This is a beautiful Large Thangka Painting of Guru Rinpoche house in a lovely cloth Brocade. The details are quite nice and the brocade colors are well matched. The artist did a great job with the colors and created a nice 3D effect of the image.
Some History of Guru Rinpoche:
From about 300 A.D. for about a thousand years, Buddhism was incredibly popular in India. At that time it also began traveling to Southeast and Eastern Asia.
Hinduism began its rise at the same time as well. At that time the worship of buddha figures was getting under way in India. The Hindu world of deities also began to develop. Hinduism, with its many deities and direct personal worship, became imbedded in a broader section of the population.
Around 1200 A.D., Northern India was invaded by the Muslims who destroyed everything that was heathen in their eyes. Hinduism recovered; but Buddhism, which wasn’t as deeply rooted, disappeared entirely after the monasteries and universities were destroyed.
Most of the Buddhist monks fled to Ladakh, Nepal, and Tibet. Around 780 A.D. King Trisong Detsen of Tibet tried to breathe new life into Buddhism. He invited the great Tantric Wizard Guru Rinpoche (also known as Padmasambhava) of the Swat Valley in Northern Pakistan to come to Tibet. Guru Rinpoche was a great theoretician and philosopher and very adept in exorcism and the magical arts. He also became proficient in the political arena as well. Guru Rinpoche is considered to have been at the basis of the Nyingmapa or the “Order of Elders.” Tibetan monastic life began taking root in the 11th century as a result of the successful second coming of Buddhism. A more deeply structured order was formed, called the Nyingma order in 1062 A.D., advocating celibacy as well as forbidding luxuries and money. By the 14th century the strict disciplines of both believers and monks began to slip. At that time a more middle ground practice was established by Guru Rinpoche, known at the Delug Order. Guru Rimpoche was the honorific title given to Padmasambhava and it means “precious teacher.”
Usually he is portrayed sitting on a lotus that has sprung up in a small lake. He is wrapped in a heavy expensive robe and wears a hat with its ear flaps up as it is generally very cold in the Himalayan Mountains. The ear flaps being up on his hat is also symbolic of the gurus receptivity to prayers.
On his forehead the wrinkles of a frown indicate the hidden wrath that comes to light upon exorcising and overpowering demonic forces. Often, the tantric master cocks his head a little. The Sun and Moon, symbols that indicate the guru’s cosmic omnipotence as well as his perpetual alertness day and night, have been depicted on his hat.
Guru Rinpoche is by some considered equal to the Buddha. He is called the Second Buddha by the Nyingma Order. The Buddha had many exceptional characteristics. The same were ascribed to Guru Rinpoche . The Buddha’s conception and birth were immaculate events. The same occurred with Guru Rinpoche , as is revealed by his name “Padmasanbhava” which means He Who Was Born from a Lotus.
The mysterious nature of his birth is emphasized by depictions in which he appears like a vision, hidden in an aureole sometimes containing all the colors of the rainbow. This manner of portrayal should be interpreted as a mandala. The meditator concentrates on the depiction and finally ends up in the center, at the crux. Almost exactly in the center of the presentation is - all but invisible - the guru’s right hand in front of his heart, holding the vajra.
Meditating upon this painting, the believer’s centripetal concentration ends up at the vajra which symbolizes the upaya, the method, to attain liberation.
No real noticeable flaws.
Size: 32.75” tall, 23.25” wide at bottom, 21.5" wide top ( 83 cm tall 59 cm wide bottom, 51.6 cm wide top ) including cloth brocade.
15.25" tall and 11.75" wide ( 39 cm tall, 9.8 cm wide ) excluding cloth brocade
Some History of Guru Rinpoche:
From about 300 A.D. for about a thousand years, Buddhism was incredibly popular in India. At that time it also began traveling to Southeast and Eastern Asia.
Hinduism began its rise at the same time as well. At that time the worship of buddha figures was getting under way in India. The Hindu world of deities also began to develop. Hinduism, with its many deities and direct personal worship, became imbedded in a broader section of the population.
Around 1200 A.D., Northern India was invaded by the Muslims who destroyed everything that was heathen in their eyes. Hinduism recovered; but Buddhism, which wasn’t as deeply rooted, disappeared entirely after the monasteries and universities were destroyed.
Most of the Buddhist monks fled to Ladakh, Nepal, and Tibet. Around 780 A.D. King Trisong Detsen of Tibet tried to breathe new life into Buddhism. He invited the great Tantric Wizard Guru Rinpoche (also known as Padmasambhava) of the Swat Valley in Northern Pakistan to come to Tibet. Guru Rinpoche was a great theoretician and philosopher and very adept in exorcism and the magical arts. He also became proficient in the political arena as well. Guru Rinpoche is considered to have been at the basis of the Nyingmapa or the “Order of Elders.” Tibetan monastic life began taking root in the 11th century as a result of the successful second coming of Buddhism. A more deeply structured order was formed, called the Nyingma order in 1062 A.D., advocating celibacy as well as forbidding luxuries and money. By the 14th century the strict disciplines of both believers and monks began to slip. At that time a more middle ground practice was established by Guru Rinpoche, known at the Delug Order. Guru Rimpoche was the honorific title given to Padmasambhava and it means “precious teacher.”
Usually he is portrayed sitting on a lotus that has sprung up in a small lake. He is wrapped in a heavy expensive robe and wears a hat with its ear flaps up as it is generally very cold in the Himalayan Mountains. The ear flaps being up on his hat is also symbolic of the gurus receptivity to prayers.
On his forehead the wrinkles of a frown indicate the hidden wrath that comes to light upon exorcising and overpowering demonic forces. Often, the tantric master cocks his head a little. The Sun and Moon, symbols that indicate the guru’s cosmic omnipotence as well as his perpetual alertness day and night, have been depicted on his hat.
Guru Rinpoche is by some considered equal to the Buddha. He is called the Second Buddha by the Nyingma Order. The Buddha had many exceptional characteristics. The same were ascribed to Guru Rinpoche . The Buddha’s conception and birth were immaculate events. The same occurred with Guru Rinpoche , as is revealed by his name “Padmasanbhava” which means He Who Was Born from a Lotus.
The mysterious nature of his birth is emphasized by depictions in which he appears like a vision, hidden in an aureole sometimes containing all the colors of the rainbow. This manner of portrayal should be interpreted as a mandala. The meditator concentrates on the depiction and finally ends up in the center, at the crux. Almost exactly in the center of the presentation is - all but invisible - the guru’s right hand in front of his heart, holding the vajra.
Meditating upon this painting, the believer’s centripetal concentration ends up at the vajra which symbolizes the upaya, the method, to attain liberation.
No real noticeable flaws.
Size: 32.75” tall, 23.25” wide at bottom, 21.5" wide top ( 83 cm tall 59 cm wide bottom, 51.6 cm wide top ) including cloth brocade.
15.25" tall and 11.75" wide ( 39 cm tall, 9.8 cm wide ) excluding cloth brocade
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