of Chogyal Pagpa and the Nepalese (Newar) artist Aniko. The central image was Panjarnata Mahakala the principal Buddhist protector of the Mongol Khans (and the Sakya Tradition) from the time of Kublai Khan. The giant, bigger than life size, sculpture is said to have disappeared during the Boxer Revolution in about 1900 but the temple is still standing although not open to the public. I heard that it is just outside of the Palace Museum at the south-west corner. I will try and visit this location and take some photos of the architectural structure. If the rumours are true it is possible that it was erected at the time of Chogyal Pagpa and perhaps under his direction.

To learn more about Buddhist and Tibetan art see the Beijing Quick Guide.

Small Navigation Change on the SRG Home Page

2009-10-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have made a small navigation change on the SRG Home Page. The Blog, titled 'News/Updates/Blog' has been moved up from under RESOURCES to the first item under INTRODUCTION. The idea is to give a higher profile to the most active and changing part of the web site.

Visual Models for Arapachana Manjushri (Part 2: Variations)

2009-10-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

There are four basic forms of Manjushri that are either called Arapachana by name or use the Arapachana syllables as the principal mantra for the deity. The first (1) is Arapachana, orange in colour, sometimes white. He holds a sword in the right hand and the stem of an utpala flower supporting the Prajnaparamita text in the left. The second (2) form is Manjushri associated with a famous Sanskrit praise, orange in colour. The third (3) form is Arapachana, white in colour, sometimes orange, with the two hands holding the stems of two utpala flowers supporting a sword and text. The fourth (4), Vidyadhara Pitika (not shown here), is similar to the second form except white in colour and with the left leg pendant.

All forms of Arapachana Manjushri are peaceful in appearance. There are also many other forms of Manjushri that are peaceful but do not use the Name Arapachana or the arapachana mantra. Also, not all forms of Manjushri are peaceful. The principal examples of semi-wrathful and wrathful appearance are Black Manjushri as semi and then the many forms of Vajrabhairava, Krishna Yamari, Rakta Yamari and Manjushri Nagaraksha.

On the illustrated example page provided above there are four additional images of Manjushri related to Arapachana. These are found on a mandala painting of Vagishvari Dharmadhatu. The painting depicts twenty-three peaceful forms of Manjushri, three wrathful forms known as Yamari, and three mandalas in total.

Visual Models for Arapachana Manjushri (Part 1: Background)

2009-10-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Manjushri is a very important 'general' Tantric meditation in the Sakya Tradition. Manjushri was important for the Five Holy Superiors of the Sakya School - the five early founders (jetsun gongma nga). He was especially important for both Sachen Kunga Nyingpo and Sakya Pandita. Both of these teachers had visions of Manjushri. Sachen heard the profound Mind Training teaching called the Separation from the Four Attachments directly from Manjushri during a six month Arapachana retreat. Sakya Pandita was even regarded as an early Tibetan emanation of Manjushri, while Sapan himself considered his own teacher, Dragpa Gyaltsen, to be Manjushri. Sapan was later to be included as the first of the Three Manjushris of Tibet along with Longchenpa Drime Ozer and Je Tsongkapa Lobsang Dragpa.

Sakya Pandita wrote a four line praise to Dragpa Gyaltsen addressing him as Manjunatha - the Lord Manjushri. However, this praise was not used or directed towards Dragpa Gyaltsen by Sakya Pandita's students but rather directed to Sakya Pandita himself who had become even more famous as a Manjushri emanation. Even today in the Sakya School this is the main praise/prayer addressed to Sapan.

"With wide eyes perceiving all things,
And compassionately achieving the good of all beings;
Having power performing acts beyond thought.
Guru Manjunata, to your feet I bow my head."
(Written by Sakya Pandita).

Padmasambhava made predictions about the rise of the Sakya Tradition and the holy location of the large patch of white earth at the place known as 'sakya.' Later, Jowo Atisha also made predictions when seeing the famous 'sakya' location and elaborated by saying that in the future there would be an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani and many Manjushri emanations arising from this geographic location. In Tibet the Sakya School also became known as the Manjushri Tradition. Generally, all male members of the Khon family, the hereditary leaders of the Sakya School, are each regarded as Manjushri emanations.

The three main Manjushri practices in Sakya are the (1) Arapachana (orange or white), (2) White (Sita) and (3) Black (Krishna) Manjushris. The function of the first two Manjushris is in the generation of knowledge, memory and ultimately the two forms of wisdom, prajna (sherab) and jnana (yeshe). Black Manjushri, included in the Thirteen Golden Dharmas, is for removing serious obstacles, hindrances, sickness and disease not curable or alleviated through other means.

The Arapachana form of Manjushri has a small number of different variations along with an orange version and a white version. The white form appears to be the original colour for Arapachana. It is not clear when or why the orange form developed and became the more popular form of the deity. There is the practice of the single deity and then there is the Mandala of Five Deities - Manjushri at the center surrounded by four accompanying figures. Even though Arapachana is classified as both a Kriya and Charya Tantra practice there is early evidence from the Bari Gyatsa of Bari Lotsawa Rinchen Drag that there were Perfection Stage (dzog rim) practices used to accompany the Generation Stage (kye rim) Deity Yoga. Perfection Stage techniques were generally a unique practice and characteristic of the Anuttaryoga Classification of Buddhist Tantra. The Sakya Tradition classifies the Manjushri Root Tantra, Manjushri Mulakalpa, as a Charya Tantra. (See a short essay on Tantra Classification).

The significant physical characteristics of Arapachana are the blue sword of wisdom held upraised in the right hand and the Prajnaparamita supported on an utpala blossom held in the left hand. Some forms of Arapachana describe him with the two hands in the Dharma Teaching gesture at the heart while holding the stems of two blue utpala flowers supporting the wisdom sword and Prajnaparamita book. The blue utpala flower is not a lotus. It is thought by some Western experts to be a blue lily flower.

Older archaic forms of Manjushri, depicted in painting and sculpture, place the Prajnaparamita text held to the heart in the left hand. A good example of the archaic form is the sculpture belonging to the late Dezhung Rinpoche Tenpai Nyima, previously belonging to Ngagwang Legpa Rinpoche. This form is also most often seen in early Indian, Kashmiri and Tibetan sculpture. Since the 15th or 16th centuries this variation is rarely described in the liturgical or practice manuals. See a brief explanation of the iconographic features of Arapachana. However, the most common and iconic form of Manjushri is when he is depicted holding the wisdom sword upraised to the sky, ready to cleave, symbolically severing the roots of ignorance. This is the form of the deity that is commonly practiced by the teachers of the past and the students and practitioners of today. The most special and profound practice is called the Sakya Uncommon Orange Arapachana Manjushri.

