Item: Maitreya (Bodhisattva & Buddhist Deity)

Maitreya (Tibetan: cham pa. English: love), depicted in Buddha appearance, one of the eight principal bodhisattvas students of Shakyamuni Buddha and also believed to be the future Buddha of the next age after the time of Shakyamuni Buddha.

At the right and left sides of the central Maitreya are two standing bodhisattva figures, green and blue in colour. At the top center is an unidentified Karmapa Lama figure wearing the black hat unique to the Karmapa incarnation tradition.

At the bottom left is Yellow Jambhala and on the right side is Black Jambhala. There are many different iconographic forms of Jambhala with these two being the most common depictions.

The remaining figures in the composition are all in Buddha appearance. At the top are four Buddha figures and below the central Maitreya are three Buddha figures. These seven Buddhas belong to the group known as the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas from the Mahayana Buddhist Confession Sutra according to the Ludrub (Nagarjuna) iconographic system. This composition likely belongs to a five painting set.

Jeff Watt 10-2002

Wisdom Calendar 2002 - April (full catalog list)