Item: Book Cover

Book Cover: adorned with the images of the Goddess Prajnaparamita and the Five Transcendent Buddhas.

At the left is the personification of the Prajnaparamita Sutra, she has one face and four hands, the first right performing the gesture of protection at the heart, the left in the gesture of meditation is placed on the lap. The second right is upraised holding a vajra sceptre and the left a folio book - the Prajnaparamita Sutra.

At the right are the Five Transcendent Buddhas of the Tantric system of Vajrayana Buddhism. The first is the Buddha Akshobhya with the right hand in the gesture of Earth-witness and the left held up to the heart. The next figure is the Buddha Ratnasambhava with the right hand in the gesture of generosity followed by the Buddha Vairochana with the two hands at the heart, followed by the Buddha Amitabha with the two hands folded in the gesture of meditation in the lap and finally the Buddha Amoghasiddhi with the right hand at the heart and the left in the lap.

Jeff Watt 3-2002