The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational ArtPublished in conjunction with a 2003 exhibition co-organized by the Columbus Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, this hefty, oversize (10x13 catalogue features approximately 160 powerful masterpieces of Indian, Nepalese, Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongolian art produced over the pa |
Contents
Directors Statement | 9 |
Lenders to the Exhibition | 15 |
Tantra in India | 23 |
Tantra in Nepal | 29 |
Tantra in Tibet | 37 |
Tantra in China | 45 |
The Chakrasamvara Tantra | 51 |
Environment of Meditative Transformation | 66 |
ChakrasamvaraVajravarahi | 236 |
Exoteric and Benefactory Forms of Chakrasamvara | 327 |
Ritual Implements | 344 |
VajravarahiVajrayogini | 373 |
Exoteric Forms of Vajravarahi | 409 |
Related Esoteric Tantras | 422 |
Namasangiti Tantra | 428 |
Mahottama Tantra | 449 |
Primordial Teachers | 80 |
Enlightenment Symbolized | 90 |
The Perfection of Wisdom | 119 |
The Great Masters and Selecting a Teacher | 133 |
Commitment to a Buddhist Life | 167 |
The Vow of a Being Destined for Enlightenment | 176 |
Meditations on Vajrasattva | 208 |
The Subtle Body of Kundalini Yoga | 230 |
Vajrabhairava Tantra | 468 |
Kalachakra Tantra | 475 |
Traditional Benefactors | 491 |
Appendices | 511 |
Glossary | 519 |
| 541 | |
| 549 | |
Common terms and phrases
Adamantine Akanishta Akshobhya Amitabha Amoghasiddhi artist attainment attributes Avalokiteshvara bliss Blue Annals Bodhisattva Brauen Buddha central century chaitya chakra Chakrasamvara Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi Chakrasamvara Mandala Chakrasamvara/Vajravarahi charnel fields Chinese color completion-stage context crown Dakini deities depicted Dharma enlightenment esoteric female aspect figure five Jina Buddhas flaying knife four gesture goddess Guhyasamaja Guru Heruka Hevajra Highest Yoga Tantras iconography identical India inner inscription jnana Kagyu Kathmandu kaya khatvanga kula Lama left hand lineage lotus Mahakala Mahasiddha mandala Manjushri meditation monastery Mount Meru mudra Naropa Nepal Newar Buddhist nondual offering painting practice practitioner prajna Prajnaparamita puja purified Ratnasambhava Realm represents right hand ritual Sakya sculpture Shakyamuni shrine skull skullcup stupa subtle body Svayambhu symbolizes Tantric Buddhism Tara teacher teachings Tibet Tibetan Buddhism tion tradition transformation Vairochana vajra Vajracharya Vajrapani Vajrasattva Vajravali Vajravarahi Vajrayogini Vasundhara visualization wisdom wrathful yellow yogic yogin