The Handbook of

Tibetan Buddhist Symbols

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Robert Beer

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The Handbook of

Tibetan buddhist Symbols

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The
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Tibetanbuddhist
Symbols
Written and Illustrated by

ROBERT BEER

Shambhala

Boston 2003

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

Shambhala Publications, Inc.
4720 Walnut Street
Boulder, Colorado 80301
www.shambhala.com© 2003 by Robert Beer
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage andretrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beer, Robert.
The handbook of Tibetan Buddhist symbols / Written andillustrated by Robert Beer.
p. cm.
isbn 978-1-59030-100-5
eisbn 978-0-8348-4000-3
1. Art, Tibetan—Themes, motives. 2. Symbolism in art—
China—Tibet. I. Title: Tibetan symbols. II. Title.
n7346.t5b436 2003
704.9'46'09515—dc21
2003045433

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Acknowledgments
ix
Introductionxi

THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUS
SYMBOLS

1

THE CHAKRAVARTIN

The parasol
The golden fishes
The treasure vase
The lotus
The right-turning conch shell
The endless or glorious knot
The victory banner
The wheel

3
5
6
7
9
11
12
14

THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUS
SUBSTANCES

16

The mirror
The precious medicine
The curds or yogurt
The durva grass
The bilva fruit
The right-turning conch shell
The vermilion powder
The mustard seed

19
20
21
21
23
24
24
25

THE FIVE ATTRIBUTES OFSENSORY ENJOYMENT
Sight or form
Sound
Smell
Taste
Touch

27
29
29
32
33
34

36

The Seven Possessions of the Chakravartinor the Seven Precious Jewels
37
The precious wheel
The precious jewel
The precious queen
The precious minister
The precious elephant
The precious horse
The precious general

37
38
40
40
40
41
41

The Seven Secondary Possessions of
the Chakravartin or the Seven Auxiliary
Jewels
42
The sword
The naga skin
The royal house
The robes
The royal gardens
The throne
The boots

The Seven Jewel Insignia of the
Chakravartin
The unicorn or rhinoceros horn
The elephant’s tusks
The queen’s earrings
The minister’s earrings
The general’s insignia
The triple-eyed gem
The coral branch

42
43
43
43
43
44
44

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46
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Contents

SYMBOLIC EMBLEMS AND
OFFERINGS49
The three jewels
The three victorious creatures ofharmony
The four friends or harmonious
brothers
The six symbols of long life
The emblem of the three great
bodhisattvas
The seven water bowl offerings
The wheel and deer emblem

49
50
51
53
55
56
58

ANIMALS AND MYTHICAL
CREATURES60
The elephant
The deer
The lion and snow-lion
The tiger
The horse and wind-horse
The four supernatural creatures of thefour directions
The dragon
The naga
The garuda
The water-monster or makara
The kirtimukha or face of majesty

COSMOLOGICALSYMBOLS
The sun and moon
The five elements of earth, water, fire,
air, and space
Mount Meru
The mandala offering

MAIN RITUAL ANDTANTRIC IMPLEMENTS
The vajra
The bell
The crossed-vajra
The swastika

60
62
63
64
66
67
69
72
74
77
78

80
80
82
82
84

87
87
92
95
97

The ritual dagger
The tantric staff or khatvanga
The hand-drum or damaru
The thighbone trumpet
The skull-cup
The curved knife

WEAPONSThe bow and arrow
The arrow-banner or silk arrow
The fire-arrow
The tiger-skin bow case and leopardskin quiver
The flower bow and flower arrow
The sword
The shield
The scorpion-hilted sword
The scorpion
The water-knife or wave-bladed knife
The razor
The dart or shakti dagger
The scythe or sickle
The plowshare or plow
The trident
The trident pike or spear
The caduceus or serpent-trident
The spear
The spear-flag
The javelin
The harpoon
The clubThe transverse club or ‘wooden gong’The skull club
The skeleton club
The corpse club
The impaled corpse clubThe forked stick
The axe
The hammer
The foundry hammer and bellows
The iron hook or goadThe rope noose or snare
The flower hook and flower noose
The serpent noose
The iron chain

98
102
107
110
110
112

115
115
118
120
121
121
123
124
125
126
127
128
128
129
129
130
132
133
135
135
135
137
137
139
140
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142
142
143
144
145
145
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149
149
150

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The chakra or discus
The wooden pestle
The brazier
The mass of fire
The fire-wheel and wind-wheel
The firebrand
The netThe weapons of Mara’s army

150
152
153
153
154
154
154
155

THE FIVE MAGICALWEAPONS OF SHRI DEVI

156

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

156
157
157
158
159

WRATHFUL ATTRIBUTESAND OFFERINGS

161

The head of Brahma
The severed head
The garland of severed heads andskulls
The severed arm and leg
Intestines or entrails
The heart
The piece of skull
The cemetery shroud
The wind-cloth
The needle and thread
The sorcerer’s magical horn

HAND EMBLEMS AND
RITUAL ATTRIBUTESThe lotus
The golden wheel or dharmachakra
The conch shell
The umbrella or parasol
The victorious banner
The makara banner
The wolf, bull, and tiger banner
The flagThe silk ribbon
The triple banderole

161
162
162
164
164
165
166
166
167
167
168

vii
The jeweled tassel
The yak-tail flywhisk
Peacock feathers
The peacock-feathered fan and mirror
The peacock-feathered parasol
The book
The basket
The alms-bowl
The monk’s staff
The possessions of an ordained monk
The image of the Buddha
The stupa or caitya
The rosary
The jewel or gem
The wish-granting gem
The wish-granting tree
The crystal
The gzi stone
The mongoose
The golden horsewhip
The gold earrings and jeweled crown
The celestial palace
The incense-burner or censer
The mirror
The water-pot or flask
The ritual vase or flask
The long-life vase
The treasure vase
The treasure box
The amulet-box
The basin and bowl
The lute and vina

PLANT ATTRIBUTES
169
169
171
171
172
172
173
174
174
175
176

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

177
177
178
179
180
180
182
182
184
185
186
186
189
190
192
193
193
194
196
196
197
197
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198
198
199
201
202
202
203
203
204

205
205
205
205
206
206
207
207
207
208
208
208

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Contents

THE REALITY-SOURCE OR
DHARMODAYA209
The wheel of joy
The reality-source or dharmodaya
The dharmodaya of Vajrayogini

209
209
210

TORMAS AND SYMBOLIC
OFFERINGS212
The torma
The thread-crossThe ransom offering of an arrow andspindleThe wrathful offering of the five senses
The inner offering

212
213
215
215
217

HAND GESTURES OR
MUDRAS

221

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

223
223
224
224

The wheel of dharma gesture
The enlightenment gesture
The meditation gesture
The palms-folded gesture
The humkara gesture or gestureof victory over the three worlds
The spirit-subduing gesture
The threatening forefinger
The mandala gesture
The cunda gesture

APPENDICES
Appendix One – The Legend of theChurning of the Ocean
Appendix Two – The Five Buddha
Families
Appendix Three – The Three Kayas
Appendix Four – The Channel Wheel
SystemGLOSSARY

225
226
226
227
228
228
229
229
230

231
231
234
237
239

245

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

P

rimarily I would like to express my gratitude to my partner Gill Farrer-Halls forlovingly taking care of me throughout the
many months of solitude in writing this text,
and for making many helpful editorial suggestions. I express my thanks to Anthony
Aris and his wife Marie Laure, and to Shane
Suvikapakornkul of Serindia Publications
for their constant encouragement, and to
Jonathan Green and the staff of Shambhala
Publications in Boston. For financial assistance I would like to thank Jane Reed andthe Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation in
London. The layout and design of this book
was accomplished with the assistance ofToby Matthews in London, a man of greatskill, diligence, and patience.
Gratitude is expressed to all my manyfriends around this world for their support.
In particular I would like to thank Ani
Jampa, Phunsok Tsering, Evan Dvorsek,

David Ford, Liz Specterman, Robert Svoboda, Marc Baudin, Judy Allan, Khalil
Norland, Danah Zohar and Ian Marshallfor their constant friendship and generosity,and to Christina, Thomas, Kali, Mac, andto Mike, Phil, and Leigh of Wisdom Books
in London. I would also like to thank myfriends Edward Henning, Martin Willson,
Martin Boord, Ani Tenzin Palmo, Stephen
and Martine Batchelor, and Karma Phunsok
for their dedicated work and insight into Vajrayana Buddhism. My thanks are also expressed to my daughters Carrina and Rosia,
and to Helen for bringing such jewels into
this world.
True democracy occurs when soul meetssoul on the open road. There are so manyfine people whom I have met upon this ‘roadof the alone’ that have touched me deeply.
They know well who they are, even though
they are not all mentioned by name.

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INTRODUCTIONIn the summer of 1999 I completed the textof The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols
and Motifs (Boston: Shambhala. & London:
Serindia). This book took a long time in its
making. The brush drawings alone took almost eight years to complete, and were created in a prolonged period of semi-retreat in
the remote Western Highlands of Scotland.
By comparison the writing of the text was
relatively quick and painless. When there ismuch to say words are easy to come by, andperhaps my greatest difficulty was in knowing when to stop. After writing nearly aquarter of a million words my publisher andeditor ‘brought the chopper down’. The
book was way past its deadline, and there
wasn’t even time left to create an index. But
I felt it was a good and original work, although I also felt it was virtually being presented in its first draft.
At the beginning of 2000 I wrote a concise pictorial index for Deities of Tibetan
Buddhism (Willson, M. and Brauen, M.
2000. Boston: Wisdom). Martin Willson
spent around fourteen years translating andannotating the Tibetan texts for this work,
which covers the abridged descriptions ofjust over five hundred deities. With the almost simultaneous publication of these twoworks I felt that some original insight had

been presented on the complex symbolism
of Vajrayana art.
This Handbook is based on a synthesis
from the original text of The Encyclopedia,
and of the condensed version that appears in
Deities of Tibetan Buddhism. Although only
a limited selection of my original drawings
appear in this book, and the scope of thesubject matter has been reduced, I feel that
this material is now presented in a more accessible and user-friendly format.
I have tried to structure the contents ofthis book into a logical progression, so thatthe many lists of numerical concepts, which
are so characteristic of the Buddhist teachings, are gradually introduced into the text.
The first five sections of this Handbook covers the main groups of auspicious symbols,
offerings, and emblems, many of which appeared as the first symbolic motifs of early
Indian Buddhism. The sixth section deals
with the origins of the main natural andmythological animals that appear in Buddhist art. The seventh section deals with thecosmological symbols of the sun and moon,
the five elements, Mount Meru, and the
mandala offering. The eighth section introduces the main ritual Vajrayana implementsof the vajra and bell, crossed-vajra, andritual dagger, and the tantric kapalika

