Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
Tibet / China: 'The Fifth Dalai Lama's Descent from the Pure Lands' (18th century). Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682), was a political and religious leader in seventeenth-century Tibet. Ngawang Lozang Gyatso was the ordination name he had received from Panchen Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen who was responsible for his ordination.<br/><br/> He was the first Dalai Lama to wield effective political power over central Tibet, and is frequently referred to as the 'Great Fifth Dalai Lama'.
In East Asian mythology, Yama is a <i>dharmapala</i> (wrathful god) and King of Hell. It is his duty to judge the dead and rule over the various hells and purgatories, presiding over the cycle of <i>samsara</i> (cyclic, circuitous change). Yama has spread from being a Hindu god to finding roles in Buddhism as well as in Chinese, Korean and Japanese mythology.<br/><br/> Yama's role in Theravada Buddhism is vague and not well defined, though he is still a caretaker of hell and the dead. He judges those who die to determine if they are to be reborn to earth, to the heavens or to the hells. Sometimes there are more than one Yama, each presiding over one of the distinct hells. In Tibetan Buddhism, Yama is seen as a guardian of spiritual practice, and regarded with horror for his role in the cycle of death and rebirth.<br/><br/> In Chinese mythology, and similar stories in Korea and Japan, he is primarily known as either Yanluo or King Yan, and is the god of death and overseer of the Ten Kings of Hell. He is portrayed as a large man with bulging eyes, a long beard and a scowling red face. He is both ruler and judge of the underworld, and is always found alongside his two guardians, Ox-Head and Horse-Face. Those spirits who do good are rewarded, while those who have sinned are punished and tortured.
Guan Yu (-220 CE), style name Yunchang, was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor.<br/><br/> As one of the best known Chinese historical figures throughout East Asia, Guan's true life stories have largely given way to fictionalised ones, most of which are found in the historical novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' or passed down the generations, in which his deeds and moral qualities have been lionised. Guan is respected as an epitome of loyalty and righteousness.<br/><br/> Guan was deified as early as the Sui Dynasty and is still worshipped by many Chinese people today, especially in southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and among many overseas Chinese communities. He is a figure in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to Guan are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants.
Jarāmaraṇa is Sanskrit and Pāli for 'old age' (jarā) and 'death' (maraṇa). In Buddhism, jaramarana refers to the inevitable end-of-life suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth in the cycle of saṃsāra.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
The Putuo Zongcheng Temple is a Qing Dynasty era Buddhist temple complex built between 1767 and 1771, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796). The temple was modeled after the Potala Palace of Tibet, the old sanctuary of the Dalai Lama built a century earlier.<br/><br/> In 1703, Chengde was chosen by the Kangxi Emperor as the location for his summer residence. Constructed throughout the eighteenth century, the Mountain Resort was used by both the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. The site is currently an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since the seat of government followed the emperor, Chengde was a political center of the Chinese empire during these times.<br/><br/> Chengde, formerly known as Jehol, reached its height under the Qianlong Emperor 1735-1796 (died 1799). The great monastery temple of the Potala, loosely based on the famous Potala in Lhasa, was completed after just four years of work in 1771. It was heavily decorated with gold and the emperor worshipped in the Golden Pavilion. In the temple itself was a bronze-gilt statue of Tsongkhapa, the Reformer of the Gelugpa sect.
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the other three being the Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug.<br/><br/> 'Nyingma' literally means 'ancient', and is often referred to as the 'school of the ancient translations' or the 'old school' because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century.<br/><br/> The Tibetan script and grammar was actually created for this endeavour. In modern times the Nyingma lineage has been centered in Kham in eastern Tibet.
Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर lit. 'Lord who looks down') is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism.<br/><br/> The original name for this bodhisattva was Avalokitasvara. The Chinese name for Avalokitasvara is Guānshìyīn Púsà (觀世音菩薩), which is a translation of the earlier name 'Avalokitasvara Bodhisattva'. This bodhisattva is variably depicted as male or female, and may also be referred to simply as Guānyīn in certain contexts.<br/><br/> In Sanskrit, Avalokitesvara is also referred to as Padmapāni ('Holder of the Lotus') or Lokeśvara ('Lord of the World'). In Tibetan, Avalokiteśvara is known as Chenrezig, སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་ (Wylie: Spyan ras gzigs) and is said to be incarnated in the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa and other high lamas.<br/><br/> Mahāyāna Buddhism relates Avalokiteśvara to the six-syllable mantra: 'oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ'. Due to his association with this mantra, in Tibetan Buddhism Avalokiteśvara is also called Shadakshari, which means 'Lord of the Six Syllables'. Recitation of this mantra along with prayer beads, is the most popular religious practice in Tibetan Buddhism.
Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā) or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma (Tibetan: Rje btsun sgrol ma) in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in the Mahayana tradition who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the 'mother of liberation', and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. In Japan she is known as Tarani Bosatsu, and less well known as Tuoluo in Chinese Buddhism.<br/><br/> Tara is a tantric meditation deity whose practice is used by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist virtues.
In the practice of the Guhyasamāja Tantra, the central deity of the Guhyasamāja is blue-black Akshobhyavajra, a form of Akshobhya, one of the five transcendent lords (pañcatathāgata).<br/><br/> Akshobhyavajra holds a vajra and bell (ghanta) in his first two hands, and other hands hold the symbols of the four other transcendent lords: wheel of Vairocana and lotus of Amitabha in his right hands, and gem of Ratnasambhava and sword of Amoghasiddhi in his left hands.<br/><br/> The maṇḍala consists of thirty-two deities in all.
The Putuo Zongcheng Temple is a Qing Dynasty era Buddhist temple complex built between 1767 and 1771, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796). The temple was modeled after the Potala Palace of Tibet, the old sanctuary of the Dalai Lama built a century earlier.<br/><br/> In 1703, Chengde was chosen by the Kangxi Emperor as the location for his summer residence. Constructed throughout the eighteenth century, the Mountain Resort was used by both the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. The site is currently an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since the seat of government followed the emperor, Chengde was a political center of the Chinese empire during these times.<br/><br/> Chengde, formerly known as Jehol, reached its height under the Qianlong Emperor 1735-1796 (died 1799). The great monastery temple of the Potala, loosely based on the famous Potala in Lhasa, was completed after just four years of work in 1771. It was heavily decorated with gold and the emperor worshipped in the Golden Pavilion. In the temple itself was a bronze-gilt statue of Tsongkhapa, the Reformer of the Gelugpa sect.