TIBETAN
ART
Inseparable from the tenets and precepts of Buddhism is a concept
of reality that has led some modern observers to consider Buddhism
as much a philosophy as a religion. Since Tibetan art, historically,
has been entirely and exclusively religious, to that extent it is
something of a philosophic art as well. Although much Tibetan art
uses figuration, depicting person-like beings and creatures that,
however mythological, supramundane, or surreal, are pseudo-realistic
and thus recognizable, it differs fundamentally from Western art,
specifically from religous art. Western art uses illustration to
depict its religious narrative; artists imagined and depicted every
being in the biblical story and cosmology, including such mysterious
concepts as the holy ghost (often represented through the symbol
of a pair of wings, which is nonetheless a recognizable image from
our world), such cosmic actors as Lucifer/Satan and the archangel
Michael, and even God himself. (Judaism and Islam forbade the use
of representational imagery altogether.) But Tibetan Buddhism devised
an art that goes beyond illustration, conceiving figures and giving
form to beings who have no inherent, intrinsic form and, according
to Buddhist teaching, no tangible reality, in order to represent
abstract concepts or spiritual attainments or conditions such as
compassion or wisdom. Thus Tibetan art, uniquely, is an art that
uses figuration and representational images to express abstraction.
Moreover,
especially through its use of mandalas, Tibetan art is an integral
part of a spiritual practice and process. A Christian may pray to
a painted image of Jesus or Mary--an illustration of the divine
being--but a Tibetan Buddhist uses the painting itself as a tool
to facilitate the attainment of a spiritual state, and even to achieve
transformation into the divine being that images such a spiritual
condition.
The
Buddha taught through dialogue, through probing questions, and reasoned
explanation, rather than through dictum. He did not seek of his
listeners submission through faith, but rather conviction based
on understanding. His enlightenment was a truth he reached through
profound understanding of reality, rather than something bestowed
by divine revelation. Thus, the essence of this teaching is that
one must not merely accept what is handed down by tradition or authority,
but rather "see" for oneself what is true. With this emphasis
on "seeing" and understanding, rather than on faith and
belief, visual art assumes a central importance, in that vision
along with mind are the means for such perception.
FEATURES
AND CHARACTERISTICS OF TIBETAN ART
Tibetan art is fundamentally abstract, but arrives at this position
from an understanding of reality that is totally contrary to traditional
Western assumptions. Yet it is not expressionistic: whereas a contemporary
Western artist might use visually abstract elements of shape and
color in what is an essentially personal code, to convey a personal
concept or feeling about life or reality, or the divine or the hereafter,
the Buddhist artist does not express personal views or feelings.
Instead, a code of conventionalized symbols, legible to all and
to which all subscribe, conveys the common understanding. The components
of this code include a variety of divine and supernatural beings
in their different roles and stations, as well as the manner in
which they are depicted.
The
Tibetan Pantheon
The historic Buddha, Shakyamuni, made no mention of a divine creator
and refused to be drawn into speculation about the subject. As to
whether Shakyamuni promulgated rituals of worship, it is the position
of Tibetan Buddhists that the tantras (see below), which lay out
such rituals, are authoritative Buddhist works, canonically valid
as the word of the Buddha. Yet Tibetan Buddhism conceives of a pantheon
of gods and divine beings, bewildering in size and complexity, almost
too numerous to be counted. This enormous cast of divinities and
supramundane beings, of various origins, animate the walls of Buddhist
gompas.
Although
Tibetan art portrays human beings, including the historic Buddha
Shakyamuni, as well as arhats, spiritual masters, great lamas, and
founders of different religious lineages, the preponderance of its
images depict supramundane beings. In their main groups, these are:
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, female deities, protectors or tutelary gods
(yi-dam), defenders of the faith, guardians of the four cardinal
points, and minor deities and supernatural beings. To add further
complexity, the leading gods emanate in different forms and appear
in various manifestations.
They
are depicted in Tibetan art in precise and particular ways, and
so numerous are the various deities, and so complex their representations,
that the subject may appear daunting. The different manifestations
add to the potential confusion, as essentially the same deity is
depicted in multiple forms and even in apparently conflicting images.
Yet, although only a specialist can make close identifications,
the viewer can acquire a general sense of the types of beings depicted
in painting or represented in sculpture, and of their nature, role,
and significance in the grand cosmic panorama. There is an order--a
hierarchy and a system--to this seemingly wild jumble. Therefore,
before any survey of the main classifications of Tibetan deities,
a few explanations may be helpful.
As
they are meant to be understood at the highest level, the Buddhist
deities do not exist outside ourselves, but represent aspects of
innate human potential--the capacity for compassion, wisdom, mental
discipline, and other spiritual conditions and achievements. Having
no distinct, independent existence or objective reality, the deities
are only symbols of abstract qualities, with no intrinsic worth
or value in themselves; they come from one's mind and also from
the universal mind. Tibetans do not imagine that they might encounter
red or blue beings with four heads and eight arms. Although depicted
in Tibetan art as beings in human shape, they are, rather images
of spiritual states and conditions, personified.
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