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Tibetanattributes of the khatvanga, damaru, thighbone trumpet, skull-cup, and curved knife.
The ninth and tenth sections cover the arrayof traditional and magical weapons that are
mainly wielded by the semi-wrathful yidam
and wrathful protective deities, whilst theeleventh section deals with some of the more
necromantic attributes of these deities. The
twelfth and thirteenth sections encompass
the spectrum of hand-held implements andplant attributes that are held by many diverse deities and human teachers. The fourteenth and fifteenth sections deal with someof the more esoteric symbols of Vajrayana
Buddhism, including the ‘reality-source’ ordharmodaya, ‘sacrificial cake offerings’ ortormas, and the ‘inner offering’. The sixteenth section completes the text with a description of the main hand gestures ormudras made by the deities.
At the end of the book are four appendixes and a glossary. The first appendix
relates the ancient Indian legend of thechurning of the ocean. The second appendix
gives a brief outline of the conceptual assembly of the Five Buddha Families. The third
appendix gives a brief explanation of the various kayas or ‘divine bodies’ of the Buddhas.
The fourth appendix attempts to briefly explain the complexities of the Buddhist ‘channel wheel’ systems of the Highest Yoga
Tantras, which symbolically relate to thetransmutation of the processes of birth, life,
death, and rebirth into the state of supreme
enlightenment. The subject matter of theselast three appendixes is extremely profound.
Although these subjects are only briefly andinadequately explained here, a deep understanding of them is vital for a true insight
into the amazingly sophisticated principles
and practices of Vajrayana Buddhism.
Throughout the text I have used the term
‘symbol’ to refer to the intrinsic meanings ascribed to a particular object or attribute. A

Buddhist

Symbols

more accurate interpretation of this term
should perhaps be ‘purity’, as these attributes
essentially represent the enlightened qualitiesor ‘purities’ of the deities. These purities are
evocatively expressed in the various ‘Praises
to the Deities’, which were composed bymany great Indian and Tibetan masters overthe last fifteen hundred years. The poetic
verses of these beautiful prayers often reveal
the reverence, faith, love, and devotion thatthese masters perceived in the deities as theirsources of refuge and inspiration.
Throughout the text I have also used theterms ‘often, usually, frequently, generally,
and traditionally’ to refer to particular symbolic definitions or descriptions. The use of
these terms does not stem from an uncertainty about a symbol’s meaning or depiction, but from the fact that these symbols
often have iconographical variations according to different traditions or lineages. To explain these tangential variations is beyond
the scope of this book, although I havesometimes partially attempted to do so inthe more voluminous text of The Encyclopedia. In Vajrayana iconography the three levels of an outer, inner, and secret symbolism
are sometimes given, particularly within thepractices of the Highest Yoga Tantras. The
depths of meaning concealed within theseteachings are extremely profound and multifaceted. Like a wish-granting gem that refracts a myriad rays of rainbow light, thenature of this light is one, although its aspects of illumination appear to be many.
A similar spectrum of understanding canbe applied to the classical English terms thatare used to describe the various Buddhist
listings of mundane and enlightened qualities. These terms, such as the Eightfold
Noble Path, the six perfections, and the four
immeasurables, are all ‘relative’ terms withno easily definable ‘absolutes’. Their meanings are essentially inspirational, and asHandbook of Tibetan Buddhis#128

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Introduction
subjects of contemplation they continually
deepen in significance to accord with thepractitioner’s emotional, mental, psychological, philosophical, and spiritual capacities.
In the Buddhist scriptures each of these numerical lists may be further subdivided into
various aspects or components. The six perfections, for example, are each divided into
a further threefold structure. The ‘absolute’
meaning of these terms exists only within
the enlightened mind, where they spontaneously manifest as the innate radiance of
the Buddhas’ infinite clarity, wisdom, compassion, and love.
The vast pantheon of Buddhist deities
and their symbolic attributes are purely an
encapsulation or visual expression of the entire path of the Hinayana, Mahayana, andVajrayana teachings. They can only really beunderstood through a deep comprehensionof these teachings, and they can only be directly realized through the continuity of
prolonged practice, performance, and perfection. To think that one can understandthem through historical, psychological, or
comparative interpretation is simply not adequate. Buddhism is a living tradition that
extends back over two and a half thousand
years, to which thousands of great scholars,
philosophers, and practitioners have devoted
their entire lives and being. These teachings
are perfectly integrated as they are and needno alternative interpretation. They can beapprehended and understood by the humanmind, and herein lies the immaculate beautyof this ‘living tradition’, wherein one ultimately realizes that the dharma exists
nowhere except in one’s own mind, and thatwhat one has been looking for is in reality
what is actually looking.
Buddhism evolved within its homeland of
India for seventeen hundred years, until theinvading Islamic armies finally destroyed its
great monastic academies at the end of thetwelfth century. The tantric transmissions of
Vajrayana Buddhism were ‘revealed’ between the eighth and twelfth centuries, andthis period of four hundred years represents
the final blossoming of Indian Buddhist culture. It was during this same period that the
Buddhist teachings were being transmitted
into Tibet through Kashmir and Nepal, andtranslated from Sanskrit into Tibetan. Mostof the symbols that appear in Tibetan art areof Indian Buddhist origin, and many of thesesymbols already existed in ancient India
prior to the advent of Buddhism itself. Similarly all of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, major
yidam and protective deities are of Indian
Buddhist origin, and are adorned in the silkrobes and jewel ornaments of Indian royalty,or the bone ornaments and animal skins ofIndian tantric yogins and yoginis.
The indisputable Indian origin of most ofthese symbols inevitably poses the question:“What is it that distinguishes Tibetan Buddhism from early Indian Buddhism?” In his
book The Jewel in the Lotus (London. Wisdom. 1987), Stephen Bachelor writes: “Intheir presentation of Buddhism the Tibetans
did not diverge greatly from their Indian
forerunners in terms of doctrinal content,
but in the ways in which they organized thiscontent into systematic stages leading to enlightenment. It is the logic of the Buddhist
path which is Tibetan, not the individual
doctrines or insights which are arranged in
the light of this logic. What gives Tibetan
Buddhism its own peculiar flavor, therefore,
is not any uniquely Tibetan ingredient, but
the way in which these common Buddhist
ingredients have been blended together in
the Tibetan mind.”
I have now been involved in the study
and practice of Buddhist art for more than
thirty years, yet never have I ceased to beamazed by all of the incredible wonders andinsights that I have discovered within it.

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TibetanLike a magic mirror it lights up with meaning the longer that you gaze into it, and I
bow down in gratitude before the Enlightened Mind that conceived all of this divine
beauty. There are some lines at the end of
Sam Mendes’ film American Beauty thatseem to succinctly express this sentiment:“I guess I could be pretty pissed-off about
what happened to me, but its hard to stay
mad when there’s so much beauty in theworld. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all
at once, and it’s too much. My heart fills up

Buddhist

Symbols

like a balloon that’s about to burst, and thenI remember to relax and stop trying to holdon to it, and then it flows through me likerain, and then I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid
little life. You have no idea of what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don’t worry, youwill someday.”Robert Beer
Oxford, England
Easter Sunday 2003

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

To the memory of John F.B. Miles, Jampa
from Lhasa, Khamtrul Rinpoche, and Siddhimuni Shakya – four divine artists who
shone like the sun and who will always
continue to inspire me with their radiance.
And to the memory of my dear friends
Layla Norland and Geoffrey Blundell, whodied during the compilation of this text,
and to our cat ‘Dread’ who died upon the
day of its completion.

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THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUS
SYMBOLST

he eight auspicious symbols (Skt. astamangala; Tib. bkra-shis rtags-brgyad)
are the most well known group of Buddhist
symbols, and are traditionally listed in theorder of: (1) a white parasol; (2) a pair ofgolden fishes; (3) a treasure vase; (4) a lotus;(5) a right-spiraling white conch shell; (6) anendless knot or ‘lucky diagram’; (7) a victorious banner; (8) a golden wheel.
Originally the eight auspicious symbols
formed an early Indian assembly of offerings
that were presented to a king at his investiture, and are almost certainly of pre-Buddhist origin. This early Indian group of eightauspicious objects probably comprised of:(1) a throne; (2) a swastika; (3) a handprint;(4) an entwined knot or hair-curl (Skt. shrivatsa); (5) a vase of jewels; (6) a water libation flask; (7) a pair of fishes; (8) a lidded
bowl. An early south Indian group included:(1) a flywhisk; (2) a pair of fishes; (3) an elephant goad; (4) a mirror; (5) a drum; (6) abanner; (7) a water vase; (8) a lamp.
The Jains also adopted a list of eight auspicious symbols, which probably slightly pre-dates the Buddhist group. This Jain list comprised of: (1) a treasure vase; (2) a waterflask; (3) two golden fishes; (4) a swastika;(5) an endless knot; (6) a hair-curl; (7) a mirror; (8) a throne. In Nepal the Newar Buddhist form of the astamangala replaces thegolden wheel with a pair of flywhisks or
chamara (see page 177), and commonly
these eight Newari symbols form a composite vase-shaped arrangement.
In the Buddhist tradition these eight symbols of good fortune represent the offerings
presented by the great Vedic gods to Shakyamuni Buddha upon his attainment of enlightenment. Brahma was the first of thesegods to appear before the Buddha, and hepresented a thousand-spoked golden wheel
as a symbolic request for the Buddha toteach through ‘turning the wheel of thedharma’. The great sky god Indra appeared
next, and he presented his mighty white
conch-shell horn as a symbolic request for
the Buddha to ‘proclaim the truth of thedharma’. In Tibetan paintings of the Buddha’s enlightenment the supplicating forms

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Tibetan

Buddhist

Symbols

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

of four-faced yellow Brahma and white
Indra are traditionally shown kneeling before the Buddha’s throne, where they offer
their respective symbols of a golden wheel
and a white conch. The earth goddess
Sthavara (Tib. Sa’i Lha-mo), who had borne
witness to the Buddha’s enlightenment, presented Shakyamuni with a golden vase fullof the nectar of immortality.
In early Indian Buddhism the image of
the Buddha was depicted in an aniconic or
non-representational form, usually by an
empty throne under a parasol and bodhi-

tree, or by a stone impression of his divinely marked footprints. These footprints
display various auspicious symbols as insignia of the Buddha’s divinity, such as thevictory banner, lion throne, trident, Three
Jewels, eternal knot, swastika, conch, andpair of fishes, but the most common ofthese insignia were the lotus and the wheel.
In early Vajrayana Buddhism the eight auspicious symbols were deified into eight goddesses, known as the Astamangala Devi,
each of whom carry one of the auspicious
symbols as an attribute.

