Page 31 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

aspect or manifestation of the same central deity. The tree in the sky (or sometimes seated around the main
lesser figures were arranged in vertical and horizontal figure in a circle) was depicted the line of teachers
columns and usually were painted only in outline. through whom the lineage had been transmitted to one's
The number of these smaller figures was often between immediate teacher. In the sky below the main branches
one and two hundred and their size would be anywhere of the tree there dwelled a host of protectors and
from half to one fifth of the size of the main deity. guardians.
Such thangkas did not contain a background landscape Assembly Fields
but were usually painted with either a red or black
background and with the smaller figures painted in gold Thangkas or murals called "assembly fields" also served
outline. Occasionally the background was painted in as a help for the meditator in some traditions to visualize
gold and the figures in this case would be outlined in the totality of his lineage. Here again a great many
red. The main figure was usually painted in full colour, figures were pictured, but not with the same spatial
although sometimes this would also be an outline paint- orientation as in the refuge tree. The assembly field was
ing with only certain parts of the deity rendered in a group of exalted beings who were worshipped and
colour. Such compositions were commissioned because to whom offerings were made. The group constituted a
there was felt to be greater merit in numbers; by multi- special "field" (zhing) in relation to which the meditator
plying the number of figures the patron also multiplied could greatly increase his "assembly" (tshogs) of merit.
the force of his merit or the force of the deity to The Dge-tugs-pa tradition produced most of the thangkas
counteract a threatening obstacle or problem. of this type, including those of the Graduated Path
(lam rim) and Guru Worship (bla rna mchod pa)
practices. 4 .
Compositions That Depict Lineages Assembly-field paintings contained a characteristic
Another type of group composition that involved placement of their figures. The main, central figure
a main figure with a retinue portrayed the complete occupied the central pinnacle of a lotus seat, and he was
transmission lineage of a particular religious teaching. surrounded by descending concentric rows of exalted
Nowadays the two most common varieties are the so- beings. Each row or group of rows below the main
called "refuge trees" and the "assembly fields" (tshogs figure consisted of figures belonging to one of eight
zhing). For the religious practitioner these paintings classes of beings. In their descending order these were:
embodied the whole lineage through which the tradition 1. Gurus
descended, from its ultimate origin down to the
2. Yi-dams
practitioner's own teacher. Such paintings could be 3. Buddhas
used by a meditator in the tradition as a support for his 4. Bodhisattvas
or her visualizations. 5. Pratyekabuddhas
Refuge Trees 6. Sravakas/Sthaviras
7. pakas
The "refuge tree" depicts the objects or beings in which
8. Dharmapalas
the practitioner takes refuge (skyabs su gro ba'i yul);
that is to say it represents the beings and things in which In the sky above the main figure there were three
the Buddhist places his trust as preparation for and as an separate assemblies of teachers. The teaching lineage
actual part of religious practice. 3 The common of the tantric empowerments and practices constituted
"refuges" of Buddhism are the Three Jewels: the the central group. On the main figure's right there was
Buddha, Dharma and Sanga. In Vajrayana Buddhism the "Lineage of the Vast Conduct" (rgya chen spyod
bestowers of refuge also include the gurus (both one's brgyud), the lineage of the Yogacara Mahayana descend-
immediate teacher and the earlier teachers of the ing from Maitreyanatha and Asanga. On the other side
lineage), yi-dam deities, <;Jakas and <;Jakilfls, and the was the "Lineage of the Profound View" (zab mo ita
protectors of the Dharma. brgyud), the Madhyamaka tradition coming down
Usually the givers of refuge were envisioned as through Manjusrl and Nagarjuna.
dwelling in a great "wish-fulfilling tree" (dpag bsam gyi At the. bottom of the composition, beneath the
shing). In the center was one's teacher in the form of the great lotus seat, there existed lesser deities who were not
main figure, whose identity depended on the particular refuges, such as the four great guardian kings, the great
tradition being practiced. Then on branches of the tree, worldly gods Brahma and Indra, and a number of
which radiated out to the four cardinal points, were goddesses making offerings. Finally, to indicate the
seated four of the other "refuges". In practices 'stem- relationship of a practitioner to this vast assembly, a
ming from new-translation-era Tantras one might find monk was often depicted in a lower corner making a
yi-dam deifies on the front branch, Buddhas on the symbolical offering of the universe and its contents in
branch to the main figure's right (i.e. to the left with the form of a malf<;Jala.
relation to the viewer), the Dharma in the form ?f a
stack of sacred scriptures to the rear, and the Arya
Sangha in the form of a group of monks and bodhi-
sattvas on the branch to the main figure's left. Above the

ESTABLISHED GROUPINGS 27