Human world
Painting thangka of Padmasambhava (Sanskrit) Guru Rinpoche (Tibetan)
Tibet, 20th century
Accession Number 50.31.119
Padmasambhava founded the Nyingma tradition. He is shown here with his two wives, holding a vajra and skull cup containing a vase of immortality. Under his left arm is a tantric staff and in the foreground offerings to the five senses.
Tibetan Buddhism is a combination of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings. The teachings are merged with local beliefs and the pre-Buddhist Bon religion.
Buddhism was brought to Tibet in the 7th century AD. Four major monastic schools developed over the centuries that followed:
These four traditions vary in the histories of their founders, the texts they use and the meditations they follow. All of them, however, keep to the basic Buddhist beliefs and look to the Dalai Lama as their overall spiritual leader.
The range of figures portrayed in Tibetan Buddhism is vast. They include many deities taken from the Indian Buddhist tradition as well as local ones from pre-Buddhist times.
These beings are not gods and goddesses in the usual sense. They represent aspects of spiritual awareness and enlightenment.
The figures divide into three groups:
The deities are organised into five groups, each under one of the five Celestial Buddhas tathagatas. Each Buddha is linked to a colour, gesture mudra, direction, element, vehicle and emotion. The emotions are the main cause of human suffering, but they can be controlled through meditation.