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Page 3The Eight Auspicious Symbols
In Chinese Buddhism these eight symbols
represent the eight vital organs of the Buddha’s body: (1) the parasol represents his
spleen; (2) the two golden fishes his kidneys;(3) the treasure vase his stomach; (4) the
lotus his liver; (5) the conch his gall bladder;(6) the endless knot his intestines; (7) the victory banner his lungs; (8) the golden wheel
his heart. A similar Tibetan tradition identifies these eight symbols as forming the physical body of the Buddha, with: (1) the parasol
representing his head; (2) the golden fishes
his eyes; (3) the treasure vase his neck; (4) the
lotus his tongue; (5) the wheel his feet; (6) the
victory banner his body; (7) the conch his
speech; (8) the endless knot his mind.
In Tibetan art the eight auspicious symbols may be depicted individually, in pairs,

3

in fours, or as a composite group of eight.
When illustrated as a composite group theyoften assume the simulacra shape of a vase.
In this form the treasure vase may be omitted, as the other seven symbols embody thesymbolic wealth of this vase in their vaseshaped outline. Designs of these eight symbols of good fortune adorn all manner ofsacred and secular Buddhist objects, such as
carved wooden furniture, embellished metalwork, ceramics, wall panels, carpets, andsilk brocades. They are also drawn upon the
ground in sprinkled flour or colored powders to welcome visiting religious dignitaries
to monastic establishments.

THE PARASOL(Skt. chatra, atapatra; Tib. gdugs)
The parasol or umbrella is a traditional Indian symbol of royalty and protection. Its
shadow protects from the blazing heat of thetropical sun, and the coolness of its shadesymbolizes protection from the painful heatof suffering, desire, obstacles, illnesses, andThe eight auspicious symbols
as a composite group.

The parasol.

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11:29 AMofPage 4Tibetanharmful forces. As a symbol of royalty or
secular wealth, the greater the number ofparasols carried in the entourage of a dignity, the higher his social rank would appear. Traditionally thirteen parasols defined
the status of a king, and the early Indian
Buddhists adopted this number as a symbolof the sovereignty of the Buddha as the ‘universal monarch’ or chakravartin. Thirteen
stacked umbrella-wheels form the conicalspires of the various stupas that commemorated the main events of the Buddha’s life, or
enshrined his relics. This practice was later
applied to virtually all Tibetan Buddhist
stupa designs. The great Indian teacher, Dipankara Atisha, who revived Buddhism inTibet during the eleventh century, was reputed to have qualified for a retinue of thirteen parasols.

An elaborate parasol with peacock feathers, jeweled chains, hanging yak tails, and silk valances.

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As the parasol is held above the head it
naturally symbolizes honor and respect, and
it is for this reason that the parasol becamesuch a prominent aniconic symbol in early
Buddhist art. A jeweled parasol was reputedly offered to the Buddha by the king of theserpent-spirits or nagas. This parasol was
fashioned of gold, with nectar-emitting jewels around its edges. It was hung with sweetly
tinkling bells, and had a handle made of sapphire. Images of the Buddha often display anelaborate large white umbrella above hishead, and this ‘large umbrella’ (Skt. atapatra)
was later deified into the Vajrayana goddess
Sitatapatra (Tib. gDugs-dKar). Sitatapatra,
meaning the ‘White Umbrella’, is one of themost complex of all Vajrayana deities, with athousand arms, feet, and heads, and a ‘thousand million’ eyes. The two-armed form of
this goddess is often serenely depicted holding her white umbrella above the seated formof the Buddha.
The typical Buddhist parasol is fashioned
from a long white or red sandalwood handle
or axle-pole, which is embellished at its top
with a small golden lotus, vase, and jewel filial. Over its domed frame is stretched whiteor yellow silk, and from the circular rim of
this frame hangs a pleated silk frieze withmany multicolored silk pendants andvalances. An ornate golden crest-bar withmakara-tail scrolling (see page 77) generally
defines the parasol’s circular rim, and its
hanging silk frieze may also be embellishedwith peacock feathers, hanging jewel chains,
and yak-tail pendants. A ceremonial silkparasol is traditionally around four feet indiameter, with a long axle-pole that enables
it to be held at least three feet above thehead. Square and octagonal parasols arealso common, and large yellow or red silkparasols are frequently suspended above thethrone of the presiding lama, or above thecentral deity image in monastic assembly-

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halls. The white or yellow silk parasol is an
ecclesiastic symbol of sovereignty, whilst a
peacock feather parasol more specifically
represents secular authority.
The dome of the parasol represents wisdom, and its hanging silk valances the various methods of compassion or skilfulmeans. The white parasol that was presented to the Buddha essentially symbolizes
his ability to protect all beings from delusions and fears.

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

the lunar and solar channels or psychic
nerves (Skt. nadi), which originate in the
nostrils and carry the alternating rhythms ofbreath or prana.
In Buddhism the golden fishes represent
happiness and spontaneity, as they havecomplete freedom of movement in the water.
They represent fertility and abundance, as
they multiply very rapidly. They represent
freedom from the restraints of caste and status, as they mingle and touch readily. Fishoften swim in pairs, and in China a pair offishes symbolize conjugal unity and fidelity,with a brace of fishes being traditionallygiven as a wedding present. As fish were soplentiful in China, and formed an importantpart of the staple diet, the Chinese word yu,
meaning both ‘fish’ and ‘great wealth’, became synonymous with material prosperity.
In the Chinese tradition of feng-shui the
keeping of goldfish is similarly believed to
attract wealth.

Various examples of the two golden fishes.

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The auspicious symbol of a pair of fishes
is common to the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist
traditions. In ancient Egypt a pair of fishes
symbolized the fertile waters of the River
Nile. The early Christians adopted thepaired fishes as an emblem of Christ as the‘fisher of men’, and acrostically interpreted
the letters of the Greek word for fish,ichthys, to mean ‘Jesus Christ, of God the
Son and Savior’.
The two golden fishes, a male and a female, are usually depicted symmetrically andin the form of carp, with graceful tails, gills,
and fins, and long tendrils extending fromtheir upper jaws. Carp are traditionally regarded as sacred fish in the orient, on account of their elegant beauty, size, andlongevity, and because of their association
with certain benevolent deities. The paired
fish are often depicted with their noses
touching, and in Hinduism this is a symbolof the female sexual organ or yoni. A golden
fish is the attribute of the great Indian Mahasiddha Tilopa, symbolizing both his realization and his ability to liberate beings
from the ocean of cyclic existence (Skt. samsara). The auspicious symbol of the two
fishes that were presented to the Buddha
was probably embroidered in gold thread
upon a piece of Benares silk.

THE TREASURE VASE
(Skt. nidhana-kumbha; Tib. gter-gyi bumpa)
The golden treasure vase, or ‘vase of inexhaustible treasures’, is modeled upon the
traditional Indian clay water pot. This pot is
known as a kalasha or kumbha, with a flat
base, round body, narrow neck, and fluted
upper rim. This womb-like sacred kumbha
is venerated in India at the great religious‘pot festival’ of the Kumbh Mela. This

Buddhist

Symbols

The golden treasure vase.

festival (Skt. mela) is held in rotation every
three years at the cities of Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik, and Ujain, and commemorates
the spilling of the divine nectar of the gods
(Skt. amrita) at these four sacred sites (seeAppendix 1).
The treasure vase is predominantly asymbol of certain wealth deities, including
Jambhala, Vaishravana, and Vasudhara,
where it often appears as an attribute beneath their feet. One form of the wealthgoddess Vasudhara stands upon a pair ofhorizontal treasure vases that spill an endless stream of jewels. As the divine ‘vase ofplenty’ (Tib. bum-pa bzang-po) it possesses
the quality of spontaneous manifestation,
because however much treasure is removed
from the vase it remains perpetually full.
The typical Tibetan treasure vase is represented as a highly ornate golden vase,with lotus-petal motifs radiating around its
various sections. A single wish-granting
gem, or a group of three gems, seals its
upper rim as a symbol of the Three Jewelsof the Buddha, dharma, and sangha. The

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

THE LOTUS(Skt. padma, kamala; Tib. pad-ma; chuskyes)
The Indian lotus, which grows from thedark watery mire but is unstained by it, is amajor Buddhist symbol of purity and renunciation. It represents the blossoming ofwholesome activities, which are performed
with complete freedom from the faults ofcyclic existence. The lotus seats upon which
deities sit or stand symbolize their divine
origin. They are immaculately conceived, innately perfect, and absolutely pure in theirbody, speech, and mind. The deities manifest
into cyclic existence, yet they are completely

Lotuses stylized as peony and chrysanthemum blossoms.

