AMNH Hall of Asian Peoples: Tibet
TIBET: TRANSMIGRATORY EXISTENCE
WHEEL OF TRANSMIGRATORY EXISTENCE
Belief in reincarnation is basic to Buddhism. It is thought that all sentient beings move forever in a cycle of deaths and rebirths unless liberated by spiritual enlightenment. The Wheel of Existence depicts the six realms into which the individual may be born according to the merit or evil of his past lives. This accumulation of past deeds is one's karma.
At the hub of the wheel are shown the three root poisons which bind one to existence and rebirth: ignorance, symbolized as a pig; desire, as a cock; and hatred, as a snake. The band around this circle shows humans moving up to happy rebirths on the left, and being chased down to woeful ones on the right.
The six realms go from the lowest, the hells, hot and cold, through the tortured spirits, animals, humans, demigods, to the highest, that of gods.
The outer circle depicts the twelve conditions in life linking the individual to rebirth.
THE LAST THEOCRATIC GOVERNMNET
THE DALAI LAMA
The Dalai Lama traditionally headed the Tibetan government and embodies Avalokitesvara, Lord of Mercy and guardian spirit of Tibet. Each new Dalai lama was chosen by a search committee aided by an oracle. Because the death of a Dalai Lama was considered simply a movement toward reincarnation into another body, the search committee looked for a young boy who would be revealed as that reincarnation by showing appropriate signs. This boy might be found at any level of society, rich or poor. Once chosen, he came under the tutelage of the assembly of monks, who raised him accordingly. The government meanwhile was headed by an elected regent who ruled until the Dalai Lama reached the age to assume leadership.
'Jam-dPal rGya-mTS'o
THE EIGHTH DALAI LAMA (1758-1805)
Dalai is the Mongolian word for rGya-mTS'o (vast ocean), the name of the Yellow Hat hierarch who converted Altan Khan, Prince of the Turned Mongols, to Buddhism in 1578. The actual first Dalai Lama, Sonam rGya-mTS'o, was at the same time the third Pan-c'en Lama and the incarnation of his two predecessors. He therefore designated the first two Pan-c'en Lamas retroactively as Dalai Lamas, making himself the third.
Under continuing Mongol, and later Manchu, protection the Dalai Lamas held temporal as well as spiritual power in Tibet. Each Dalai Lama is the incarnation of his immediate predecessor and of a long line of spiritual ancestors tracing their lineage back to Avalokitesvara. In the portrait (above) the eighth Dalai Lama is surrounded by spiritual ancestors.
TIBET: MEDITATION
Meditation is at the core of Tibetan Buddhist practice. The meditator seeks to become one with the Buddha-quality personified in the form of a deity. Visualization and concentration to this end are aided by sculptures and paintings of the ideal.
Wherever Buddhism spread, its art went with it. A standardized language of symbols arose, overcoming ordinary language barriers. Forms and styles intended to induce identification and communion with the deities have powerful spiritual and psychic effects on the observer.
Paintings and sculptures serving as temporary abodes of deities confer blessing and protection.
བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས
bKra-sis-bDe-legs (pronounced Tashi delek)
"May you have good fortune, happiness, and all blessings."
MANI STONE
Stones inscribed with prayers, piled into cairns or forming walls, are found all over Tibet. The most popular of these prayers is the mantra of Avalokitesvara, Om mani padme Hum--Hail to the jewel in the lotus. Hence the common reference to these stones as mani (jewel) stones. The mantra is repeated as many times as space permits.
ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ
AMNH Hall of Asian Peoples: Tibet
TIBET: TRANSMIGRATORY EXISTENCE
WHEEL OF TRANSMIGRATORY EXISTENCE
Belief in reincarnation is basic to Buddhism. It is thought that all sentient beings move forever in a cycle of deaths and rebirths unless liberated by spiritual enlightenment. The Wheel of Existence depicts the six realms into which the individual may be born according to the merit or evil of his past lives. This accumulation of past deeds is one's karma.
At the hub of the wheel are shown the three root poisons which bind one to existence and rebirth: ignorance, symbolized as a pig; desire, as a cock; and hatred, as a snake. The band around this circle shows humans moving up to happy rebirths on the left, and being chased down to woeful ones on the right.
The six realms go from the lowest, the hells, hot and cold, through the tortured spirits, animals, humans, demigods, to the highest, that of gods.
The outer circle depicts the twelve conditions in life linking the individual to rebirth.
THE LAST THEOCRATIC GOVERNMNET
THE DALAI LAMA
The Dalai Lama traditionally headed the Tibetan government and embodies Avalokitesvara, Lord of Mercy and guardian spirit of Tibet. Each new Dalai lama was chosen by a search committee aided by an oracle. Because the death of a Dalai Lama was considered simply a movement toward reincarnation into another body, the search committee looked for a young boy who would be revealed as that reincarnation by showing appropriate signs. This boy might be found at any level of society, rich or poor. Once chosen, he came under the tutelage of the assembly of monks, who raised him accordingly. The government meanwhile was headed by an elected regent who ruled until the Dalai Lama reached the age to assume leadership.
'Jam-dPal rGya-mTS'o
THE EIGHTH DALAI LAMA (1758-1805)
Dalai is the Mongolian word for rGya-mTS'o (vast ocean), the name of the Yellow Hat hierarch who converted Altan Khan, Prince of the Turned Mongols, to Buddhism in 1578. The actual first Dalai Lama, Sonam rGya-mTS'o, was at the same time the third Pan-c'en Lama and the incarnation of his two predecessors. He therefore designated the first two Pan-c'en Lamas retroactively as Dalai Lamas, making himself the third.
Under continuing Mongol, and later Manchu, protection the Dalai Lamas held temporal as well as spiritual power in Tibet. Each Dalai Lama is the incarnation of his immediate predecessor and of a long line of spiritual ancestors tracing their lineage back to Avalokitesvara. In the portrait (above) the eighth Dalai Lama is surrounded by spiritual ancestors.
TIBET: MEDITATION
Meditation is at the core of Tibetan Buddhist practice. The meditator seeks to become one with the Buddha-quality personified in the form of a deity. Visualization and concentration to this end are aided by sculptures and paintings of the ideal.
Wherever Buddhism spread, its art went with it. A standardized language of symbols arose, overcoming ordinary language barriers. Forms and styles intended to induce identification and communion with the deities have powerful spiritual and psychic effects on the observer.
Paintings and sculptures serving as temporary abodes of deities confer blessing and protection.
བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས
bKra-sis-bDe-legs (pronounced Tashi delek)
"May you have good fortune, happiness, and all blessings."
MANI STONE
Stones inscribed with prayers, piled into cairns or forming walls, are found all over Tibet. The most popular of these prayers is the mantra of Avalokitesvara, Om mani padme Hum--Hail to the jewel in the lotus. Hence the common reference to these stones as mani (jewel) stones. The mantra is repeated as many times as space permits.
ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