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TIBETAN
ART Page 7
Female
Divinities
The first Vedic gods, such as Indra and Agni, were mostly masculine,
but with the ascendance of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva as the Hindu
focal deities, feminine divinities arrived and were identified as
consorts of the great Hindu triad. These are, respectively, Saraswati,
the goddess of knowledge, arts and sciences; Lakshmi, the goddess
of beauty and wealth; and, as mate of Shiva, god of yogins, Parvati,
whose ferocious forms are Durga and Kali, goddess of death.
The earliest divinities of Mahayana Buddhism were, similarly, male,
until it began to absorb the influence of yoga and tantrism, as
early as the fourth century C.E.
Tara (Dolma in Tibetan), is the first female divinity to appear
in Mahayana Buddhism. She is a Bodhisattva, the feminine counterpart
of Avalokiteshvara, and like him she is ever-caring, the symbol
of compassion, and the source of a cult in her own right. And, like
Avalokitshvara, she is the most popular, best loved, and most highly
revered of any of the Mahayana or later Vajrayana goddesses. Although
she is paired with Avalokiteshvara, they appear as the male and
female sides of the principle of compassion, as spiritual mates
(thus celibate consorts), rather than as divinity and shakti. According
to one well-known legend, a tear from the eye of Avalokiteshvara
formed a lake, out of which rose a lotus flower. As the petals opened,
the goddess Tara appeared.
Her
name signifies her as savior, deliverer. In seeking to trace the
origins of South Asian divinities and the sources of religious rituals,
scholars have noted resemblances to Persian (Zoroastrian) sources;
on the other hand, any correlation with Christianity seems no more
than coincidental and superficial. Yet, regarding Tara, more than
with any other Mahayanist deity, a correlation with the cult of
Mary, the mother of god, is plausible.
Songtsen Gampo, a seventh-century Tibetan king, married two princesses,
one Newari (from "Nepal") and the other Chinese, and according
to legend, these princesses persuaded the king to introduce Buddhism
into Tibet. Tibet's most sacred image, a statue of the Buddha, is
said to have been brought to the country by the Chinese princess;
it is kept in Tibet's most sacred temple, the Jokhang, in Lhasa.
The two wives subsequently became identified as incarnations of
the goddess Tara, who it is believed appeared through them in her
two main forms: as the white Tara in the Chinese princess; and as
the green Tara in the Newari one.
The white Tara is the image of purity and the symbol of transcendent
wisdom. Her emblem is the white lotus, its petals open. The green
Tara, sometimes considered the original form of Tara, represents
divine energy. Her emblem is the blue lotus, its petals closed.
The goddesses appear in the dress and ornaments of a Bodhisattva.
The Taras may be depicted alone, or with their partner, and they
also appear in tantric, wrathful manifestations. In those forms
their colors are yellow, blue and red. These, with Tara's green
and white peaceful forms, are the colors of the five Dhyani-Buddhas,
of whom these five Taras are sometimes considered the shaktis. These
are also the Tibetan national colors.
The
goddess Prajnaparamita bears the name of one of the most important
of all Buddhist treatises -- the Prajnaparamita -- the book of supreme,
perfect wisdom, which she personifies. In the Mahayana tradition,
logos, wisdom, is feminine.
Saraswati, although originally a Hindu deity (consort of Brahma,
she is goddess of learning, music and poetry), became absorbed into
the Mahayana pantheon as a consort of the great Bodhisattva Manjushri.
Ushnishavijaya represents a quality similar to that of Prajnaparamita
and Saraswati, being the goddess of high intelligence. Besides these,
there are great numbers of other goddesses.
Female deities figure prominently in tantric art, and as with male
deities, there are wrathful manifestations of peaceful goddesses.
When in wrathful manifestation, they are as ferocious and grotesque
as their masculine cohorts, grimacing and glaring, with wild hair
and fangs, brandishing sharp weapons. And, of course, female beings
are required in images of yab-yum, in sexual embrace with a god.
Under the influence of Hindu terminology, the word shakti is often
applied to these consorts, but they should more properly be called
the god's prajna. The concept of the shakti derives from Shaivism,
the cult of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort. Through tantrism,
Shaivism developed a specialized cult of highly esoteric yoga, replete
with sexual symbolism that arose from actual sexual rites reserved
for its initiates, which were later transmuted into symbolic ones.
Shakti is often translated as energy, which is appropriate for Hindu
tantrism, in which the female is the active principle. But this
is reversed in Buddhism, in which the male is the active principle,
the enabler. The union depicted by yab-yum is symbolically enacted
by the two most important tantric Buddhist symbolic objects. The
vajra (thunderbolt) and the ghanta (bell), as well as certain tantric
rites and initiations, reflect these origins symbolically. (As noted
above, the vajra has been likened to a scepter, and to the lingam
of Shiva, while the lotus, in place of the bell, sometimes stands
for the feminine principle.)
As it came to be believed that devotion to a god was most efficacious
when he was in company with his consort, nearly every god, including
the Dhyani-Buddhas, was given a female partner, with whom he is
depicted in yab-yum attitude.
Among other feminine tantric figures of lesser rank are the dakini.
These frequently appear in Tibetan art, sometimes shown standing,
but more often dancing or even flying (perhaps for this reason they
have been called sky or cloud fairies and even sky walkers), and
may be depicted with animal heads. They are sometimes shown in a
group or circle.
Protectors
or Tutelary gods (Yi-dam)
Believers put themselves under the protection of a yi-dam, a protector,
guardian deity, or tutelary god, who becomes one's particular, personal
divinity. This is done through a special initiation, under the officiation
of a lama. Thereafter, the identity of one's yi-dam is secret. Yi-dam
manifest as both peaceful and wrathful forms, and are often represented
in yab-yum with their female consort, as, for example, the five
Dhyani-Buddhas. Among the best known of the wrathful yi-dam are
Hevajra and Kalachakra (Wheel of Time). The wrathful forms have
multiple heads and limbs, wear a crown decorated with five skulls,
and hold tantric symbols. Their dance, depicted on gompa walls and
on thangkas, celebrates triumph over obstructions and the joy of
liberation from the bonds of ego.
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