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Lotus and flower buds.

uncontaminated by its defilements, emotional hindrances, and mental obscurations.
As a sacred symbol the lotus was
adopted by many of the world’s great civilizations, from Egypt to Japan, and widely
incorporated into their arts and architecture.
The lotus opens and closes with the sun, andin ancient Egypt the sun was conceived of as
rising from an eastern lotus at dawn, andsetting into a western lotus at sunset. Similarly Surya, the Vedic sun god, holds a lotus
in each of his hands, symbolizing the sun’s
path across the heavens. Brahma, the Vedic
god of creation, was born from a golden

lotus that grew from the navel of Vishnu,
like a lotus growing from an umbilical stem.
Padmasambhava, the ‘lotus born’ tantric
master who introduced Buddhism into
Tibet, was similarly divinely conceived froma miraculous lotus, which blossomed upon
Dhanakosha Lake in the western Indian
kingdom of Uddiyana. The lotus, as a divine
womb or vagina, is a potent sexual
metaphor in both Hindu and Buddhist
tantra. Padma and kamala are synonymous
Sanskrit terms for the ‘lotus’ of the female
vagina, which is soft, pink, and open. Likewise the vajra is synonymous with the male

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penis, which is hard and penetrative. The
union of vajra and padma is a sexual symbol
for the union of form and emptiness, or skilful means and wisdom. On an inner level
this union symbolizes the penetration andascent of the psychic winds into the subtle
body’s central channel, which pierces andopens the ‘lotuses’ of the channel-wheels or
chakras (see Appendix 3).
The lotus is the emblem of Amitabha, thered Buddha of the west and the ‘Lord of the
Padma or Lotus Family’. Amitabha’s qualities are indicative of the redness of fire, vital
fluids, evening twilight, the summer season,and the transmutation of passion into discriminating awareness. Amitabha’s consort
is Pandara, whose attribute is also a red
lotus. Amitabha’s presiding Bodhisattva is
Padmapani Avalokiteshvara, the ‘Holder ofthe Lotus’, and the Bodhisattva of greatcompassion.
The Buddhist lotus is described as having
four, eight, sixteen, twenty-four, thirty-two,sixty-four, a hundred, or a thousand petals.
These numbers symbolically correspond to
the internal lotuses or chakras of the subtlebody, and to the numerical components ofthe mandala. As a hand-held attribute thelotus is usually colored pink or light red,with eight or sixteen petals. Lotus blossoms
may also be colored white, yellow, golden,
blue, and black. The white or ‘edible lotus’(Skt. pundarika; Tib. pad-ma dkar-po) is an
attribute of the Buddha Sikhin, and a sixteen-petaled white utpala lotus is held byWhite Tara. The yellow lotus (Tib. pad-ma
ser-po) and the golden lotus (Tib. gser-gyi
pad-ma) are generally known as padma, andthe more common red or pink lotus is usually identified as the kamala. The Sanskrit
term utpala is specifically identified with theblue or black ‘night lotus’, but its transliterated Tibetan equivalent (Tib. ut-pa-la) may
be applied to any color of lotus.

THE RIGHT-TURNING CONCH
SHELL(Skt. dakshinavarta-shankha; Tib. dung
gyas-’khyil)
The white conch shell, which spirals towards the right in a clockwise direction, isan ancient Indian attribute of the heroic
gods, whose mighty conch shell horns proclaimed their valor and victories in war.

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

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Vishnu’s fire-emanating conch was named
Panchajanya, meaning ‘possessing control
over the five classes of beings’. Arjuna’sconch was known as Devadatta, meaning‘god-given’, whose triumphant blast struck
terror in the enemy. As a battle horn theconch is akin to the modern bugle, as an emblem of power, authority, and sovereignty.
Its auspicious blast is believed to banish evil
spirits, avert natural disasters, and scareaway harmful creatures.
Vishnu’s fiery conch (Panchajanya) isheld in his upper left hand and paired withthe wheel or chakra in his upper right hand.
These two attributes are commonly held by
the first five of Vishnu’s ten avataras or incarnations: Matsya (the fish), Kurma (thetortoise), Varaha (the boar), Narasingha (theman-lion), and Vamana (the dwarf). In the

White conch shells.

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Hindu tradition the Buddha is recognized as
the ninth of Vishnu’s ten incarnations. It isperhaps more than coincidental that the two
great heavenly gods, Indra and Brahma, aretraditionally painted before the Buddha’s
throne offering the attributes of Vishnu’s
conch and wheel. Vishnu is also commonly
known as the ‘great man’ (Skt. mahapurusha) or ‘right-hand god’ (Skt. dakshinadeva). These appellations are similarly
applied to the Buddha, with his right-curling
hair, and his body endowed with the thirtytwo auspicious marks of the great man (Skt.
mahapurusha-lakshana).
Early Hinduism classified the conch into
gender varieties, with the thicker-shelled bulbous conch being the male or purusha, andthe thinner-shelled slender conch being thefemale or shankhini. The fourfold Hindu
caste division was also applied: with thesmooth white conch representing the priestlyor brahmin caste, the red conch the warrior
or kshatriya caste, the yellow conch the merchant or vaishya caste, and the dull grayconch the laborer or shudra caste. A further
division was made between the common
conch shell, which naturally spirals to theleft and is known as a vamavarta; and themore rare right-spiraling conch shell, which
is known as a dakshinavarta and is considered most auspicious for ritual use. The tipof the conch shell is sawn off to form amouthpiece, and the right-spiraling windpassage thus created acoustically symbolizes
the true or ‘right-hand’ (Skt. dakshina)
proclamation of the dharma.
Brahmanism adopted the heroic conch as
a ritual symbol of religious sovereignty. The
early Buddhists similarly adopted it as anemblem of the supremacy of the Buddha’s
teachings. Here the conch symbolizes his
fearlessness in proclaiming the truth of thedharma, and his call to awaken and workfor the benefit of others. One of the thirty-

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two major signs of the Buddha’s body is his
deep and resonant conch-like voice, which
resounds throughout the ten directions ofspace. Iconographically the three conch-likecurved lines on his throat represent this sign.
As one of the eight auspicious symbols thewhite conch is usually depicted vertically,
often with a silk ribbon threaded through its
lower extremity. Its right spiral is indicatedby the curve and aperture of its mouth, whichfaces towards the right. The conch may also
appear as a horizontally positioned receptacle for aromatic liquids or perfumes (see page33). As a hand-held attribute, symbolizing
the proclamation of the Buddhadharma as
the aspect of speech, the conch is usually heldin the left ‘wisdom’ hand of deities.

THE ENDLESS OR GLORIOUS
KNOT(Skt. shrivatsa, granthi; Tib. dpal be’u)
The Sanskrit term shrivatsa means ‘belovedof Shri’. Shri refers to the goddess Lakshmi;
the consort of Vishnu, and the shrivatsa is
an auspicious mark or hair-curl that adorns
the breast of Vishnu. Lakshmi’s insignia on
Vishnu’s breast represents the devotion in
his heart for his consort, and since Lakshmi
is the goddess of wealth and good fortune
the shrivatsa forms a natural auspicious
symbol. The shrivatsa either takes the formof a triangular swirl, or an upright diamondwith loops at its four inter-cardinal corners.
Krishna, as the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, also bears the shrivatsa at the center of
his chest.
Another name given to this hair-curl isnandyavarta, which means ‘curl of happiness’, and this curl is shaped like a swastika
or a Greek hooked-cross (Gk. gammadion).
Indian and Chinese representations of the
Buddha frequently show the nandyavarta or

Two examples of endless knots with threaded silk
scarves.

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

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The eternal, endless, or mystic knot iscommon to many ancient traditions, and became particularly innovative in Islamic andCeltic designs. In China it is a symbol of
longevity, continuity, love, and harmony. As
a symbol of the Buddha’s mind the eternalknot represents the Buddha’s endless wisdom and compassion. As a symbol of the
Buddha’s teachings it represents the continuity of the ‘twelve links of dependent origination’, which underlies the reality of cyclic
existence.

THE VICTORY BANNER(Skt. dhvaja; Tib. rgyal-mtshan)
The dhvaja, meaning banner, flag, or ensign,
was originally a military standard of ancient

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Symbols

Indian warfare. This standard adorned therear of a great warrior’s chariot, and was
mounted behind the great parasol (Skt. atapatra), or royal parasol (Skt. chatra). Eachstandard bore the specific ensign of its champion or king. Krishna’s chariot was adorned
with a garuda-topped banner. Arjuna’s bore
the device of a monkey. Bhisma’s bore theemblem of a palm tree. But primarily the
dhvaja was the ensign of Shiva, the great godof death and destruction, whose banner was
topped with a trident. This trident symbolized Shiva’s victory over the three worlds, orthe ‘three cities’, which were located above,
upon, and below the earth.
In Indian warfare the military banner frequently took on horrific forms that were designed to instill terror in the enemy. The
impaled head and flayed skin of an enemy orThree examples of the victory banner, with the two on the right adorned with a frieze of tiger-skin.

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victim was one such gruesome emblem. The
heads and skins of ferocious animals, particularly those of the tiger, crocodile, wolf, andbull, were commonly employed. Large effigies were also fashioned of other frightening
creatures, such as the scorpion, snake, vulture, raven, and garuda.
The crocodile-headed banner or makaradhvaja was originally an emblem of Kamadeva, the Vedic god of love and desire. As
the ‘tempter’ (Skt. mara), or ‘deluder’ (Skt.
maya), Kamadeva was the Hindu counterpart of Mara, the ‘evil one’, who attempted
to obstruct the Buddha from attaining enlightenment. In early Buddhism the conceptof Mara as a demonic obstructer to spiritualprogress was presented as a group of fourmaras or ‘evil influences’. These four maras
were originally based upon the four divisions of Mara’s army: infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots. The first of these fourmaras is the demon of the five aggregates ofthe personality (Skhanda-mara). The second
is the demon of emotional defilements (Klesha-mara). The third is the demon of death(Mrityu-mara). The fourth is the ‘son of the
god Mara’ (Devaputra-mara), or the demon
of desire and temptation. It is this fourthmara, Devaputra-mara, who is identified as
Kamadeva, the ‘king of the gods of the highest desire realm’. The Buddha is said to havedefeated the sensual temptations of Kamadeva in the dusk before his enlightenment bymeditating upon the ‘four immeasurables’ ofcompassion, love, sympathetic joy, andequanimity. At dawn he overcame both themara of the aggregates and the mara of defilements. But it was only three months before the end of his long life that he finallyovercame the mara of death, through thepower of his fearless resolve to enter into theultimate nirvana (parinirvana).
As a symbol of the Buddha’s victory overthe four maras, the early Buddhists adopted

Kamadeva’s emblem of the crocodile-headed
makaradhvaja, and four of these banners
were erected in the cardinal directions surrounding the enlightenment stupa of the
Tathagata or Buddha. Similarly the gods
elected to place a banner of victory on thesummit of Mt Meru, to honor the Buddha as
the ‘Conqueror’ (Skt. jina; Tib. rgyal-ba)
who vanquished the armies of Mara. This
‘victorious banner of the ten directions’ is described as having a jeweled pole, a crescentmoon and sun finial, and a hanging triplebanderole of three colored silks that are decorated with the ‘three victorious creatures ofharmony’ (see pages 50 and 176).
Within the Tibetan tradition a list of
eleven different forms of the victory banneris given to represent eleven specific methods
for overcoming defilements. Many variations of the banner’s design can be seen on
monastery and temple roofs, where fourbanners are commonly placed at the roof’s
corners to symbolize the Buddha’s victory
over the four maras. In its most traditional
form the victory banner is fashioned as acylindrical ensign mounted upon a long
wooden axle-pole. The top of the bannertakes the form of a small white parasol,
which is surmounted by a central wishgranting gem. This domed parasol isrimmed by an ornate golden crest-bar withmakara-tailed ends, from which hangs abillowing yellow or white silk scarf. The
cylindrical body of the banner is drapedwith overlapping vertical layers of multicolored silk valances and hanging jewels. A
billowing silk apron with flowing ribbons
adorns its base. The upper part of thecylinder is often decorated with a frieze oftiger-skin, symbolizing the Buddha’s victory over all anger and aggression. As a
hand-held ensign the victory banner is an
attribute of many deities, particularly those
associated with wealth and power, such as

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the north.