My favorite image of the deity which was also the form I was first introduced to many years ago was published by the London Buddhist Society (shown above). I am not sure who owns the actual painting, possibly the Society or perhaps the V & A Museum in London. The image here is a scan from the old folding note card. I believe what is well depicted here is the most important characteristic of the Arapachana form. That characteristic is the subtle right twist in the body created from the raising of the right arm holding the sword of wisdom. When this twist which occurs naturally is not depicted then the result is a very stiff and unnatural looking form (try it yourself while looking in the mirror). A big part of the charm of Arapachana is this youthful dexterity and suppleness described as a characteristic of the Indian deva and devi (gods and goddesses) forms found in classical Indian literature - a basis for Buddhsit Tantric texts. An important epithet for Manjushri is kumara, meaning youthful, Kumara Manjushri, or Kumarabhuta Arapachana Manjushri.

Manjushri Resources:
Manjushri Main Page on HAR
Manjushri Outline Page on HAR
Manjushri Tantra Classifications on HAR
Exhibition: Wutaishan, Pilgrimage to Five Peak Mountain
Wutaishan, Pilgrimage to the Five Peaked Mountain (asianart.com)
Origins of Manjushri
Manjushri Bibliography

Where Does Sakya Fit in the Classifications of Tibetan Buddhism

2009-10-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

Where does the Sakya Tradition and where do Sakya practitioners fit in the classification systems of Tibetan Buddhism? View the new page on the Himalayan Art Resources website to see the four main classification systems. Sakyas, like all of the other traditions, are unique. What is not generally known about the Sakya tradition is that early on they were known as the Nyingma Sarma, or the New Nyingma Tradition. The Sakya name and Sakya portion of the tradition refers to the location of the first temple in Central Western Tibet and the new Tantras coming from India in the 11th century. The actual individuals responsible for creating this temple and promoting these new Tantras from India were members of the Khon family which is one of the oldest recorded families in Tibet. Originally Bonpo, they became Buddhist in the 8th century, and disciples of Padmasambhava. They especially practiced the Eight Pronouncement Deities of the Nyingma Tradition. From the 11th century onwards they maintained both the old Nyingma practices, particularly the Vajrakila and the Samputa, along with the new Tantras from India and Kashmir such as the Hevajra, Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja, Kalachakra, and many others. The Sakya Tradition is a very early mixture of old and new Tibetan Buddhist practice lineages yet maintaining the distinct nature, practice and philosophic view of each of these traditions.

Visual Models of the Various Forms of Manjushri

2009-10-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well, so far nobody has any other suggestions for visual models than what I have already put forth. Tomorrow I will present several different forms of Manjushri. Arapachana and Black Manjushri have the same body posture so I will offer my preferred choices for those. White Manjushri is an interesting form because it is so often confused with White Tara, White Prajnaparamita and Lokeshvara. There are some very good examples of White Manjushri to be found in the different collections.

Visual Models for Practice: Vajrayogini

2009-10-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Vajrayogini is one of the easier deities to find good images for. My favourite, in most cases, is an Eastern Tibetan painting, HAR #290, likely based on the Dege Parkhang block print of the same subject. It belongs to the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. The full composition of the painting has Khyentse Wangpo at the top left (our left) and Loter Wangpo on the right. The painting is clear, with clean lines, and a reasonably well formed body. The subject is not an easy form to create with the head looking up to the sky and the body twisted to the left side. It is one of the more unusual of the Vajrayogini postures.

There are other good forms such as HAR #61139. The posture of this Yogini is a little more standard. Paintings like HAR #81541 are great as well because they have all of the lineage teachers portrayed above and the two other yoginis from the Marmo Korsum at the sides. This is not so unusual to see. However, this painting is particularly nice because it has the Sakya Trizin at the bottom left corner along with his son and seated in the right corner is his wife. The first of these paintings belongs to a private collection in New York State and the second belongs to a private collection in Washington, D.C.

Painting HAR #98956 is also quite good unfortunately we do not have a large image that we can look at. The form of the deity is well balanced. It has a shape similar to the painting of HAR #290 as shown above. This painting belongs to the Hahn Cultural Foundation in Seoul, Korea.

Visual Models for Practice

2009-10-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

What are the best visual models for the different Sakya Generation Stage (kye rim) practices? This has always been an interest of mine ever since I first began to learn of Deity Yoga, also called Generation Stage Yoga. What do you think the best images are to model personal practice after?

I will offer two candidates, the first is Bhutadamara Vajrapani from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Of all the forms of Bhutadamara as a central figure this one appears to me to be the most animate, the most correct proportionally, and the most visually pleasing. Many of the forms don't quite look right. A common problem with many Bhutadamara paintings is that the two main arms extending to the sides are often too short. That is not an issue here. However, in this Natural History Museum image the left hand holding the vajra lasso seems more upraised than usual, but that is fine. There is nothing iconographically wrong with this. The Dege Parkhang line drawing of Bhutadamara is close in form to the image above but just doesn't have the animation and life that the Natural History painting has.

Why is Bhutadamara important in the Sakya tradition? This form of Vajrapani is described in chapter two of the Vajrapanjara Tantra, an exclusive explanatory Tantra to the Hevajra Root Tantra in Two Sections. Vajrapani with four arms is a special deity method for removing obstacles at the outset of Tantric practice and most specifically for practitioners of Shri Hevajra. In the Sakya Tradition any serious practice of Hevajra would be framed within the Lamdre system. Bhutadamara therefore is an essential practice for Lamdre and a required retreat, a minimum of one month in duration, prior to embarking on a six month Hevajra retreat. Again, within the Sakya Tradition Bhutadamara is generally recommended as an uncommon preliminary practice prior to other retreats and serious endevours such as Chakrasamvra, Vajrayogini and the other complex Anuttarayoga meditation practices.

Bhutadamara is not commonly depicted as a central figure in a painting. He is more often included amongst the secondary figures surrounding either Shri Hevajra or Panjaranata Mahakala in one of those two more popular painted compositions.

View all Bhutadamara images.

For practices other than Hevajra it is also suitable to do the practice and retreat of Nila Achala, blue in colour, and in a kneeling posture [see Outline Page]. Lobpon Sonam Tsemo wrote a long commentary on the practice of Nila Achala which is considered definitive even in these later times.

My second candidate for the best visual form, at the risk of being accused of cheating, is a Hevajra Torma Offering depiction in the Rubin Museum of Art. The reason it could be considered cheating is because it is the only one that I know of that exists. Even Sakya Lamas have been surprised when they see the image for the first time. It is not common to paint the front visualization for the Hevajra Torma ritual. The painting is extremely clear in its detail. When reading the Tibetan text and looking at the image at the same time everything in the iconography makes sense. The text was definitely the basis for the composition.

These are my two choices that I offer up as being the best visual models for those two specific subjects in Deity Yoga meditation. Do you have better examples? Do you have other visual forms you think should be highlighted, compared and discussed?

Sakya Refuge Field Poster - Large Format

2009-09-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

Does anybody remember this drawing from back in 1980? It was made for distribution during the Puruwalla Lamdre that began late in 1980 and continued into 1981. There were two sizes made, a smaller size on heavy card stock (legal sized paper in dimension) and then a full sized poster 30 inches in length, twenty-two inches across, printed on thin paper. It is I believe the most detailed Sakya Refuge Field created to date (in modern times). Every figure is inscribed with a Tibetan name inscription and both printings are legible. The composition includes famous contemporary teachers such as Lama Dampa Kangsar Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro and Dezhung Rinpoche. In comparison, the large 15 or 20 foot painted tangka created for the same Lamdre event does not include even half the number of figures as the poster composition, deities or lamas. Two extra unnamed lama figures were even added in case somebody felt an important figure from an obscure lineage was not represented appropriately - basically write in the name yourself. One of the deities below Vajradhara, in an upper tier, is drawn incorrectly. This error will be clarified in due time so that the confusion does not perpetuate.

