PRINCIPLES OF TIBETAN ART Illustrations and explanations of Buddhist Iconography and iconometry according to the Karma Gardri School by GEGA LAMA master painter of the Karma Gardrl School VOLUME I DARJEELING, W. B. INDIA 1983 RABSEL DAWA ~~rci~~-~~-~~~~~~~·~~"?f~~~"~~~~~~~" ~~~~~~~~\ ~(f;~~·~·~·~~·~ll1~·~·~~~~· ~.:lr~~~lll~"~~~~~.q~<\~~~~~~·~q~~·~,9~~·· C' C\ "" ~- ...... - ' <='\ C\ C'\ ~ q~·q~~·q~~'@·~~l)o;~~~·~~·~~·~~·~~·~~~~~·~o., ~~~1~{0{(1!\~~~-~~~~~·~~···. FOREWORD Thie 1• a book on the bodily proportion• ot aacred figuree, one of the branohee or the ..nual arte, a dlvlelon of the traditional teohnloal eoiencee vhich for. one of the five aain flelde o! knovledse. Tbeee 1lluetrat1one are the vork of the Llnghan& artht Gep Laaa and the7 are authoritative, having a• their ultiaate eourcee the Sutrae, Tantrae and Practical lnetructione. Thie !iret publication or theee dravins• 1• an aot of eervioe to the Buddhiet Doctrine, and lt 1• certainly truwtvort~. Therefore I have vr1tten th1e forevord, in order thftt othere aay energetically etudy and thue carry on the tradition or artietlc practice 1n an undeteriorated etate, and eo that they may have confidence in thie book. With pr yere ror the lncreeee of excellent merit, TABLE OF OOl'fTEMTS preface Introduction Dedication Chapter One 1 'l'be or1dna of the COrapbic &rh of lluddhia Chapter ho ·I !.he oQ~tiea of Artist u4 patron Chapter Three 1 'l'h"e cberaoterieUca DeterainiDC the Quality of Jaac•• Chapter Four 1 'l'ha proportione of Jleoeptaolea of ron - Iaagea Chapter rtn 1 The Proportion• of Receptacles of Speech - call18J'apb;J Chapter Six 1 The Proportiona of Recaptaclee of Mind - stipu Chapter S8'1'8D 1 'fhe •leaeDb of Coapoaition- Gar~~enb, Bata, Geeturea, IapleHnta Appendb I soae contro•ereial roi.nta 1.n Paintiq Various Dra•inc• COlophon Ji __], li j~ .ri Jl.' ~ .J4 jl! j _.J't .rl JiJ 'j A • :( •I ~ lJ 11!{ £? 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' ..Jt , ~a \LI 4 --1; _j ~' ~ ~? 2.1!~ ~ .q~ ~ 1! _j.? -~ ~~ ~ ~ __,.~/ ~' ~ l!{ ___: Jl !Uil 2 .P.' li ~ ~ ~ ~ 2! l!) • 1 )4, Ji; --{ ~ ~1 ~ ~ ~ ~.? --!4' :ell. .. j. ~ ~ ~J.• _g ~ ~ ~ ~/ 2!~ 1: _ll B ~~ A .! .a 631 .! .zjJ -jf 1 ~ ~ 6(lli tJ1 ~ ~ 4='i Jl 2i -'1 &I! 1J _.....;11 1!r ~..? ~" .1! 12!! __, .D/ 11'11: ~ ~'I Ji' 3' ~1 ~' -.a ..a 2i a ~ _.J!!t~ ·~ J i -j ~t 1i _!! ~~ }1 ;;;;:...oo ~ _B~ Ut ~ ~-;-~,-~~~-,~·~·~q~"t)~·~ ~ JZI~·c.~·~~·~~r~~:•rG\,i·~~- ~·~q~:~\~~~·~'~' ~~~~~~~~,'\~·~~~·~.,('.1·~q~~­ ~~,;~·q~~~-,,.,.~,~-~~q1'1·~·~, F~qr·~1~·.,~~~·~~n.~~- ~(if-f~ll'l·i~~~~-,~1 qi,.~,.,~,-¥' --~~-~-q~q~-~~ ~E\~~~f:\r;'~\q~-q~l1 ~~-~·~q·~~~·~~· ~~~"'q~~q~~~·~· ~~~·cq,~· ~,·t~q,_~,.,~,"iif~~~, j\~1\-,~~-iif~ ,~-~·~-~-,4'q· ~,~~·y:~~-~~ ,~l:.l~'¥,l(q~·~·~·r:~·~~P.y~· iifl.::.if(j l~q~~·g)~·~-,~~~q~~~~·q· ~·q~~-;~-~~~t:~· ~c:\ :r·~;·~~·~-or~~-to.r~~~·ir;~ll'l·~·q~to.t·~,~5~·q~. ::.·q~ fF·~~·~~,Il'l~·~-,.