THE WHEEL(Skt. chakra; Tib. ’khor-lo)
The wheel is an early Indian solar symbol ofsovereignty, protection, and creation. As asolar symbol it first appears on clay seals unearthed from the Harappan civilization of
the Indus valley (circa 2500 BCE). The wheel
or chakra is the main attribute of the Vedic
god of preservation, Vishnu, whose fiery sixspoked Sudarshana-chakra or discus represents the wheel of the phenomenal universe.
The wheel represents motion, continuity,and change, forever turning onwards likethe circling sphere of the heavens. As aweapon the rimless chakra had six, eight,

The eight-spoked golden wheel.

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Buddhist

Symbolsten, twelve, or eighteen sharply pointed
blades, and could be hurled like a discus orswung upon a rope. The wooden wheels of
the ancient India chariot similarly bore an
equal number of spokes.
Buddhism adopted the wheel as the mainemblem of the ‘wheel-turning’ chakravartinor ‘universal monarch’, identifying thiswheel as the dharmachakra or ‘wheel ofdharma’ of the Buddha’s teachings. The Tibetan term for dharmachakra (Tib. chos-kyi’khor-lo) literally means the ‘wheel of transformation’ or spiritual change. The wheel’s
swift motion represents the rapid spiritualtransformation revealed in the Buddha’s
teachings. The wheel’s comparison to the rotating weapon of the chakravartin represents
its ability to cut through all obstacles and illusions. The Buddha’s first discourse at theDeer Park in Sarnath, where he first taught
the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold
Noble Path, is known as his ‘first turning of
the wheel of dharma’. His subsequent great
discourses at Rajghir and Shravasti are
known as his second and third turnings of
the wheel of dharma.
The three components of the wheel hub, spokes, and rim - symbolize the three
aspects of the Buddhist teachings upon
ethics, wisdom, and concentration. The central hub represents ethical discipline, whichcenters and stabilizes the mind. The sharp
spokes represent wisdom or discriminatingawareness, which cuts through ignorance.
The rim represents meditative concentration, which both encompasses and facilitates
the motion of the wheel. A wheel with athousand spokes, which emanate like therays of the sun, represents the thousand activities and teachings of the Buddhas. A
wheel with eight spokes symbolizes the
Buddha’s Eightfold Noble Path, and thetransmission of these teachings towards theeight directions.

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

The auspicious wheel is described as being
fashioned from pure gold obtained from theJambud River of our ‘world continent’, Jambudvipa. It is traditionally depicted witheight vajra-like spokes, and a central hub
with three or four rotating ‘swirls of joy’(Tib. dga’ ’khyil), which spiral outward like a
Chinese yin-yang symbol. When three swirls
are shown in the central hub they represent
the Three Jewels of the Buddha, dharma, andsangha, and victory over the three poisons ofignorance, desire, and aversion. When fourswirls are depicted they are usually colored tocorrespond to the four directions and elements, and symbolize the Buddha’s teachings
upon the Four Noble Truths. The rim of thewheel may be depicted as a simple circularring, often with small circular gold embellishments extending towards the eight directions.
Alternatively it may be depicted within an ornate pear-shaped surround, which is fashioned from scrolling gold embellishmentswith inset jewels. A silk ribbon is often
draped behind the wheel’s rim, and the bottom of the wheel usually rests upon a small
lotus base.

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THE EIGHT AUSPICIOUS
SUBSTANCES

T

he eight auspicious substances (Skt.
astamangaladravya; Tib. bkra-shisrdzas-brgyad) or ‘bringers of good fortune’
form the second main group of early Buddhist symbols. They consist of: (1) a mirror;(2) precious medicine; (3) yogurt or curds;(4) durva grass; (5) bilva fruit; (6) a white
conch shell; (7) cinnabar or vermilion powder; (8) mustard seed. Like the eight auspicious symbols, these eight items are probably
also of pre-Buddhist origin and were adopted
into early Buddhism during the period of its
initial inception. They represent a specificgroup of offerings that were presented to the
Buddha as symbols of his Eightfold Noble
Path of right view, thought, speech, action,
livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and meditation. Like the eight auspicious symbols, theeight auspicious substances were later deified
in Vajrayana Buddhism to form a group ofeight offering goddesses.
The mirror represents the radiant offering goddess of light, Prabhavati (Tib. ’Od’chang-ma), who presented Shakyamuni
with a stainless mirror, symbolizing both theclarity of his realization and the unerring
karmic vision of all his previous lives. The
mirror represents right thought or analysis,
as it truthfully reflects all things as they are,without favoritism, prejudice, delusion, or
distortion.
The medicine (Skt. gorochana), derived
from the vital glands in the forehead of anelephant, represents the great guardian elephant Dhanapala (Tib. Nor-skyong), who
protected the meadows at Bodh Gaya where
the Buddha attained enlightenment. This
medicine represents right mindfulness, as itcures the disease of ignorance, which is theroot cause of all suffering.
The curds represent the offering of milk
rice that the farmer’s virtuous daughter
Facing page: Various examples of the eight auspicious substances. The mirror (top row); the medicine (second row); the yogurt (third row); thedurva grass (fourth row); the bilva fruit (fifthrow); the conch (sixth row); the vermilion powder (seventh row); and the mustard seed (bottomrow).

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Bowl containing the mirror, yogurt, bilva fruit, and durva grass (top left corner); bowl containing
conch, medicine, vermilion, and mustard seed (top right corner). Immediately below are a cluster ofjewels with the eight auspicious substances behind them. At the bottom center is a bowl containing theeight auspicious substances, with a futher bowl of the eight auspicious substances to the right, and abowl containing the five sense offerings to the left.

Sujata (Tib. Legs-skyes-ma) presented to the
Buddha before he sat under the bodhi-tree.
The curds represent right livelihood, as it isfree from any impurity and is produced
without harming any living creature.
The durva grass represents the eight armfuls of grass that were presented to the Buddha as a meditation seat by the grass-cutter

Mangala (Tib. bKra-shis). Durva grass is asymbol of longevity and tenacity, and represents right effort as the enduring resolve topractice the dharma.
The bilva fruit was presented to Shakyamuni by the god Brahma, and representsright action as the fruition of all virtuous
activities.

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The white right-spiraling conch shell waspresented to the Buddha by the god Indra,
and represents right speech as the proclamation of the Buddhadharma.
The tilaka or sacred mark of red
cinnabar was applied to the Buddha’s forehead by the Brahmin astrologer Jyotisharaja(Tib. sKar-rgyal), and represents right contemplation as the samadhi of one-pointed
meditative equipoise.
The white mustard seed was presented to
the Buddha by Vajrapani, the great Bodhisattva of power, and represents right viewas the ability to annihilate all false views ornotions.
The eight auspicious substances listed
above also represent the four karmas or activities of an enlightened being. The mirror,
medicine, and curds represent peaceful activities. The durva grass, bilva fruit, and conchshell represent activities of increase. The redvermilion powder represents the activity ofsubjugation, and the mustard seed represents wrathful or destructive activity.
Like the eight auspicious symbols theseeight precious objects may be represented individually, with each object appearing alone
or in a separate bowl. They may also be collectively grouped behind rows of offering
jewels, in the branches of a small wishgranting tree, or in a shallow bowl or tray.

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reflects all objects impartially, and yet remains completely unaffected by the images
that arise in it. It reveals all phenomena to be
void in essence. Like a ‘passing show’ it reflects all objects of the phenomenal world,
but reveals them to be without substance.
In the ancient Indian ritual of abhisheka,
meaning ‘consecration by sprinkling’, sacredimages or ritual objects were ritually bathed,or consecrated by sprinkling. Pouring waterover a mirror that reflected the image alsocleansed the reflection of the sacred image.
This rite is known as pratibimba, which literally means ‘reflected’. In Tibet this ritual is
known as the ‘divine ablution’ (Tib. khrusgsol), where water is sprinkled over the reflected image of a statue or thangka. The
water, having bathed the form of the deity, isthen considered to be consecrated water.
The mirror that the offering goddess
Prabhavati presented to the Buddha was absolutely clear, flawless, bright, and untarnished. As a symbol of the enlightened mind
it reflected everything perfectly, without distortion or impediment. Artistically the mirror is depicted as a small white or silver disc,with its perimeter usually decorated with athin circular golden frame. A small central
circle and four directional circles are often
inscribed upon its surface, symbolizing theenlightened qualities and wisdoms of theFive Buddhas.

THE MIRROR(Skt. darpana, adarsha; Tib. me-long)
The mirror, as the reflective ‘witness’ of light,
represents form as the sense faculty of sightand the sense organ of the eye. Its function isto enable one to see oneself clearly, and as acosmetic accessory or household object its
auspicious importance is obvious. In Buddhism the mirror is a perfect symbol of
emptiness or pure consciousness. The mirror

The mirror.