Upon my return to New York I will work to create a better image of the poster and remove some of the background noise created by scanning. A large format image can then be posted to the Himalayan Art Resources site. After that we can create a duplicate image of the Refuge Field and number all of the figures in the composition (lamas, deities, protectors). Then we can design an English language key for all of the names following the correct lineage chronology. Possibly a colour coding system can be employed where the three distinct Guru Lineages presented in the composition are differentiated. The deities can be treated with a different colour, as with the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas. Along the bottom, in an upward turning arch, the wrathful protectors can have there own distinguishing colour treatment making them stand apart from the other distinct groupings of figures.

Complex and layered compositions such as this are best simplified and decoded using a combination of overlaying names, numbers and colours. (See the example of the yoga postures in a Vajradhara & Eighty-four Mahasiddha painting and also see the Kalachakra and Vajravali Deities).

(Click on the image to get an idea of the detail. Download a 1.2 meg medium sized image. Download a 3.8 meg large sized image).

Refuge Field or Field of Accumulation Paintings:
See Field of Accumulation Outline Page on the HAR site
See Sakya Field of Accumulation Paintings

Lamdre 1975 Group Photograph Missing

2009-09-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

In March 2009 when I went to visit Sakya Trizin Rinpoche in Dehradun, and as I was patiently sitting in the waiting room prior to an audience, I noticed that all of the group photos of past Lamdre Teachings, given by Sakya Trizin, were framed and hung on the walls of the rather small room. They were not in any chronological sequence and not all were labeled. It was a guessing game. All that I could be sure about was which Lamdres and in which years that I personally had attended. The 1980 and 2000 group photos were accounted for but there was no sign of a photo for the 1975 Lamdre, the 2nd Lamdre that Rinpoche ever gave, after giving his 1st Lamdre teaching at Sarnath in the late 1960s. Also, there did not appear to be an obvious blank space or gap on any of the walls where a framed photo might have hung. It was a mystery!

Only minutes after that, during my time with Rinpoche I asked him why there was no group photo of the 1975 Lamdre hanging on the wall in the waiting room. He turned to me and said "There is no photo of the Rajpur Lamdre?" He also seemed puzzled. He left the room that we were in to go and look, I followed. Indeed, there was no 1975 group photo on the wall in the waiting room. We looked at other photos and reminisced for a minute or two; it might not have been that long. We left it at that, having more interesting things to talk about, rather than spending time with nostalgia and brief trips down memory lane.

Later however, this waiting room experience got me thinking about where my old photographs from India in the 1970s were. Well, a few days ago and five months later, in Vancouver I found the 1975 Lamdre group photograph and a number of others from the same time period and event. All of course are in black and white as was the standard for India at that time.

So, here it is, the missing photograph, not nearly as refined and elegant as those later Kodak and Fujichrome group photos. But it didn't need to be, remember, it was at this Lamdre where most of the young Sakya Lamas, prominent today, such as Luding Khenpo and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche received their first Lamdre teachings and empowerments. The first Sakya College students from Mussoorie, the original location, were in attendance. Many of the young monks seated in the foreground of the photo are today the ones in charge of Sakya Monastery in Rajpur, or have gone on to become graduates of Sakya College, or become abbots, or have built, or become leaders in, other monasteries and centers throughout Asia and the rest of the world. It was a Lamdre full of promise, and a Lamdre to remember!

The top left photograph is the full group shot. The close-up is of Sakya Trizin with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche standing to the left (on the right of Sakya Trizin) and Luding Shabdrung below that to the left (now he is Luding Khenpo). Directly behind is Chiwang Tulku with Zimwog Rinpoche at the lower right and Sherpa Tulku again to the right. In the upper right corner is Gyalse Rinpoche who unfortunately passed away unexpectedly in Australia some years ago.

The lower photo is a detail of me with a very white complexion. Slightly below and to the left is Sangye-la, dressed in lay attire and wearing a turtle-neck sweater. He was the main attendant of Sakya Trizin for as long as anybody can remember. So there you have it, the missing Lamdre group photo of 1975, but where is the group photo from the first Lamdre in Sarnath?

Lotsawa School Website

2009-09-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

The Lotsawa School website is highlighting quotes of Sakya Pandita in Tibetan and English translation.

Simhanada Lokeshvara: A Golden Dharma

2009-09-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Explanation of the Iconographic Form of the Deity

Simhanada is included as one of the practices in the Thirteen Golden Dharmas of Sakya. It was considered important by the early teachers and kept safe as one of the special practices passed down by Bari Lotsawa Rinchen Drag to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158).

Originally taught by the Indians Chandragomi and Suvarnadvipa, it entered Tibet in the 11th century with Rinchen Zangpo, Jowo Atisha, Bari Lotsawa and others. The deity form and meditation practices are now found in all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. A stone sculpture relief of the deity can also be found carved on a rock face in Hangzhou, China, at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Simhanada Lokeshvara was popularized in Mongolia and China by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182-1251) when he cured Godan Khan of leprosy using the special healing techniques of Simhanada Lokeshvara.

See the Simhanada Lokeshvara Outline Page on the HAR website.

Magzor Gyalmo, a form of Shri Devi

2009-09-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

Magzor Gyalmo, meaning the Queen who Repels Armies, or the Queen who has the power to turn back armies, belongs to the larger class of enlightened protector deities known as Shri Devi, or Palden Lhamo in Tibetan. Magzor Gyalmo is a wrathful emanation of the peaceful goddess Sarasvati, popular in both Hinduism and Buddhism.

See Magzorma Outline Page.

Magzorma is one of the Sakya protectors whose rituals are done on a daily basis in all Sakya and Ngor Monasteries. She is the special protector for the Puntsok Podrang of the Khon Family and also for the Luding Labrang of Ngor Ewam Monastery. A similar two armed form of Shri Devi known as Dorje Rabtenma is the special protector of Shalu Monastery.

In Sakya the most important Shri Devi is Dudsolma with one face and four hands riding a mule. She is the companion of Panjarnata Mahakala and both of these figures are considered offspring of Ekajati (no not the Nyingma one-eyed, one-toothed Ekajati). Coming out of a different narrative tradition, Magzorma is either the younger sister or a servant of Dudsolma.

See the Himalayan Art Resources website for a longer essay on Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo and a new Magzorma Outline Page.

Updates, Changes & Things of Interest

2009-09-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

On the HAR website the Sakya Main Page has been updated with a short passage by Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro and a slightly revised version of the SRG Sakya History essay that I did years ago: Sakya History.

A new Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo Outline Page has been added: Ngorchen Outline.

A new Ngor Tradition Outline, which is really at the beginning stages, with a lot more to be added: Ngor Tradition.

