Longevity

Purpose VI of nine

Years, and the use of them

Amitabha is Boundless Light; in his long-life aspect he is Amitayus, Boundless Life, and the two are one buddha under two names, seated with the vase of deathless nectar in the lap. Beside him the tradition sets White Tara, seven eyes open — in the palms, in the soles, and one in the forehead — so that nothing passes unseen.

**White Tara, seven eyes open — in the palms, in the soles, and one in the forehead.** *White Tara · 41 × 56 cm · Mineral pigment and 24k gold*

Two names, one buddha

Amitabha is Boundless Light. In his long-life aspect he is Amitayus, Boundless Life, and the two are one buddha under two names — the same red figure, seated, but holding a vase of deathless nectar in the lap instead of a begging bowl. If you are looking at two paintings and cannot tell them apart, the vase is the thing to look for.

The seven eyes

Beside him the tradition sets White Tara, painted with seven eyes: two in the face, one in the forehead, one in each palm, one in each sole. The count is fixed, and it is the fastest way to identify her. What it is understood to carry is that nothing passes unseen — neither the obvious difficulty nor the one underfoot.

Three from this purpose

白度母 · JPTK-052 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

阿弥陀佛 · SP-022 Gau Box Catalogue preview

Catalogue item · XTK-003 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

View the collection

The occasion is a number

The customary gift is at a sixtieth birthday and at every decade after it, and it is given again once a serious illness has passed. It is the most literally occasional of the nine: the custom is attached to a date rather than to a circumstance. A Regong painting takes weeks to make, so a date is worth naming early.

The customary gift at a sixtieth birthday and at every decade after; also given once a serious illness has passed.

The figures · 2 figures

Amitabha阿弥陀佛

Amitabha, the buddha of infinite light

His body is red. He wears monastic robes, sits cross-legged on a lotus throne, and holds both hands in his lap in the gesture of meditation, often supporting a begging bowl. He heads the lotus family, and his throne is sometimes shown carried by peacocks.

He is associated with Sukhavati, the pure land of the west, and in the tradition he is invoked in aspiration for rebirth there. He is customarily recited for the dying and for the dead.

See Amitabha pieces

White Tara白度母

White Tara, the female buddha of long life

She is white, seated in full vajra posture on a lotus and moon disc. Her right hand rests over the right knee in the gesture of giving. Her left hand is at the heart, holding the stem of a white utpala lotus that flowers beside her ear. She has seven eyes — one in each palm, one in each sole, and a third in the forehead.

She is traditionally associated with long life and with healing, and her image is customarily given to an elderly relative, to someone recovering from illness, or on a significant birthday.

See White Tara pieces

In the collection