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Tibetan

THE PRECIOUS MEDICINE(Skt. gorochana; Tib. gi-wang)
The precious medicine is derived from theintestinal-stones or gallstones that are foundin certain animals, particularly elephants,
bears, and cattle. The Sanskrit term gorochana refers specifically to the stones or ‘bezoars’ found in cattle (Skt. go), such as thebull, cow, ox, and yak. The presence of bezoars is reputedly indicated by the snoring
or nocturnal sounds that the animal makes
in its sleep.
A Vedic legend relates how the god Indraonce cast the five precious minerals: gold,
silver, coral, pearl, and sapphire or turquoise, into the great ocean. These precious
substances were eventually consumed by elephants, bears, snakes, frogs, vultures, geese,and pigeons, which then formed bezoars
within their bodies. The intestinal stones obtained from these creatures consequently
possess different colors and potencies. Their
medicinal properties are reputed to counteract poisoning, promote clear thoughts, andalleviate fevers and contagious diseases. The
superior, mediocre, and inferior forms ofthese stones are reputed to respectively cureseven, five, or three patients who have beenpoisoned.
The word ‘bezoar’ is derived from thePersian pad-zhar, meaning ‘protecting
against poisoning’, and its general meaningis ‘antidote’. In medieval European medical

The precious medicine.

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traditions animal bezoars were highly esteemed as an antidote against the rather
common practice of poisoning. Of particularly value were the ‘oriental bezoars’ obtained from the East, which consisted oforganic resin layers formed around a small
foreign body. The common Indian antelope
is known as the bezoar antelope, and thewild Persian goat as the bezoar goat. It is reputed that in Turkestan bezoars were ritually worshipped to bring rain. In Tibet small
mineral stones, of a white or orange color,
are found at hot springs as calcium and sulphur accretions. These calcified stones or‘pills’ (Tib. ril-bu) are believed to possess
similar medicinal qualities to animal bezoars.
It is believed that the finest quality ofgorochana is obtained from the brain or forehead of an elephant, and the second best
quality is obtained from the stomach of acow. In size and appearance gorochana issaid to resemble the yellow yoke of a boiled
egg. The yellow pigment obtained from it isused as a tonic and sedative, and may also be
applied as a sacred mark or tilaka to the forehead. When mixed with honey and applied tothe eyes, gorochana is believed to bestow
clear vision, enabling one to perceive all of
the treasures of the world. Similarly the grayor white stone obtained from the crown of aking cobra’s head is believed to enable asnake charmer to control all lesser serpents,
and bestows immunity against their venom.
The occidental ‘toadstone’, obtained fromthe skull of an old toad, was similarly credited with the antidotal qualities of serum.
In Tibetan art this precious medicine isrepresented in many different ways. It appears in the form of pills, or in the shape ofan egg, bean, spiral, fruit, gland, or fungus.
It is usually colored white or yellow, and iscommonly illustrated as a solid oval shapesuspended in a viscous white liquid.

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THE CURDS OR YOGURT(Skt. dadhi; Tib. zho)
Curds have always been regarded as a pureand nourishing dietary supplement in India.
In the Ayurvedic medical tradition curds arehighly esteemed as a digestive stimulant, andare traditionally prescribed as a remedy fordiarrhea and emaciation. Curds made fromcolostrum, the first milk that a cow gives
after delivering a calf, are considered especially regenerative. The pure white nature of
curds symbolizes spiritual nourishment andthe abandonment of all negative actions.
The ‘three white substances’, milk, curds,
and ghee, which are derived from the sacred
cow are viewed as the concentrated essenceof plants, and are widely employed as purifying ingredients in many tantric rituals.
As one of the eight auspicious substances, curds symbolize the forty-ninemouthful meal of milk-rice, which thefasting Buddha received from the cowherd
girl, Sujata. This meal provided the fasting
Buddha with the strength to attain enlightenment under the bodhi-tree, and to recognize with clarity the truth of the ‘middle
way’. For this reason white curds or ‘nectar’
are often represented within the blue almsbowl of the Buddha.
As a cool, heavy, creamy, smooth, andsoft substance, curds personify the phlegmatic (kapha) humor or constitution of thewater element. Because of this the eating of
curds was not medically advised during the
hot Indian summer and rainy season. The
Indian monsoon, which occurs during themonths of July and August, was traditionally a period in which the Buddhist sangha
would undergo a seasonal meditation retreat. Curds were ritually consumed as thefirst celebratory meal after this rainy season
retreat ended. In Tibet this tradition foundcontinuity in the Zhoton or ‘curd festival’,

The yogurt.

held at great monasteries such as Sera andDrepung, where the monks would be served
curds at the end of their hundred-day summer retreat.
The ‘three whites’ of milk, curds, andghee, form three of the ‘five nectars’ obtained from the sacred cow, with the othertwo being urine and dung. For ritual purposes the cow’s urine and dung are collected
in vessels before they touch the ground, andare then mixed with the three white substances in a bronze bowl. This mixture isthen boiled. When cool the upper scum andlower sediment of this viscous liquid are discarded, leaving only the middle section,
which is then spread and dried in the sun.
The dried powder is then blended with saffron and made into small pills. In Tibet thesepills (Tib. ril-bu) are employed in ritual
practices, together with consecrated medicinal pills, known as dutsi (Tib. bdud-rtsi).
The sacred cow, from which the five nectars
are obtained, should be pregnant, of agolden or orange color, and endowed withintestinal stones or bezoars, from which theprecious medicine gorochana is obtained.

THE DURVA GRASS(Skt. durva; Tib. rtsva dur-ba)
Durva, durba, or darbha grass is a common
grass with a variety of names. In the West itHandbook of Tibetan Buddhis#133

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Tibetanis known as Bermuda grass (Capriola dactylon), Bahama grass, scutch grass, or devil
grass, and is commonly grown as pasturage.
In the East it is identified as ‘panic grass’(Panicum dactylon) or ‘bent grass’. It also
grows as a white species of grass, known in
Sanskrit as chanda. Durva grass is very
hardy, and grows as a ground-trailing grasswith knotty stalks culminating in leafy
heads. Its natural habitat is marsh or wetlands, but such is its durability that evenwhen dry it will put out new shoots on contact with water.
Durva grass was a prerequisite ingredientin the Vedic sacrifice or yagna. The Vedic
altar itself was constructed of cow dung
bricks bound together with knots of durva
grass. In rites to propitiate the gods the
Vedic priest often wore a finger ring wovenfrom stalks of durva grass, representing thesacred knot or hair-curl (Skt. shrivatsa) of
Vishnu.
The sacredness of durva grass originatesfrom the accidental spilling of the amrita or‘nectar of immortality’ during the legendary
churning of the ocean, when a few drops ofthis nectar fell onto durva grass. A similarlegend concerns the sacredness of kusha
grass (Poa cynosoroides), where Garuda
steals the vessel of amrita in order to ransom
his mother who has been imprisoned by his
enemies, the naga serpents. Garuda secretly

The durva grass.

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deposits this ransom vessel in a grove of
kusha grass, but his deceitful act is witnessed by the god Indra, who swiftly removes the vessel of amrita from the grasp of
the nagas. In their eagerness to consume theamrita, the nagas mistakenly identify the divine scent of the nectar with the kusha grass,
and as they licked the sharp edges of thegrass their tongues split into the forked
tongues of serpents (see Appendix 1).
Durva and kusha grass became synonymously sacred, and both are commonly
known as darbha grass. Kusha grass is a longbrush-like grass, which grows to around twofeet in height. In India a bundle of kusha
stalks are bound together with a handle ofcoiled rope to produce the common household broom. Traditionally kusha grass wasused to purify defilements, and Brahmins
would sleep in a grove of kusha grass whenritual purification was required. The sharp
points of a stalk of kusha grass proverbiallysymbolize a keen intellect, and in Buddhism
the grass is believed to enhance the clarity ofvisualization and meditation. In many tantric
initiations, such as the Kalachakra, twostems of kusha grass are employed to reveal
clear dreams on the night prior to the initiation, with a long stalk being placed lengthwise under the mattress, and a short stalkplaced horizontally under the pillow. Kusha
grass soaked in water often provides the consecrated water used for oblations, and thesacrificial homa fire is initially kindled with abundle of dried kusha grass.
On the eve of his enlightenment the future Buddha approached the sacred bodhitree, which stood within a meadow of soft
grass. Here he was approached by the grasscutter Mangala, who offered him eight armfuls of kusha grass as a meditation seat.
From Vedic times a mat of woven kusha
grass (Skt. kushasana) served as a sacred
mat in religious ceremonies, and the Buddha

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The Eight Auspicious Substances
was observing an age old tradition in using
kusha grass as his seat or asana. Iconographically many Buddhist ascetics, yogins,
and siddhas are depicted seated upon such
woven kusha grass mats. The ancient capitalof the Malla kingdom, where the Buddha attained his final parinirvana, is known as
Kushinagara, which means ‘the city of kusha
grass’. Artistically, both durva and kusha
grass are represented with many stylistic
variations in Tibetan art.

THE BILVA FRUIT(Skt. bilva; Tib. bil-ba)
The bilva fruit (Aegle marmelos) is also
known as the bel or bael fruit, and as theBengal quince. It is a round fruit about thesize of a large orange, with a hard skin and adappled reddish-brown color. When British
botanists were first confronted by the bewildering array of exotic Indian fruits during theearly nineteenth century, they chose to rename many of these fruits in the then fashionable manner of the English apple, creatingsuch names as the pineapple, custard apple,
rose apple, and thorn apple. The bilva fruit,with its tough woody skin, was appropriately
named the ‘wood apple’. Medicinally it is apotent astringent, and highly regarded for its
purifying qualities in traditional Ayurvedic
and Indian folk medicine. The unripe interiorof the fruit, especially when boiled as apreservative jam, was the best-known curefor diarrhea and dysentery.
In ancient India the bilva was regarded
as the most sacred of all fruits, and wasused as the main food offering to the temple
deities. Only in comparatively recent times
has the coconut superseded the bilva as theprincipal fruit of religious offering, or as asymbol of self-surrender. The bilva tree issacred to many Hindu deities, particularly

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Shiva, Parvati, Lakshmi, Durga, and Surya.
In an early Hindu legend the bilva tree issaid to have originally germinated from thedrops of sweat that fell from the foreheadof the goddess Parvati onto Mt Mandara,
the sacred hill that was used to churn theocean in the Vedic creation legend. Its trifoliate leaves symbolize both the trinity ofBrahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (as creator, preserver, and destroyer), and the trident of
Shiva. The tree is especially sacred to Shiva,
who is often represented with a trifoliate
bilva leaf crowning his matted hair. Wet
bilva leaves are also traditionally placed
upon the phallic stone symbol or lingam of
Shiva as a cooling offering during the heatof an Indian summer. The tree is also theabode of the various shaktis or emanationsof Shiva’s consort Parvati, and the breastlike fruit of the bilva is believed to containthe milk of the great mother goddesses or
matrikas. The bilva fruit is also known as
shriphala, meaning ‘the fruit of Shri’, which
is another name for Lakshmi, the goddessof wealth and prosperity.
Much of the Shaivite and Shakti symbolism applied to the bilva arose during thelater Hindu tantric period, at a far later
date than the time of Shakyamuni Buddha.
But whatever its pre-Buddhist symbolism
may have been, the bilva has been enduringly regarded as the most sacred of all
fruits. Brahma, the Vedic god of creation,

The bilva fruit.