A separate page for the Lama Dampa Sonam Gyaltsen Vajravali mandala painting set has been added. Learn more about the Vajravali, its history and art. When Khyabgon Sakya Trizin gives the Kalachakra initiation, such as for the opening ceremonies of the Ani Gompa in Dekyi Ling this past April, then he used the Vajravali version of the initiation. (See one of the best examples and possibly the oldest Vajravali painting known).

Still In India

2009-03-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

I am still away traveling in India. The Translator's Conference was over last week and I have been traveling and doing research since then. Most of the work has been non-Sakya related, however I am now in Manduwalla the home of Ngor Magon. The back end of the monastery where the monk's quarters are located is directly outside my bedroom window. I also plan to visit the new Gongkar Monastery about a half hour drive from here back towards Paonta Sahb and Chandigarh,and then visit Sakya Center in Rajpur.

The image above is a prayer to Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen composed by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. It is designed as a visual diagram that can be read in almost every direction. It is very large and painted at the entrance way to the old Dzongsar Institute main temple which is now Deer Park Institute. A new Dzongsar Institute has been built a few kilometers away. There are two other prayers done in the same way, a Shakyamuni and a Longchenpa prayer. I will upload these to the HAR database when I return to New York.

Translators Conference - Hosted by Khyentse Foundation

2009-03-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

I will be attending the Translators Conference in Bir, India, during the month of March 2009. New updates to the SRG Blog may be few and far between. Be patient there is lots more to come with images from the major Sakya monasteries of Tibet, new biographies and links.

New Websites & Blogs

2009-03-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

The Jonang Foundation website is well worth looking at and book marking. It is the most important and reliable Jonang site so far on the internet. The Jonang, Bodong, and Shalu traditions are the closest Tibetan Buddhist schools to Sakya both philosophically and especially in Tantric tradition and lineage. Khyentse Chokyi Lodro went so far as to say that these three were branch schools of Sakya.

TBRC has a new Blog addition to their website. The website overall is intended for an academic audience as well as Tibetan Lamas and teachers. It is essentially written in Tibetan language or Wylie transliteration. The Blog is a great addition to the site by allowing everybody an insight into the workings of this vast bibliographic database.

Sakya Resource Centre: (NOT the Sakya Resource Guide). "The present site is devoted to the study of the Sakya school, one of the major religious traditions within Tibetan Buddhism. Launched by dedicated students (undergraduate and doctoral) of Tibetan studies who do research on prominent Sakyapa masters (see also Current Research Projects), the website provides access to scholarly resources and distributes free e-texts that are useful for religious-historical research on the Sakya tradition and its representatives. It highlights valuable research tools that are available via the web, and has begun to host a collection of significant texts in digital form. At present, our inputted text material focuses on the Sakyapa-s during the late fourteenth and fifteenth century, a period characterized by a still-ongoing doctrical exchange between the different traditions that gave rise to numerous saints and scholars. In future, we aim to provide a comprehensive research platform and plan to extend our text input activity and cooperation with researchers and institutions in order to build up a free digital text archive for research and reference into the Sakya tradition."

"For questions or suggestions pertaining to this website, please contact the Sakya Resource Centre at info@sakya-resource.de. We also ask you to contact us if you notice any errors in the e-texts." (Taken from the SRC Home page).

The Thirteen Golden Dharmas (New Images)

2009-03-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

A new set of images depicting the Thirteen Golden Dharmas has been uploaded to the Himalayan Art Resources website. These images are from a Mongolian version of the Rinjung Lhantab of the 4th Panchen Lama. The Rinjung is based on the text of the Jonang Lama Taranatha. He compiled a very large collection of sadhana practices many of which came from Sakya lineages. This collection is very good for looking at Sakya deities that are not commonly depicted such as Red Tara, Red Sarasvati, and the Twenty-one Taras according to the system of Suryagupta

All of the Mongolian images from the Rinjung Lhantab are slowly being uploaded and catalogued. This is a complete illuminated text currently belonging to the Volkerkundemuseum der Universitat Zurich, Switzerland and the same subject matter as contained in the publication Buddhist Iconography by Lokesh Chandra.

Two New Sakya Publications

2009-01-31T08:12:00.001-08:00

Two new publications in the WSTB series (Vienna Studies in
Tibetology and Buddhism).

WSTB No. 68. Jowita Kramer "A noble Abbot from Mustang. Life and
Works of Glo-bo mKhan-chen (1456-1532)" (2008) 334p. ISBN:
978-3-902501-07-3. EUR 26.00

WSTB No. 69. Pascale Hugon "Trésors du raisonnement. Sa skya
Pan dita et ses prédécesseurs tibétains sur les modes de
fonctionnement de la pensée et le fondement de l'inférence" Édition et
traduction annotée du quatrième chapitre et d'une section du dixième
chapitre du Tshad ma rigs pa'i gter (2008) 2 vols; 854p. ISBN:
978-3-902501-08-0. EUR 52.50

Orders can be placed at the WSTB website.

Profile of the Web Author

2009-01-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

A new profile has been added to the Himalayan Art Resources website. For those of you who care to know where I disappeared to for the last 10 years then look to the HAR website for a profile. It was primarily written by James Shaheen of the Buddhist Tricycle Magazine.

We are trying to give the HAR website and staff a higher profile so that we can be in a better position for grant applications and fund-raising. We live in difficult financial times and New York, the epicenter of North American finance, seems to be hit harder than other places. This is probably because it is also the center of financial corruption. On a positive note, New York is also the museum capital of the world and probably has more Himalayan and Tibetan art than any other city in the Western world. See the New York City Outline Page.

Zimwock Rinpoche Returns

2009-01-10T21:22:00.000-08:00

After many years of leading a quiet life away from the spotlight Zimwock Rinpoche of the Tsar sub-school of Sakya (biography) has returned. Zimwock Tenzin Trinley Ling has been established as Rinpoche's seat in Kathmandu, Nepal. Zimwock and Chogye are the two principal Labrangs (houses) of Nalendra Monastery (history) in Phanpo, Tibet. The previous Zimwock was regarded as a Mahakala emanation and passed away in Dharmsala, India, in 1963. (For more information please see the biography of Chogye Tri Rinpoche. Also see the Project to Rebuild Nalendra Monastery).

60 New Links

2009-01-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

Over Sixty new links have been added to the SRG Links Page. Most of the links are for Sakya centers around the world, Tibet, India, Nepal, North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Some additional links under General Resources are of Sakya interest although a few should be re-located to other pages of the SRG rather than on the Links page. I will move these later when I have more time.

A new section listing Search Engines has been added to the Links Page. I always find it amazing that the different search engines can serve up such different results. On Google the SRG site usually comes up in the top five. On the Yahoo search engine I am lucky if the SRG is in the top two hundred listings. Sometimes the technology seems quite random. However, the technology and hard drive space supporting the image search engines are quite interesting and they produce vast results, almost overwhelming. They open up a new window onto the visual culture of Sakya, the teachers and students, rituals, monasteries, sacred landscape and architecture. The only thing missing is a good editor.

