Page 100 - Bonhams Presencer Buddhist Art Collection Oct. 2 2018

YIDAM

本尊

Commonly translated as a ‘meditational deity’, a yidam is 本尊通常被翻譯為「禪修對象」，是有助於密宗修行者冥想的
an enlightened being who can be the focus of a tantrika’s 覺悟者 。密宗修行中包括眾多秘密複雜的宗教儀禮，人們認
practice. Such practice involves complex, secret, and potent 為這些密教儀式有助於提升法力進而加速覺悟。此次弗雷森勒
rituals. These Vajrayana rituals are believed to result in spiritual 收藏將呈現許多本尊造像以及密宗儀式中所用到的各類法器。
attainments, accelerating enlightenment and also grant
extraordinary powers. Yidams and implements associated 起源於八世紀的喜金剛是金剛乘佛教中重要的本尊之一。弗雷
with their rituals are well represented within the Presencer 森勒收藏中的一尊十一世紀喜金剛像來自東北印度的帕拉王
Collection. 朝。此時此地的佛學院正積極發展本尊的密法修行，吸引了來
自亞洲各的朝聖者。各大本尊也正是此時由印度引入西藏 。
With origins in the 8th century, Hevajra is one of the principal
yidams of Vajrayana Buddhism. An 11th-century example of 本尊教法向來玄奧，其有意以難懂的語言與謹慎的傳承來維持
Hevajra in the Presencer Collection survives from the Pala 其神祕性。如不慎傳授給用意不善之人，後果則不堪設想。
kingdom of Northeastern India, a time and place where 以弗雷森勒收藏的這件極為特別的四面大黑天為例，薩迦派
monastic universities are actively developing the tantric 高僧認為其法力無邊、不宜外傳，因此將其掩飾為婆羅門相
practices of the yidam. These centers for learning attracted 大黑天。
pilgrims throughout Asia, including Tibetan pilgrims who 勝樂金剛本尊在所有藏傳佛教的流派中均享有崇高地位。 在
brought the practices of various yidam to Tibet.
他眾多不同的化現中，最為聞名的是其十二臂擁抱明妃的形
Yidam teachings are intentionally esoteric, having obscured 象。以弗雷森勒收藏的兩例可見，其雙身像中蘊含著佛法中至
language meant to guard them from the uninitiated. Their 高無上的兩功德之結合 － 智慧（女身）與慈悲（男身）。
content is believed to be disastrous in the wrong hands.
For instance, the Presencer Collection’s very rare Mahakala
Chaturmukha is deemed so powerful by the Tibetan Sakya
tradition that hierarchs disguised him from the uninitiated by
creating the figure of Brahmarupa Mahakala.
Greatly revered in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism is the
yidam Chakrasamvara. He can take a number of forms, but
by far the most popular is a twelve-armed form engaged in
erotic union with his consort. Seen in two instances in the
collection, Chakrasamvara’s visual form draws on gendered
symbolism to convey his essence, which is the transcendent
union of Buddhism’s two highest virtues, Wisdom (female) and
Compassion (male).

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