Item: Padmasambhava - Pure Land (Copper Coloured Mountain)

Padmasambhava (Tibetan: pe ma jung ne, gu ru rin po che, English: the Precious Teacher, the One Arisen from a Lotus): seated in the three-storied palace on the Copper-coloured mountain on the Daemon Island in the western ocean.

Mature in appearance, he extends the right hand forward across the knee grasping a vajra scepter. The left hand placed in the lap supports a white skullcup and long-life vase. A tantric katvanga staff rests against the left shoulder. Wearing multi-coloured robes representing all three disciplines the head also is adorned with the lotus crown. The two consorts sit at the sides and the various manifestations of Guru Rinpoche sit in front. The middle floor of the palace hosts Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani. Buddha Amitabha occupies the top floor. A sphere of rainbow light and a host of goddesses hover in the sky above.

To the right and left of the palace wisdom protectors and worldly deities rest on billowing banks of clouds. The four doors of the palace are guarded by the Four Guardian Kings. Hermits and yogis occupy caves on the mountainside while daemons and mendicants fill the foreground. Numerous inscriptions written in fine gold Tibetan lettering explain the various narrative scenes.

Jeff Watt 4-2000