The Tibet Album and Sakya Photos

2009-01-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

"The Tibet Album presents more than 6000 photographs spanning 30 years of Tibet's history. These extraordinary photographs are a unique record of people long gone and places changed beyond all recognition." (Publisher).

There are some interesting old photos of Sakya worth looking at especially in light of the extensive renovations that have been done at Sakya Monastery (Lhakang Chenmo) in the last few years.

Kanha Name Confusions

2008-12-25T12:07:00.000-08:00

Virupa had two main students, Kanha and Dombhi Heruka, to whom he taught the Lamdre (Margapala) system based significantly but not exclusively on the Hevajra Tantra. Kanha (black) is the principal student in the lineage. In Western texts and Tibetan translated material this and similar names can appear in Sanskrit as Kanha, Kanhapa, Kanhavajra, Krishna, Krishnapa, Krishnavajra, Krishnacharin, Krishnacharya and Kala Virupa. The Tibetan name for Kanha is 'nag po pa' which means the black one. In the two most popular and most documented systems of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas translated into the Tibetan language, the Vajrasana and the Abhayadatta systems, several Nagpopas are mentioned with various associated spellings.

Why is this important and why do we care? We care because there is another mahasiddha named Krishnacharin (Nagpopa Chopa, or Nagpo Chopa) associated with the Chakrasamvara Cycle of Tantras and also, like the Lamdre Kanha, very important in Sakya. This siddha is represented in both the Vajrasana and Abhayadatta Systems of Eighty-four Mahasiddhas. Kanha of Lamdre is found only in the Vajrasana System and not in the Abhayadatta System. They both have their own stories and unique hagiographies. Sakya practitioners need to be able to name and differentiate the siddhas and teachers in the various important lineages of practice. That is why this subject is important.

How do we know what to call these siddhas? Basically we can only rely on common convention over time. However, we do have early writings from teachers such as Chogyal Pagpa where he refers to the 'black' student of Virupa as Kanha using the Sanskrit term. This is how we know that there is early precedent for distinguishing between these two 'black ones,' Kanha and Krishna. There is less confusion with Krishnacharin because he is represented in all of the New Schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is really only the Lamdre Lineage Kanha that has become confused because he essentially is only known in the Sakya Tradition and the Pagmodrupa Lineage of Lamdre.

For practitioners ultimately what is important is not the names and which name is used for which siddha but rather to understand that there are two different mahasiddha figures with names that have often been used interchangeably and furthermore that of these two one belongs to the Lamdre Lineage (Kanha) and the other belongs to the Chakrasamava Lineage (Krishnacharya).

New Book: A Garland of Jewels

2008-12-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

A GARLAND OF JEWELS: The Eight Great Bodhisattvas by Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, translated by Yeshe Gyamtso.

This book is for those of you out there who are interested in the Eight Great Bodhisattvas and what is actually written in the Sutras about them without having to read all of the Sutras yourself. A small number of interesting and useful Tantric quotes have also been included. What is not stated in this current translation is that this text attributed to and written by Mipham Rinpoche is based on the work of Zhuchen Tsultrim Rinchen (1697-1774) of Dege Gonchen Monastery. Zhuchen was the chief editor of the Dege Tangyur and one of the most important Sakya Lamas of Eastern Tibet in the 18th century.

"The great sutras of the Mahayana are repositories of extraordinary accounts of miracles and great deeds performed buddhas and bodhisattvas. Mipham's purpose in writing this book was to inspire us to emulate these great beings and to give us confidence in the effectiveness of the Mahayana path." (Publisher).

The Thirteen Golden Dharmas of Sakya

2008-12-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

The Thirteen Golden Dharmas are said to derive from the time of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158) when he received initiations and teachings that were considered so precious that only gold could be offered to the Guru. There are several ways of enumerating the Thirteen and when all of the initiations are counted there can be as many as sixteen or more in total. Different traditions and monasteries specialized in different practices. Gongkar Dorje Den monastery specialized in the Dakini Simhamukha. The Khon family especially practiced the Three Great Red Ones (Marpo Kor Sum). The Tsar branch school also held the Thirteen to be very special. Everybody practiced the Three Red Ones (Vajrayogini). The initiations for the Thirteen are either given as a group over several days or they can be given individually at different times for various reasons depending on the teacher and the donor. Some of the initiations are a simple ‘Permission’ (body, speech, mind) while others are ‘Blessings’ which means an abbreviated initiation based on the recipient having already received a ‘Major Empowerment’ (wangkur). If the Thirteen are given at one time then the teacher will often give the Two Day Chakrasamvara or the Hevajra Empowerments first as a mandatory requirement for the students prior to receiving any of the other initiations. This is actually necessary because many of the Thirteen Golden Dharmas belong to the Anuttarayoga classification of Tantra.

The Thirteen are an odd assortment of practices and do not naturally belong together as a set. They do not come into the Sakya Tradition as a single group through only one early Lotsawa or siddha. Nor do the Thirteen arise from a common text or set of Tantric literature. In fact the Thirteen are all very different and arise from a number of Tantras. It is true that a few come from the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras, but that in itself is a very large collection of literature with at least eleven important main Tantras, not counting all of the minor related Tantras. It might be best to think of the Thirteen Golden Dharmas as the Swiss Army Knife of the Sakya Tradition. They are a collection of practices for reaching enlightenment quickly (Marmo Kor Sum), practices for power and domination (Marpo Kor Sum), practices to take care of specific power and wealth needs (Marchung Kor Sum and Red Jambhala). There are miscellaneous practices to overcome sickness and naga related diseases (Shabala Garuda, Simhanada), environmental and psychological issues (Black Manjushri, Dakini Simhamukha) and finally longevity and lifespan extension (Nine-deity Amitayus Buddha and Amaravajradevi). These Thirteen are considered the best support and specialized practices along the path to reaching complete enlightenment. Each of these practices are accompanied by many colourful narratives relating how the great Indian and Tibetan practitioners of the past overcame natural and spiritual obstacles by relying on these various practices.

It is sometimes said that the Thirteen came down from the lineage of Mal Lotsawa to
Sachen, but this is not accurate. Some of the initiations and practices did come through Mal Lotsawa but not all. For some of the practices there are different traditions of initiation and choices of ritual texts. For example the initiation of Simhanada Lokeshvara is found in the Sadhanamala (Drub Thab Gyatso), the Bari Gyatsa, and in other sources. The Dakini Simhamukha of Bari Lotsawa is counted as one in the Thirteen Golden Dharmas, however Bari Lotsawa taught the solitary Simhamukha, the Three Deity Simhamukha and the Five Deity Simhamukha, not to mention the red form, amongst others. Who is to say which of these is the Golden Dharma? Or are they all Golden Dharmas? I don’t know when the term Thirteen Golden Dharmas was first used and recorded in literature, but it does appear to be early. The earliest recorded sets of Golden Dharmas in Sakya of any type are related to the Lamdre Tradition. The four most important teachings given by Virupa and received directly by Sachen are called the Four Golden Dharmas of Virupa: Lamdu, Lamsap, Birsung and Vajravidarana. These however are not related to the set of Thirteen Golden Dharmas.

