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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'.
Utagawa Hirokage (active 1855-1865), also known as Ichiyusai Hirokage, was a Japanese woodblock printer living and working in the mid-19th century. He was a pupil of Utagawa Hiroshige I, and his main noteworthy work is the series <i>Edo meisho doke zukushi</i> (Joyful Events in Famous Places in Edo).
The Tankas (pinyin: Danjia) or boat people are an ethnic subgroup in Southern China who have traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, and Zhejiang provinces, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Historically, the Tankas were considered to be outcasts. Since they were boat people who lived by the sea, they were sometimes referred to as 'sea gypsies' by the Chinese and British.<br/><br/> The Tanka also formed a class of prostitutes in Canton operating the boats in Canton's Pearl River which functioned as brothels, they did not practice foot binding and their dialect was unique. They were forbidden to marry Chinese or live on land. Their ancestors were the natives of Southern China before the Chinese expelled them to their current home on the water.
The Tankas (pinyin: Danjia) or boat people are an ethnic subgroup in Southern China who have traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, and Zhejiang provinces, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Historically, the Tankas were considered to be outcasts. Since they were boat people who lived by the sea, they were sometimes referred to as 'sea gypsies' by the Chinese and British.<br/><br/> The Tanka also formed a class of prostitutes in Canton operating the boats in Canton's Pearl River which functioned as brothels, they did not practice foot binding and their dialect was unique. They were forbidden to marry Chinese or live on land. Their ancestors were the natives of Southern China before the Chinese expelled them to their current home on the water.
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.
Bon or Bon Po (Bonpo) is a sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It developed in the eleventh century onward and established its scriptures mainly from <i>terma</i> (hidden treasures) and visions by tertons (discoverers of ancient texts) such as Loden Nyingpo.
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.
Mandarava is, along with Yeshe Tsogyal, one of the two principal consorts of Padmasambhava and is considered a female guru-deity in Buddhism. Mandarava, born a princess in Mandi, Himachel Pradesh, India in the 8th Century CE, renounced her royal birthright in order to practice the Dharma, and became a fully realized spiritual adept and great teacher.
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.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Dorje Pakmo (pronounced 'Dorje Phakmo'; Sanskrit: Vajravārāhī, a form of Vajrayogini; Wylie Tibetan script transliteration: Rdo-rje phag-mo; English: 'The Diamond Sow'), also known as Sera Kandro, is believed to be the reincarnation of the consort of the wrathful deity Demchok (Heruka).<br/><br/> She is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third-highest ranking person in the Lamaist hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China.<br/><br/> Her seat, Samding (literally, 'the temple of soaring meditation') was in many ways unique in that about half of the inhabitants were monks and the other half were nuns, while the head of the monastery with all its branches was (and still is) a woman. It is a Geluk Ani gompa (or nunnery) - which also housed some monks - and is built on a hill on a peninsula jutting into the sacred lake, Yamdrok Tso.
Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from ancient India who founded Buddhism. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (P. sammāsambuddha, S. samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age, 'Buddha' meaning 'awakened one' or 'enlightened one'.<br/><br/> The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE. By tradition, Gautama is said to have been born in the small state of Kapilavastu, in what is now Nepal, and later to have taught primarily throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.<br/><br/> Gautama, also known as Śākyamuni ('Sage of the Śākyas'), is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.<br/><br/> He is also regarded as a god or prophet in other world religions or denominations, including Hinduism, Ahmadiyya Islam, and the Bahá'í faith.
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 Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, Chinese: 胜乐金刚 shènglè jīngāng; Tibetan: Korlo Demchog Gyud (Tibetan: འཁོར་ལོ་སྡོམ་པ / བདེ་མཆོག; Wylie: Khor lo sdom pa / bde mchog gi rgyud) is considered to be of the mother class of the Anuttara Yoga Tantra in the Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist tradition.<br/><br/> The central deity of the mandala, a heruka known as Saṃvara (variants: Saṃvara & Saṃbara) or simply as Śrī Heruka, is one of the principal iṣṭha-devatā, or meditational deities of the Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism.<br/><br/> Saṃvara is typically depicted with a blue-coloured body, four faces, and twelve arms, and embracing his consort Vajravarahi (in Chinese 金刚亥母 jīngāng hàimǔ) in the yab-yum position. Other forms of the deity are also known, with varying numbers of limbs. Saṃvara and consort are not to be thought of as two different entities, as an ordinary husband and wife are two different people; in reality, their divine embrace is a metaphor for the union of great bliss and emptiness, which are one and the same essence.
Ragamala Paintings are a series of illustrative paintings from medieval India based on Ragamala or the 'Garland of Ragas', depicting various Indian musical nodes, Ragas. They stand as a classical example of the amalgamation of art, poetry and classical music in medieval India. Ragamala paintings were created in most schools of Indian painting, starting in the 16th and 17th centuries and are today named accordingly, as Pahari Ragamala, Rajasthan or Rajput Ragamala, Deccan Ragamala, and Mughal Ragamala.
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.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Dorje Pakmo (pronounced 'Dorje Phakmo'; Sanskrit: Vajravārāhī, a form of Vajrayogini; Wylie Tibetan script transliteration: Rdo-rje phag-mo; English: 'The Diamond Sow'), also known as Sera Kandro, is believed to be the reincarnation of the consort of the wrathful deity Demchok (Heruka).<br/><br/> She is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third-highest ranking person in the Lamaist hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China.<br/><br/> Her seat, Samding (literally, 'the temple of soaring meditation') was in many ways unique in that about half of the inhabitants were monks and the other half were nuns, while the head of the monastery with all its branches was (and still is) a woman. It is a Geluk Ani gompa (or nunnery) - which also housed some monks - and is built on a hill on a peninsula jutting into the sacred lake, Yamdrok Tso.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Dorje Pakmo (pronounced 'Dorje Phakmo'; Sanskrit: Vajravārāhī, a form of Vajrayogini; Wylie Tibetan script transliteration: Rdo-rje phag-mo; English: 'The Diamond Sow'), also known as Sera Kandro, is believed to be the reincarnation of the consort of the wrathful deity Demchok (Heruka).<br/><br/> She is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third-highest ranking person in the Lamaist hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China.<br/><br/> Her seat, Samding (literally, 'the temple of soaring meditation') was in many ways unique in that about half of the inhabitants were monks and the other half were nuns, while the head of the monastery with all its branches was (and still is) a woman. It is a Geluk Ani gompa (or nunnery) - which also housed some monks - and is built on a hill on a peninsula jutting into the sacred lake, Yamdrok Tso.