Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Amitayus Buddha - Amitayus

སངས་རྒྱས་ཚེ་དཔག་མེད། - སངས་རྒྱས་ཚེ་དཔག་མེད། 无量寿佛 - 无量寿佛 Immeasurable Life
(item no. 92040)
Date Range 1700 - 1799
Lineages Drukpa (Kagyu) and Buddhist
Collection U. of Michigan Museum of Anthropology
Catalogue # #17490, Koelz Collection
Notes about the Central Figure

Alternate Names: Aparimitayurjñana

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Buddha

Gender: Male

Interpretation / Description

Amitayus Buddha (Tibetan: tse pag me. English: the Enlightened One of Immeasurable Life) Lord of Limitless Life and Pristine Awareness, in the Sambhogakaya aspect (Enjoyment Body) of a Buddha.

Amitayus Tibetan: Tse pag me

Common to all traditions of Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism Amitayus primarily belongs to the three lower Tantra classifications. In the Nyingma tradition he has both Kama (Oral) and Terma (Treasure) lineages of practice.

Rechungpa, the famous student of Milarepa, recieved a special practice tradition of Buddha Amitayus from Tipu Pandita while on a trip to India. Upon his return he passed the tradition on to Milarepa. At the top register observe that Rechungpa is seated on the right of Buddha Amitabha with Milarepa on the left.

Rechungpa Amitayus Lineage

Jeff Watt 8-2005

Secondary Images
Related Items
Thematic Sets
Buddhist Deity: Long-Life Deities
Buddhist Deity: Amitayus Buddha (Aparimitāyurjñāna, 无量寿佛, སངས་རྒྱས་ཚེ་དཔག་མེད།)
Collection of University of Michigan (Koelz Collection)
Buddhist Deity: Amitayus Buddha (Rechung Tradition)
Tradition: Drugpa Kagyu Main Page