The Golden Dharmas are divided into three sets of three and then four miscellaneous
initiations added giving it the name Thirteen. The three sets are standard for all enumerations of the Thirteen. The first set of three is the Three Red Ones commonly referred to as the Marmo Kor Sum, or Kachod Kor Sum (Cycle of Three Khechara). They are (1) Vajrayogini of Naropa, Naro Khechara, (2) Vajrayogini of Indrabhuti, Indra Khechara and (3) Vajrayogini of Maitripa, Maitri Khechara. These three practices all arise from the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras. For each of these it is believed that Vajrayogini appeared in person before the Mahasiddha that the tradition is named after. It is not historically clear which Maitripa or Indrabhuti is being referred to, nor is it clear in the Indrabhuti lineage if the Virupa is the same as the Lamdre Virupa.

The second set of three is the Three Great Red Ones (Marpo Kor Sum): (4) Kurukulla of the Hevajra Tantra from the lineage of Sahaja Lalita, (5) Takkiraja of the Guhyasamaja Tantra and (6) Maharakta Ganapati associated with the Chakrasamvara Tantra.

The third set is the Three Small Red Ones (Marchung Kor Sum): (7) Kurukulla-Tara of the Vajrapanjara Tantra, (8) Red Vasudhara of the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras and (9) Tinuma, the activity form of Vajravarahi, also of the Chakrasamvara cycle.

The four standard remaining deities are (10) Black Manjushri from the lineage of the siddha Jetari, (11) Shabala Garuda from the Kalachakra Tantra and the lineage of Naropa, (12) Simhanada Lokeshvara from its own tantra and (13) Red Jambhala from the Chakrasamvara Tantra and the lineage of mahasiddha Virupa.

Alternates are the dakini (14) Simhamukha associated with the Chakrasamvara Tantra, (15) Amaravajradevi also of the Chakrasamvara Tantra and (16) the Nine-deity Amitayus Buddha from his own Tantra.

The Thirteen Golden Dharmas are often depicted in Tibetan and Himalayan style art. The Three Red Ones and the Three Great Red Ones are commonly seen in Newar art and early Tibetan art from Sakya Monastery to Gyantse and Shalu in the 14th century. Later, the Thirteen became popular with the various Gelug traditions and artistic representations can be found from Mongolia to China. From the 17th to 19th centuries very fine paintings depicting all thirteen deities were created in the Imperial Palace workshops in Beijing. Some of these works still remain in the collection of the Imperial Palace Museum.

New Book: Hevajra and Lam-'bras Literature

2008-12-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

Hevajra and Lam-'bras Literature of India and Tibet as Seen Through the Eyes of A-mes-zhabs. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch (2008), (Contributions to Tibetan Studies 6), Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, ISBN 978-3-89500-652-4, clothbound, 264 pp., 12 b/w illustrations. 68,00 € (http://www.reichertverlag.de/default.asp)

"The Hevajra Tantras and teachings of the 'Path with Its Fruit' (lam ‘bras) that originated in India have been central practices of Tibetan tantric Buddhism for a millenium. The Tibetans translated eight Hevajra transmissions with their tantras, commentaries, rituals, and instructions and authored countless scriptures in the context of the tantra and the 'Path with Its Fruit' that originated with the Indian Mahasiddha Virupa. Drawing on title lists (dkar chag), colophones, and commentaries authored between the 11th and 17th centuries, the author attempts a reconstruction of the Indian and Tibetan corpora of these transmissions, its literary history and relations to one another."

"Contents (key words): Part I, Chapter 1, focuses on the Hevajra literature of India and Tibet (Four Great Transmissions, Hevajra Tantras, Six Great Chariot Systems, the Hevajra cycles of Dombiheruka, Saroruhavajra, Krsna Samayavajra, Ratnakarashanti, Yashobhadra [?sNyan-grags-bzang-po], and Avadhutipa), the two systems of pith instructions, and a description of several categorizations of the Hevajra writings. Chapter 2 deals with Hevajra literature mentioned in A-mes-zhabs’ records of teachings and his other works; chapter 3 with the main lineages of the transmissions."

"Part II focuses on the Path with Its Fruit literature of India and Tibet. Chapter 1 deals with the title list of the Yellow Book and the various categorizations of the Lam ‘bras writings (Extensive Path, Actual Path, Twenty-three Further Clarifications, Medium and Abbreviated Paths, Four Great Fundamental Instructions, Five Teachings to Produce Realization, and the Four Authenticities). Chapter 2 deals with the title list of the (Little) Red Book and the Four Authenticities (of the Guru, Experience, Treatise, and Basic Scriptures), the Four Profound Dharmas conferred to Sa-chen by Virupa, the Dharma Links with the Six Gates, and the Nine Supplements. Chapters 3 and 4 describe the Lam-‘bras teachings mentioned in the records of teachings of A-mes-zhabs, the Black Book, the tradition of rDzong and Kha’u-brag-rdzong, the Eight Later Path-Cycles, and the Lam-‘bras writings of the most important Sa-skya-pa authors."

"Four appendices provide a title list of all the Hevajra and Lam-‘bras related works mentioned in the book, ten rare title lists, the translation of the notes of Chos-dpal-bzang-po on Ngor-chen’s teachings on the Hevajra transmission, and the Tibetan text as edited by A-mes-zhabs. The book also contains an Index of Names and a Bibliography." (Publisher)

New Book: Three-Vow Theories in Tibetan Buddhism

2008-12-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

Three-Vow Theories in Tibetan Buddhism, A Comparative Study of Major Traditions from the Twelfth through Nineteenth Centuries. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, Band 1 der Reihe Contributions to Tibetan Studies. ISBN 978-3-89500-263-2, 2002, Leinen. 596 Seiten, 240 x 170 mm, 2 s/w Abb. 58,00 € (http://www.reichertverlag.de/default.asp).

"Since the 12th century, a central feature of Buddhism in Tibet was its harmonizing of tantric practice with the moral codes of monastic discipline and Bodhisattva altruism. All masters maintained the vajrayana or tantric path to be superior to the two „lower“ codes, but they described this superiority differently. In the present study, Jan-Ulrich Sobisch explores for the first time in detail the three main strategies maintained by the oldest Tibetan schools for explaining the relations of the three codes." (Publisher)

New Book: The Dharma's Gatekeepers

2008-12-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

The Dharma's Gatekeepers: Sakya Pandita on Buddhist Scholarship in Tibet by Jonathan C. Gold. State University of New York Press.

The Dharma's Gatekeepers offers an incisive analysis of one of the most important works in Tibetan Buddhist intellectual history: Sakya Pandita's Gateway to Learning (mkhas pa 'jug pa'i sgo).