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Tibetanis said to have presented Shakyamuni withthe bilva fruit, and in this gesture of veneration and supplication he humbles himself
before a wisdom-enlightenment greater thanhis own. Brahma is traditionally represented
offering the golden wheel to Shakyamuni,
but occasionally a tray containing bilva fruit
may replace the wheel. In Tibetan art thebilva is often represented as a group of threefruits, symbolizing the Three Jewels. It is
generally depicted like a pomegranate witha rounded nipple-like tip, and its trifoliate
leaves may be depicted in a variety of stylized forms.

Buddhist

Symbols

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

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

A Brahmin named Jyotisharaja, meaning‘king of astrologers’, was said to have presented the vermilion powder to the Buddha.
This orange or red powder is sometimes
identified as cinnabar (Tib. cog-la-ma) or
natural vermilion (Tib. mtshal), which areboth forms of mercuric sulphide derived
from naturally occurring mineral deposits.
Mercury is extracted from cinnabar by aheating process, which separates it from its
sulphur content. Recombining sulphur andmercury to produce crystalline cinnabar canchemically reverse this process. The transmutation of cinnabar into mercury and backinto cinnabar revealed the mutability of theelements, and gave birth to both the Indianand Chinese traditions of alchemy.
In Sanskrit vermilion powder is known
as sindura, and is identified as the mineral‘red lead’ or minium, the red oxide of leadused as a pigment. The Tibetan materia
medica identifies three forms of minium(Tib. li-khri): coarse minium from stones,
soft minium from earth, and minium extracted from wood. A more general interpretation of the word sindura defines it as red
lead, cinnabar, vermilion, or sacred ash.
Both cinnabar and minium have beenused as mineral pigments since ancient
times. In India sindura is the orange or red
powder that is used to adorn sacred images,

The right-turning conch shell.

The vermilion powder.

THE RIGHT-TURNING CONCH
SHELL(Skt. dakshinavarta-shankha; Tib. dung
gyas-’khyil)

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The Eight Auspicious Substancesand for a variety of other religious purposes
and rituals. Along with turmeric or yellow
saffron (Skt. kumkum), red sandalwood(Skt. chandan), and white ash (Skt. vibhuti)
made from burnt cow dung, sindura is used
to apply the sacred marks or tilaka to theforeheads of devout Hindus. Traditionally acircular red dot or tilaka of sindura on theforehead of a married woman indicates that
her husband is still alive and that she is nota widow. Such a mark provides an important visual statement in the social order oforthodox Hindu society. The marking of theforehead or other parts of the body dates
back to the Vedic period, and elaborate systems of caste and sect marks have developed
over the course of time. The marking or‘sealing’ with a tilaka is one of the meaningsof the Sanskrit term mudra.
Vermilion powder was certainly of great
ritual significance during Buddha’s time. Its
red color symbolizes power, especially themagnetizing power of love and desire, personified as menstrual blood. In Vajrayana
Buddhism the color red is assigned to certain
subjugating and fertility goddesses, such as
Red Kurukulla, Lakshmi, and Vasudhara.
Vermilion powder is used in the creation ofsand mandalas, and as a pigment in the decoration of many secular and religious artifacts. In Chinese symbolism vermilion andgold are regarded as the two harmonious
colors of joy and prosperity.

bereaved mother to obtain some mustard
seed from a house in which no one had died.
Every householder possessed mustard seed,
but none had been spared the grief of bereavement, and as she listened to their harrowing stories the woman’s own distresscame to be alleviated.
Mustard seed was cultivated to produce
oil for cooking and for fuelling oil lamps. It
occurs in two varieties, white mustard (Tib.
yungs-dkar), and black mustard (Tib. yungsnag). In ancient India mustard seed was considered as a magical substance that could
help counteract all hindrances and inauspicious turns of fate. This common belief is revealed in the Buddha’s advice to the mother
who wanted her baby to be brought back tolife. Mustard seed was one of the sacrificial
ingredients offered to Agni, the Vedic firegod, during the sacred fire ritual or homa,
where its function was to remove all inauspicious hindrances. In both the Hindu andBuddhist tantric traditions it was considered
to be a wrathful substance that could be usedin destructive rites against all negativities,
which arise in the form of obstructive
demons. Mustard seed may be empoweredwith mantras of exorcism, and then burnedor cast away to annihilate ghosts or malignant spirits. A certain form of spirit thatpossesses young children is known as a sarshaparuna, or ‘red mustard’ demon, referring
perhaps to scarlet fever. Mustard seed is oneof the main ‘magical ingredients’ (Tib. thun)used in ritual weapons against harmful

THE MUSTARD SEED
(Skt. sarshapa; Tib. yungs-’bru)
The wrathful form of Vajrapani, the Bodhisattva of power, was said to have offered
mustard seed to the Buddha. Mustard seed
was a common household commodity at thetime of the Buddha, as illustrated by his
parable of asking a distressed and recently

The mustard seed.

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Tibetanspirits during Vajrayana rituals of destructive
activity. These weapons may take the form ofa sacrificial ‘cake offering’ (Tib. gtor-ma), a
skull cup, or an ox or yak horn engravedwith the images of poisonous creatures, suchas the snake, scorpion, and frog. Mustard
seed is also used in Tibetan rituals of weather
control, where hailstorms may be either conjured forth or prevented.
In his book Oracles and Demons ofTibet, Nebesky-Wojkowitz describes a Tibetan magical weapon known as the ‘mill of
Yama (Tib. gShin-rje)’, the ‘Lord of the
Dead’, which was located at Khardo Gompa
near Lhasa. This weapon took the form of adouble millstone with powerful mantras in-

Buddhist

Symbols

scribed upon its upper surface, whose function was to destroy the leaders of hostile political parties. The presiding lama appointed
for this task would first catch the ‘life
essence’ (Tib. srog-snying) of the enemy, andbind it into a few grains of white mustard
seed, which would then be ground under themillstones with specific mantras. This
process was evidently extremely dangerous,
as people who handled the mill occasionallydied soon afterwards.
The mustard seed offered by Vajrapani
symbolizes the Vajra Buddha Family, which
is presided over by Akshobya, whose activity is to destroy all hatred, aggression, andharmful influences.

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THE FIVE ATTRIBUTES OFSENSORY ENJOYMENTT

he ‘five desire qualities’ (Skt. panchakamaguna; Tib. ’dod-yon sna-lnga), or‘offerings of the five senses’, form a group of
the most beautiful objects which can attract
or captivate the five senses of sight, sound,smell, taste, and touch. These offerings traditionally take the form of: (1) a mirror forsight; (2) a lute, cymbals, or gongs forsound; (3) burning incense or a perfumeladen conch for smell; (4) fruit for taste; (5)a silk cloth for touch.
As attributes of the most delightful sensory pleasures they are mainly represented
as offerings to the peaceful deities and lineage gurus. Here they symbolize the desire
to please enlightened beings, and represent a
gesture of sensual renunciation on the partof the donor. They are traditionally placed
below the deity’s lotus seat or throne as acomposite group in an offering bowl, butthey may also be depicted as separate symbols, or held as offerings by the cloud-borne
celestial gods. In many Buddhist rituals these
five symbolic offerings are momentarily presented as an offering to the presiding lama.

Here they generally take the form of a mirror or small golden wheel, a pair of cymbals,
incense or a conch shell, a tray of fresh fruitor sweets, and a piece of silk cloth. Small
painted images of the five sense offerings, or
any of the other groups of auspicious symbols, may be represented as rectangularminiature paintings (Tib. tsak-li), which aresymbolically employed in many rituals. Butter sculptures, modeled in the most exquisite
detail and colors, are also made of the fivesense offerings, and various other offeringgroups, for specific rituals or festivals. The
most impressive of these festivals was the
Monlam Chenmo or ‘Great Prayer Festival’,
held in Lhasa on the full moon of the first
Tibetan month, when the capital’s various
monasteries would compete to create thefinest butter sculptures. Shaped like conical‘ritual cake offerings’ (Tib. gtor-ma), thesesculptures were often over ten feet in height
and the product of many weeks of intensive
work. The competition was held at nightoutside Lhasa’s main Jokhang Temple, andthe Dalai Lama judged the winning image.

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

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The Five Attributes of Sensory Enjoyment
The five sensory offerings are related to
the Five Buddhas as the faculties of the fiveaggregates and senses. Vairocana represents
form (or consciousness) as the faculty ofsight, symbolized by the mirror. Ratnasambhava represents feeling as the faculty ofsound, symbolized by the lute or cymbals.
Amitabha represents perception as the faculty of smell, symbolized by incense or aperfumed conch. Amoghasiddhi represents
motivation or will as the faculty of taste,
symbolized by fruit. Akshobya represents
consciousness (or form) as the faculty oftouch, symbolized by the silk cloth.
In Vajrayana Buddhism these five sensual
offerings are deified into a group of five offering goddesses, who bear the five objectsof the senses as attributes.

