Purification

Purpose VIII of nine

Cleansing and renewal

Vajrasattva is white, the vajra held at the heart and the bell at the hip, and his is the practice done to clear what has accumulated. The vajra itself gives the whole class its name — indestructible, unsplittable, the one thing in the iconography that cannot be worn down.

**A mandala: a cleared ground, painted from the centre outward.** *Mani Mandala · 34 × 46 cm · Mineral pigment and 24k gold*

The one thing that cannot be worn down

Vajra means both thunderbolt and diamond, and it is the second sense the tradition leans on: indestructible, unsplittable, the one object in this iconography that nothing acts upon. Vajrasattva holds it at the heart, with the bell at the hip. The pairing of the two — method and wisdom, held together and never separately — is among the oldest arrangements in the whole visual system.

What is being cleared

The practice associated with this figure is a clearing of what has accumulated: not guilt in the confessional sense, but residue, the ordinary sediment of having lived a while. It is done with a hundred-syllable mantra, and it is counted — a hundred thousand repetitions is the classical figure. Nobody expects a painting to do this work. The painting is what the work is done in front of.

Three from this purpose

金刚杵 · SP-071 Bracelet Catalogue preview

六字大明咒曼陀罗 · TK-003 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

八吉祥曼陀罗 · TK-006 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

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The time of year

Losar, the Tibetan new year, is the customary moment, and so is a move into a new house and the start of a retreat. The mandalas in this purpose belong here for the same reason: a mandala is a diagram of a cleared and ordered ground, and it is painted from the centre outward, in that order, every time.

For the new year, for a move into a new house, and for the beginning of a retreat.

The figures · 4 figures

Vajra金刚杵

The vajra, emblem of indestructibility and skilful means

A short metal sceptre, symmetrical end to end. A sphere at the centre stands for emptiness. From it, lotus petals and the heads of makaras issue the prongs. Five prongs at each end is the usual form, four curving in to meet a straight central one; three-, nine- and single-pronged versions also exist.

In ritual it is held in the right hand and paired with the bell in the left — method with wisdom. It is customarily worn or given as an emblem of firmness, and it names the vehicle itself, Vajrayana.

See Vajra pieces

Mani Mandala六字大明咒曼陀罗

A mandala built on the six-syllable mantra

A mandala rather than a figure. The six syllables of om mani padme hum are set in a ring, most often one to a lotus petal, around a centre carrying either the seed syllable HRIH or a small figure of Avalokiteshvara. The syllables are written in Tibetan or Lantsa script, each in its own colour.

The mantra is the one most widely recited in Tibet, and the mandala is traditionally used as a support for reciting and counting it. Carved versions appear on mani walls and prayer wheels.

See Mani Mandala pieces

Vajrasattva金刚萨埵

Vajrasattva, the white buddha of purification

He is white and youthful, with one face and two arms, seated cross-legged in vajra posture on a lotus and moon disc. His right hand holds a golden five-pronged vajra at his heart; his left holds a bell at his left hip, its mouth turned upward. He wears silks, a five-jewel crown and the full jewellery of a bodhisattva rather than monastic robes.

In the tradition he is invoked for purification and confession. His hundred-syllable mantra is recited as one of the preliminary practices customarily completed before the main tantric trainings.

See Vajrasattva pieces

Eight Auspicious Mandala八吉祥曼陀罗

The eight auspicious symbols arranged as a mandala

Eight emblems are set radially around a centre, usually on lotus petals within a circular frame: the parasol, the pair of golden fish, the treasure vase, the lotus, the right-turning white conch, the endless knot, the victory banner and the wheel. Ribbons and cloud scrolls link them. The order varies between traditions, and the wheel or the knot commonly takes the centre.

The set is understood as the offerings made to the Buddha after his enlightenment. Painted or carved groups of the eight are customarily used at New Year, at weddings and at the blessing of a new house.

See Eight Auspicious Mandala pieces

In the collection