See the Sakya Pandita Page on the HAR website.
See a description of the cover image: Manjushri Namasangiti

A Gentle Caution About the Two Books Listed Below

2008-12-06T17:29:00.000-08:00

Gorampa Sonam Sengge (1429-1489) is one of the most important masters of Sutra and Tantra in the Sakya Tradition. He wrote commentaries on the works of Sakya Pandita and also critiqued other great scholars of his time. Gorampa's works are required study at all Sakya Colleges in India, Nepal and Tibet. When reading the translated words and interpretations of Gorampa's meaning in English and other languages, as Sakya students and practitioners, then it is important that we rely on the great teachers in the tradition of Gorampa. I believe the foremost of these is Khenpo Appey Rinpoche. After that we have the heads of the Sakya Tradition and all of the best graduate students from the various Sakya Colleges who are now active teachers, Lharampas and Khenpos. They are the primary upholders for the interpretation of Gorampa's works for the Sakya Tradition.

So, what then is the gentle caution about the two books listed below. To my knowledge the Tibetan and Western scholars whose books are listed below are not specialists in Sakya literature nor have they graduated from a Sakya College. For those of us interested in these types of subjects then of course they are books of interest and should be read and judged on their own merits, but please do not blindly accept the information in these books as a traditional Sakya interpretation.

New Book: Freedom from Extremes

2008-12-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

Freedom from Extremes: Gorampa's "Distinguishing the Views" and the Polemics of Emptiness. José I. Cabezón, Author. Geshe Lobsang Dargyay, Author.

"What is emptiness? This question at the heart of Buddhist philosophy has preoccupied the greatest minds of India and Tibet for two millennia, producing hundreds of volumes. Distinguishing the Views, by the fifteenth-century Sakya scholar Gorampa Sönam Sengé, is one of the most important of those works, esteemed for its conciseness, lucidity, and profundity."

"Gorampa’s text is polemical, and his targets are two of Tibet’s greatest thinkers: Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school, and Dölpopa, one of the founding figures of the Jonang school. Distinguishing the Views argues that Dolpopa has fallen into an eternalistic extreme, whereas Tsongkhapa has fallen into nihilism, and that only the mainstream Sakya view—what Gorampa calls “freedom from extremes”—represents the true middle way, the correct view of emptiness. Suppressed for years in Tibet, this seminal work today is widely regarded and is studied in some of Tibet’s greatest academic institutions." (Wisdom Publications)

This book comes with a gentle caution which I shall talk about shortly. - Jeff Watt

New Book: The Two Truths Debate

2008-12-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

The Two Truths Debate, Tsongkhapa and Gorampa on the Middle Way. Sonam Thakchoe, Author. Jay Garfield, Foreword Wisdom Publications.

"All lineages of Tibetan Buddhism today claim allegiance to the philosophy of the Middle Way, the exposition of emptiness propounded by the second-century Indian master Nagarjuna. But not everyone interprets it the same way. A major faultline runs through Tibetan Buddhism around the interpretation of what are called the two truths—the deceptive truth of conventional appearances and the ultimate truth of emptiness. An understanding of this faultline illuminates the beliefs that separate the Gelug descendents of Tsongkhapa from contemporary Dzogchen and Mahamudra adherents. The Two Truths Debate digs into the debate of how the two truths are defined and how they are related by looking at two figures, one on either side of the faultline, and shows how their philosophical positions have dramatic implications for how one approaches Buddhist practice and how one understands enlightenment itself." (Wisdom Publications)

This book comes with a gentle caution which I shall talk about shortly. - Jeff Watt

TBRC: Outline Pages for Sakya Materials

2008-11-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center of Gene Smith has been engaged in making outline pages for the major collections of Tibetan writings. Created on the SRG site is an outline page of only the Sakya materials called TBRC: Sakya Bibliographic Outlines. Also included is a link to Sakya Lineages, a joint project between the University of Munich and the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center. These pages and links are very academic and you will need to be able to read Tibetan or at the least know the Wylie (Extended) Transliteration System. To learn more about Tibetan scripts see the Resource Tools for Scholars on the HAR website.

Outline Pages from HAR

2008-11-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

I have many Outline Pages for the Sakya Tradition on the HAR (Himalayan Art Resources) website. I have always tried to keep these two resources separate because one (SRG) is faith based and the other (HAR) is a general art education site. The problem for me now is that HAR has become quite rich with Sakya material and I don't always have the time to copy or re-create the same pages for the SRG site even though that is my initial feeling of what should happen. There is no intention or plan to blend the sites but I feel I must be more blatant in making Sakya practitioners aware of what is on HAR.

We all have to remember that the HAR site is dealing with all of the religious imagery, art styles, and aesthetics coming out of Himalayan Style Art and it is funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation. I alone (no bosses) support the SRG website. It would be completely unfair to be partial to one tradition over another on the HAR site, as everybody has to be treated equally.

Now, I believe, if you were to do a survey of the art objects that I have written about in depth, over the past 11 years, on the HAR site you will find that I have actually devoted far more time and energy into the non-Sakya traditions, iconography, and painting sets. It has taken me years to finally begin to document all of the Lamdre Lineage paintings. The sculpture has still not been done. Early on I worked on the subjects people seemed to be most interested in and subjects supported by large numbers of artworks such as the Dalai Lama, Panchen Lama, Karmapa, Shamar, Situ, Padmasambhava, etc. And I can tell you, just dealing with all of the different representations of Padmasambhava and all the Terma 'Revealed Treasure' Traditions and their different forms is a daunting task. Jamgon Kongtrul had to write the Rinchen Terdzo in one hundred and twenty volumes to try and keep it all straight.

So, to try and deal with all of that, from now on what I will be doing is keeping the SRG site more up to date on all the Sakya additions to the HAR website:
1. Sakya Outline Page
2. Lamdre Painting Sets Page
3. Thirteen Golden Dharmas
4. Panjarnata Mahakala
5. Sakya Monasteries
6. Lamdre Lineage
7. Sakya Lineages
8. Sakya Protectors
9. Sakya Hats

Tsunda Monastery Website, Tibet

2008-11-27T10:08:00.000-08:00

The Tsunda website has lots of interesting content along with a large collection of Sakya teachings and lectures. The head Lama is Tiktsa Rinpoche who is active in Tibet and the re-building of the Tsunda Monastery.

Rinchen Zangpo & Art of the Western Himalayas

2008-11-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

There is an interesting article on the Asian Art website called A four-fold Vairocana in the Rinchen Zangpo tradition at Halji in Nepal by Mimi Church and Mariette Wiebenga. Rinchen Zangpo was the Tibetan Buddhist teacher that marked the beginning of the 'New' (sarma) era of Buddhism in the Himalayas and Tibet as opposed to the 'Old' (nyingma) begun by Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava abd Trisong Detsen. What is important to know is that the Sakya Tradition was the principal inheritor of the Rinchen Zangpo lineages of practice. The most well known of those practices are the Vairochana Tantras, the Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tantra and the Eight Deity Panjarnata Mahakala. Khyabgon Sakya Trizin and other lamas frequently give the initiation of Sarvadurgati and occasionally that of Eight Deity Mahakala.