~·~~~~, ~·~~\~~·~·~~qll'l·~-~~~·~q~~\' ,~-~~ir~~-~·-%.t:~~a-£~' ~~·~-,~·~,\~~·f·~T ~~~~~, 6 PREFACE In explaining arti~tic traditions, there are physical, verbal, and mental art forms to be conside~ed: this book is concerned with physical media, particularly the g~aphic arts. It is also concerned with traditional standards, rather than improvisation; and with the finest expr~ssf.on of those traditiond forms, not the more ordinary applications. For the1e reasons, a word on tho! sources used seems in order. The principal text used was Music to Delight a Clear Intellect (bLo.gsal.dgyes.pa'i.rol.mo)0 which synthe~1~es ideas found in the works of v~rious m~sters -- (th~ eighth Karmapa hierarch) M\~yG Dorje, th~ omniscient But&n (Rinchen nrup>, Menla D&ndrup of Mentang, the regent (of the fifth Dalai Lama,) Sanqyay Gyatso, and Trengkawa LodrG Zangpo. These m~sters elaborated on earlier sources, sutras and tantras such as the Kalacakratantra (dPal.dus.kyi.'khor.lo'i.rqyud>, the Mahasamvarodayatantraraja (dPal.sdom.par. 'byuna.ba'i.rqyud), the(?) Kelayamatantra (gSin.rje.nag.po'i.rqyud), and the ~iriputrapariprcch!sutra (Sa.ri'i.bus.zhus.pa'i.mdo). Additional sources for this book were the texts Beautiful Ornaments of th~ Arts (bZo.ria.mdses.pa'i. kha.rgyan) by LobzanQ Damch& Gy~tso, and Radiant Sun (Rab.asal.fil.ma) by Hipam Choklay Namgyal. The oral instructions of my teachers, and my own experience, influenc~ my writing of this book as well. Althouqh the actual text may differ slightly from the old manuals, I see no contradiction but only harmony with the spirit of the tradition: there is no confusion or distortion in what is presented here. Sprinqwat•r, snowmelt, mountain stre~ms -- different, yet All come fr~ th~ ocean ~nd flov ba~k to t~~ ocean: Likewise, distinct traditions of knowledge derivin9 from 1~ian an~ Tibetan m&st-.~s. Arise from the tantras a~ harmonize with the spirit of the tantrl'ls • • • • • • • • • • A word on the 5ystem of datina u~ed in this book: there are numerous different systems put forth by scholars; that adopted here for datina the buddhist er" (B.E.) from the ye!lr of t~ Buddha's oarinirv~na follows the widely-accepted method of the Theravad~ school of ~rt Lanka. This agrees with the system expounded by the great scholar of Kashmir (Kha.che.pa!}.chen ~AJcydr!), and is the same view as that expressed by the former hierarch of the Kaqyu school, the fourteenth Karmapa (The~.mchog.rdo.rje, 1798-1868). For example, in the calendar currently in use among Tibetans, the lenqth of time from th~ year of the Teacher's ~ss1na until the en~ of the or~sent And sixt~th actual cycle of sixty y~ars would comprise a total of forty-two such cycles, hypoth~ttcally, with a su~plus of ten yeArs. Supposin~ th~ first of these cycles had begun with the fire hare year eleven years after the Teacher's o"sslnq (acc01mt1no for-the ten-year surplus), the iron blrd year of the nlnth cycle would correspond to the year of the passinq of Jesus Christ; the. fire ox year of the twentieth cycle, to the birth of Sanqtsen Gampo, the thirty-third lclng of thO! Tlbo!t:an royal dynast~~ and the fire hare year of the twenty-seventh cycle, to t~ start of the first sixty-year cycle 1n the calendar ~lly 1n use nowadays. Noble character lies in the 11\UIIIinatlon of the depths of one's experience; S1c1lfu1 transmission, 1n the continuing leqacy of pr"ecise intelligence: With none of these qualities, I am an insignificant PE"oduct of flf'/ times, Merely a follower in another's footsteps. 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