Visual Meditation Instructions - Updated
Basic Buddhist Meditation Instructions for Calm Abiding have very cleverly been created as a visual narrative. The idea of relating the mind to an unruly elephant along with the monkey and other elements in the visual example of Calm Abiding meditation originates in the writings of Asanga and then later in the meditation commentaries of Je Tsongkapa. It is thought that the artistic depiction of the practice is relatively late and possibly first arose in the 19th century as a wall mural. The image above is of a poster published in India in the early 1970s. An original Tibetan version of the painting has not yet been located. Images of a Bhutanese mural from Thimpu Tango Shedra have been added.