SIGHT OR FORM
(Skt. rupa; Tib. gzugs)
A small silver mirror, or an eight-spoked
golden wheel, represents the sense faculty ofsight and the sense organ of the eye. The
mirror represents form (or consciousness)and the element of space. It is clear, stainless, and bright, and reflects all phenomena

with impartiality. Whatever appearancesarise as reflections, be they beautiful or ugly,
inherently good or evil, the mirror passes nojudgment on them. It remains completely
unaffected, untarnished, and unchanged by
the images that appear to arise in it. Similarly pure consciousness is unaffected by thebeautiful or ugly, good, neutral, or evil nature of the thoughts which arise and passwithin it. Like reflections in a mirror theiressence is void, without substance, and yet
they continue to manifest upon the ‘screen’of consciousness or within the emptiness ofthe mirror. Like a wild animal that sees andattacks an apparent rival in its own reflection in a still pool, the unenlightened mind
self-identifies with its own projected imagery. But the enlightened mind of a Buddha
perceives all phenomena to be empty of selfnature, just as a desert dweller familiar withthe appearance of mirages knows that they
will never quench his thirst.
The white or silver disc of the mirror represents Vairocana, the ‘Illuminator’, and embodies his qualities, including those of: formor consciousness, the faculty of sight, thewhite element of water, and Vairocana’s
mirror-like or all-pervasive wisdom. Vairocana holds the attribute of an eight-spoked
golden wheel or dharmachakra, and thiswheel may replace the mirror as a specificsymbol of form.

SOUND(Skt. shabda; Tib. sgra)

Mirrors.

A lute or a pair of cymbals most frequently
represents the appreciation of music as thesense faculty of delightful sound, althoughoccasionally a pair of gongs or a flute may
be depicted. The lute (Skt. vina; Tib. piwang) is traditionally represented as a fouror five stringed Central Asian or Chinese29

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Four stringed Central Asian lute (left) in the formof a rabab, with a garuda head crowning its pegbox. Celestial lute of the gods (right), fashioned
from precious woods, metals, and jewels.

Four-stringed Mongolian horse-head fiddle (left)
with its horse-hair bow. Two-stringed Chinese
fiddle (right) with a carved dragon peg-box andhorse-hair bow.

lute (Ch. ch’in), with a pear-shaped body, atapering and unfretted fingerboard, and atuning-head or ‘peg-box’ fashioned into theshape of a mythological animal or bird. Thelute is usually depicted resting behind themirror at an inclined angle towards the left,
much as it would be held when being
played. The lute’s upper edge may also appear straight, giving the instrument the appearance of the Afghan rabab. A hanging
tassel, or a tied silk scarf, is also commonly
depicted on the upper part of the instrument’s neck.
On Mongolian thangkas the lute may
take the form of the traditional horse-headfiddle, known in Mongolian as the morinkhur or khil-khur. This two-stringed bowed
instrument has a rectangular sound box, andits peg-box is ornamented with the carved

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

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

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dragon. On Indian-style thangkas the lute
may be shown in the form of the Indian vichitra vina, with two resonating gourds fastened beneath a long and tubular-sectioned
wooden or bamboo neck.
When two golden cymbals are depicted
to represent the faculty of sound, they arecommonly depicted in a symmetricalarrangement at the front center of the offering bowl, with a draped silk ribbon looped
between their central handles. These cymbals may take the form of the small Tibetan
hand cymbals (Tib. ting-shag), made of bell
metal, which are about three inches in diameter and produce a sustained high-pitchedring. But they more commonly take the formof the large bronze cymbals, which are usedin monastic rituals and produce a clashingsound. As a sense offering to the peaceful

Pair of ritual bronze cymbals (top left); bowl
gong with wooden striker (top right).
Below are two pairs of Tibetan cymbals joined
together with silk cloth as an offering.

deities, these monastic cymbals appear in theform of the flat cymbals (Tib. zil-snyan) usedin peaceful rites, rather than the domed
cymbals (Tib. rol-mo) used in wrathful rites.
When gongs are depicted they are represented as a pair of symmetrical bell metalbowls, with two wooden striking sticks
placed within them, and cloth rings underneath their bases to sustain their resonancewhen struck. The Chinese gong (Ch. lo), andthe Mongolian gong (Mon. dudaram), were
probably the prototypes of these symbols,
which began to appear in later Tibetan art.
In the modern mythology of the New Age
spiritual movement these gongs have cometo be known as ‘Tibetan singing bowls’, andmany fantastic tales of occult power havebeen grafted onto their recent history andinnovative techniques of playing. Brass orbronze bowls first began to appear on Tibetan refugee stalls during the 1970’s, butthese objects were actually the eating or offering bowls of these impoverished refugees.
Over the last few decades these Tibetan
singing bowls have been widely manufactured for the tourist markets of India and
Nepal, but stories of their employment inancient Tibet as mystical musical instruments are a modern myth.
When a flute is depicted it generally takes
the form of the Indian bamboo flute, or thelong transverse Chinese flute or ti. The ti isfashioned from bamboo, with six or sevenfinger holes and two mouth holes. When thisflute is played a thin bamboo membrane
covers one of the lower mouth holes, which

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

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Tibetancreates the characteristic nasal or kazoo-liketone of the Chinese flute. The flute is generally positioned at an inclined angle behindthe mirror, and usually has a silk tassel
hanging from its upper end.

SMELL
(Skt. gandha; Tib. dri)
Smoldering incense sticks, an incense burner,
or a conch shell full of perfume, traditionally
represent the faculty of smell. The basic ingredient of Tibetan incense (Tib. bsang) is
powdered juniper leaf, which is burned incharcoal braziers or clay incense burners. Tibetan stick incense (Tib. spos) is hand-rolledfrom a paste of juniper powder mixed to various formulas with medicinal herbs, saffron,sandalwood, frankincense, aloes, musk, andother fragrant substances. Several upright incense sticks, or a thick round cluster of sticks

Buddhist

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

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

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The Five Attributes of Sensory Enjoyment
ancient India incense was generally burned in
the form of dhup, which was mixed as amalleable and waxy paste from flower andwood essences.
In India a conch shell mounted upon asmall tripod serves as the water oblation vessel in pujas or rituals, and this vessel isknown as a shankhapatra or conch-bowl. As
a Buddhist oblation or offering vessel theconch is traditionally filled with saffronscented water, or water perfumed with thefive fragrant substances of saffron, sandalwood, musk, camphor, and nutmeg. Rosewater, and aloe and champaka flower essences
are also used in India as liquids for ‘conch
perfume’ (Skt. shankhanakha). As with many
medicinal substances or herbs used in Tibetan tantric rituals, a virgin or pre-adolescent child should pick the herbs and collectthe water from a natural source.
Iconographically the conch shell full of
perfume is usually placed on the far right orleft of the offering bowl, and balanced withthe fruit offering on the opposite side. The
white conch shell is depicted horizontally,
with its spiraling mouth commonly opening
to the right. Its perfumed water is shown asa ‘swirling offering’ of a pale blue liquidwith white waves crests, symbolizing the active essence or permeating fragrance of theperfume.

TASTE(Skt. rasa; Tib. ro)
Fresh fruit is traditionally represented as thedelicious offering of taste, and frequently atriangular formation of three round fruits
will be depicted at the left or right side of theoffering bowl. These three fruits, which may
branch from a single stem with leaves, represent the trinities of the Three Jewels (Buddha,
dharma, and sangha), the Buddhas of the

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

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Tibetanthree times (past, present, and future), or the
Chinese symbol of the ‘fruits of the tree ofplenty’ (abundance, maturity, and ripeness).
These three fruits are often depicted in theform of peaches, but they may also be represented as apples, apricots, mangoes, oranges,
persimmons, guavas, pomegranates, lemons,limes, or bilva fruits. The pomegranate, withits bright red skin and edible seeds, is a symbol of happiness, passion, abundance, andfertility. The peach is a symbol of longevity
and immortality, and the citron is a symbol ofwealth and prosperity. In Chinese symbolism
these three fruits – pomegranate, peach, andcitron – are known as the ‘three fruits ofblessings’, and represent happiness, longevity, and wealth. Occasionally a variety ofdifferent fruits may be depicted within the offering bowl, or the taste offering may takethe form of a ritual cake or torma (Tib. gtorma). However, tormas, which are handmolded from barley flour dough, are more
specifically presented as food offerings to thewrathful deities.
The Sanskrit term for taste, rasa, has awide variety of subtle meanings. In general it
refers to the faculty of taste as juice, sap,
essence, or flavor, but on a more esoteric

Buddhist

Symbols

level it refers to the creative juice of spiritualor artistic inspiration, particularly in thefields of music, drama, and dance. The dancing postures and facial expressions of manyof the main Buddhist yidam deities are described as exhibiting the ‘nine rasas or dramatic sentiments’ (Skt. navanathyarasa).
These are the nine characteristic modes of
expression that are displayed in Indian
dance and drama. In tantric literature theterm rasa is also used as a synonym forsemen and mercury. Six kinds of taste aredescribed in the Ayurvedic tradition: sweet,
sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. In
Vajrayana Buddhism these six tastes are assigned to the wisdom qualities of the Five
Buddha Families and Vajradhara, as thesixth or primordial Adibuddha.

TOUCH(Skt. sparsha; Tib. reg-bya)
A colored silk ribbon invariably represents
the faculty of touch, as the soft smoothnessof silk is perceived as the most sensuallypleasing and unrestrictive of all fabrics. Indian silk merchants often demonstrate the

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

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fineness of their silks by passing the width ofa bolt of silk through a finger ring. However,
the gossamer thread of the divine silks of thegods is described as being so fine that asquare of this divine silk, large enough tocover Mt Meru, can be drawn beneath a fingernail. This divine silk is so light and subtle
that it appears as if to float upon a heavenly
breeze, with its edges and ends making themost graceful folds and twisting curves.
The silk offering ribbon may be knottedaround the base of the mirror or wheel, with
its two ends twisting upwards on either sideof the offering bowl. It may pass through thecentral bosses of the pair of cymbals andthen extend outwards on either side. It may
be knotted around the neck of the lute. It
may also drape over the central lip of the offering bowl and then swirl upwards at eitherside. The silk offering may be colored in oneof the five rainbow colors: white, yellow, red,green, and blue, which correspond to the fiveelements and the Five Buddhas, or the particular Buddha Family to which the deity belongs. A multicolored and tied bundle of silk,a group of silk bolts, or a cluster of birdfeathers may also be illustrated to depict thefaculty of touch.

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