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. 345)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1800 - 1899
Lineages Nyingma and Buddhist
Size 82.55x52.07cm (32.50x20.50in)
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Rubin Museum of Art
Catalogue # acc.# F1997.26.1
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 Immesurable Life) Lord of Limitless Life and Pristine Awareness, in Sambogakaya aspect (Enjoyment Body) of a Buddha.

Amitayus Tibetan: Tse pag me

"Bhagavan Lord of Limitless Life and Primordial Wisdom with a body red in colour, one face, two hands and with two long eyes glancing with compassion on beings, gazing on the entirety of migrators; and a smiling face, wearing the complete sambhogakaya vestments. Above the two hands held in meditation is a long-life vase filled with the nectar of immortality; with the hair in tufts, adorned with silks and jewels, seated in vajra posture, the body blazing with the shining light of the [32] marks and [80] examples." (Sakya Trizin Kunga Tashi, 1656-1711).

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.

Jeff Watt 9-98

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Buddhist Deity: Long-Life Deities
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Painting Gallery 2
Buddhist Deity: Amitayus Buddha (Aparimitāyurjñāna, 无量寿佛, སངས་རྒྱས་ཚེ་དཔག་མེད།)
Subject: Pilgrimage Souvenir Paintings (Newar Merchants)