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Lot 98
MANDALA OF VAJRASATTVA
Estimated Value:
600 € - 1.000 €
Schätzpreis:
2.200 €
Description:
Tibet, 17th c.47x40,5/74,5x40,5 cm
Tempera on cotton fabric. Vajrasattva is worshipped as the mystical Buddha of initiations in the mandalas, and invoked for the purification of negative karma and transgressions through body, speech and mind. Vajrasattva holds the diamond sceptre in his right hand and the bell in his left. The vajra symbolises the diamond essence of the Buddha's teaching, symbolising the method by which the seeker seeks to attain inner self-realisation in the realisation of emptiness. The bell with its all-pervading sound symbolises wisdom - the goal. The number five of his crown leaves points to the wisdom of the Five Wisdom Buddhas (Tathagatas). He holds his legs crosswise over each other in the diamond seat, the soles of his feet pointing upwards. According to the Trikaya teachings, Vajrasattva is depicted in the ornamental body of the Sambhogakaya. The trikaya teaching of the three bodies includes the three levels of consciousness on which the Buddha nature is experienced according to the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. These levels of consciousness correspond to the aspects of the Buddha manifesting in the three different bodies. The first is the Dharma body (Skr. Dharmakaya). It is the non-representable body of Buddha nature in its wholeness and universality in the realm of formlessness. Only in this body does the Buddha realise his true nature. The other two body forms are relative projections of this Buddha-nature onto the respective level of consciousness. They are called the ornamental body or body of enjoyment (Skr. Sambhogakaya) and the appearance body (Skr. Nirmanakaya). In the body of enjoyment, the Buddha-nature manifests itself in an idealised form with the thirty-two bodily characteristics of the world ruler, spirit-begotten and not subject to the natural laws of procreation, birth and death. This body is also the plane on which all deities of any rank are projected and figuratively experienced. Vajrasattva sits on a moon-sun lotus. The solar disc - indicated by a golden disc - and the white lunar disc lie above the fruit-bottom of the lotus flower, forming the common throne-seat. Moon and sun are opposing symbols, on the one hand of the world of appearance (samsara), the "relative truth" (moon) - and on the other hand of the "absolute truth" (sun) - symbolising emptiness (nirvana), the Buddha connects both opposites through his sun-moon lotus. However: "Appearing and empty, both are not different". The iconographic colour white means the sum of all colours, so the wisdoms of the other four Thathagatas are also contained in Vajrasattva. The twelve other representations that appear in his mandala palace are partial aspects of his wisdom and work. The representations outside the cosmic mandala are deities and teachers involved in the spiritual transmission of the teaching content of this mandala, inspiring and guiding the initiate or meditator. Fabric mount.
From the collection of Helmut Haselbauer, employee of Ludwig Bretschneider (1909 - 1987), acquired before 1987 - Traces of age, wear