Lamdre Lineage Art Sets

2008-11-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

Most of the paintings and sculpture depicting individual, or several, Sakya Lamas in one composition are invariably from Lamdre lineage sets. And as all of you will know, it is best when requesting Lamdre to be taught that the host organization also commission a new set of Lineage tangkas (painted or appliqué). At any given time sets of paintings in total number are likely to account for more than half of all Himalayan and Tibetan style art. Needless to say, there are many paintings that belong to Sakya lamdre lineage sets scattered around the world in museum and private collections. I have attempted to put as many of these paintings back together in the Lamdre Lineage Outline Page. There are many more images that I know of but haven't yet been able to acquire the required permissions. There are also Lamdre images waiting to be uploaded onto the HAR website.

Additions & Updates

2008-11-13T09:56:00.000-08:00

I did a quick re-working of the main Sakya Outline Page on the HAR website. To this I added at the bottom, as you already saw, the Sakya Protectors Outline. Linked to that is a new outline page for Panjarnata Mahakala. Panjarnata is a very complex deity because he is both a protector with many forms and, in Sakya, a Meditational Deity (ishtadevata) of the Anuttarayoga classification. I still have more work to do on this and I am not sure if I remembered the Five Lineages of Panjaranata accurately. I have a feeling that the Mal Lotsawa and the Rinchen Zangpo lineages are the same which means that I have forgotten one. I can look it up when I return back to New York next week.

Also new to the Sakya Outline Page is the Monasteries & Branch Schools outline. This new page will become more meaningful and develop as I upload all of the images from my various trips to Tibet and hopefully the images that my students also took at the various locations relating to Sakya.

Sakya Protectors

2008-11-08T19:04:00.000-08:00

A new outline page for Sakya Protectors has been added to the Himalayan Art Resources website. There is a lot more explanation that needs to accompany each of these protectors, and or, their larger classifications, such as Mahakala, Shri Devi, the Three Kings, etc. I have this information written up in the form of a university paper done back in 1988 at UBC. I will review that paper and add more information to the SRG and HAR websites. The image on the left is of the goddess Ekajati, the mother of Mahakala and Shri Devi, according to the system of Panjarnata Mahakala. She is included as one of the retinue figures in the Eight Deity Panjarnata practice. She is also included in the Three Deity Panjarnata practice of the Sakya Tradition.

Another Interesting Search Tool

2008-11-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

Viewzi is a search program that allows you to choose how you want the results to appear. It's excellent for images. That is what I use it for. You can also have it serve up only text, video previews, etc. You decide. No pressure from me. Look at a search on the word Sakya and then the results after selecting only images.

Something Fun

2008-11-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

I was checking out new websites and search engines and came across www.searchme.com. For those of you that use Apple products you can stop reading this entry because you know what I am about to say. Anyway, for the rest of you this search engine uses a very nice front end presentation that serves up the pages of each site and allows you to scroll through them horizontally (in an Apple style). My only disappointment was that I was not able to find the SRG in the search results, but it is not always about the SRG. Look at the Sakya Search Results on Searchme.com. It might be fun for some of you. I enjoyed it.

Chicago Museums

2008-10-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last three days in collections storage at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Field Museum. The Art Institute had a few things that were Sakya related. The most important piece was a painting of Hevajra that is from a known set commissioned in Ngor in the beginning of the 17th century. It was a set commemorating the passing of an important Lama from one of the four Ngor Labrangs. It belongs to the same set as the Guhyasamaja of the Rubin Museum of Art.

The field Museum had a number of interesting works including a painting of what appeared to be a Sakya Tridzin along with two other lamas. Each was inscribed with a gold inscription although I couldn't immediately identify which lamas they were. All three were likely alive when the painting was commissioned. This was indicated by a long-life vase in each of their hands. There was also a very nice Vajrapani Bhutadamara painting and a Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo guruyoga painting.

I hope to have the Field Museum images up on the HAR website soon.

Links Fixed and Updated

2008-10-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

Many of the broken links have been fixed and updated. Pages fixed: Links, Art, News, Glossary, Holy Days, History, and Fact Sheet. The Bibliography, Teachers and Teachings sections will be checked for broken links over the next couple of weeks. I will be away working in Chicago for a week or so. When I return I will attend to the last of the possible link problems. After that I will begin to add new content to the website and add the new Sakya material to the Himalayan Art Resources website.

One thing that I used to do periodically was a full Google search for all new Sakya and Sakya related websites, Pdfs and Ftp resources on the web. This I have not done for a couple of years. I hope to do this in the next couple of weeks.

Other Important Sakya Resources

2008-10-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

I need to say that one reason that the SRG has been neglected, which I feel bad about, is because I spend so much of my time working in New York on the Himalayan Art Resources website (HAR) of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation. This and the Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) have been my primary job for the last nearly 11 years. However, I am now the former Senior Curator of the RMA and this has freed up enormous amounts of my time. My main focus currently is directed towards the HAR website, research, consulting, translating, writing and publishing.

With that out of the way, let's now talk about the enormous wealth of Sakya resources on the HAR website. Aside from using the general Index, found on the home page, when searching on specific subjects like a deity name or person, for example Hevajra, or Sakya Pandita, look to the Sakya Tradition in the Outline Pages, found at the bottom of the HAR home page. In Outlines find Religious Traditions and click on Sakya. From here you can access many Thematic Sets (our technical word for groupings of related art objects) that take you to specific Sakya subjects.

Not all art images have write-ups or explanations. You have to be a little adventurous and explore by clicking on the different thumbnail images until you find a painting or sculpture that interests you or has a write-up that is on a subject you are looking for. Don't be afraid to explore.

The current Sakya Outline page is actually out dated and I will be correcting that soon with updated images, information, links, etc. Last summer I spent five weeks teaching in Tibet and was fortunate to have a full week in Sakya and was able to take thousands of pictures of art and architecture. These images will be going up onto the HAR website soon. For important Sakya subjects also look at the Outline Page titled Iconography: Deities & Subjects. Here you will find many important subjects that relate directly to Sakya and the various branch schools. For those of you that are actual practitioners look to the Thirteen Golden Dharmas page for images that correspond to those practices.

As a supplement to the Sakya Glossary (SRG) and those of you that have the Vajrayogini glossary on the SRG site please look to the Caution Words glossary and others on the HAR site under Links, Subject, and finally Glossary Resources. The first entries that are preceded by an * asterisks I have written especially for the HAR website. The others are links to mostly academic institutions with useful glossaries. The *Mahasiddha Glossary especially should be of interest to Sakya practitioners.

As I re-do the main Sakya Outline page on HAR I will try to keep in mind the needs of Sakya followers and re-shape the information so as to present the HAR information in a more practitioner/follower framework on the SRG website. (The image on the left is a picture of me in a Manjushri Chapel in Sakya, June 2007).

Sakya Outline Page
Iconography: Deities & Subjects
Glossary Resources

First Post

2008-10-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

This is the first post of the Sakya Resource Guide (SRG) blog site. I am hoping that this new feature on SRG will help to keep the site fresh and encourage individuals to encourage me to make updates more frequently and to be more responsive to questions and e-mails. In this busy world I find that my attention goes towards those who talk loudest or capture my attention with some interesting topic or question. We shall see how well this works.

The painting detail at the left side is of Sakya Tridzin Wangdu Nyingpo, the father of the two Sakya Palaces; Puntsok and Drolma Podrangs.