Refuge

皈依

Before anything is asked for, somewhere to stand.

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Purpose I of nine

Where practice begins

Refuge is the first act and the plainest one. It is taken in the Buddha, in what he taught and in the community that has carried it since, and everything else on this site follows from that. The figures gathered here are the ones a household keeps at the centre of a shrine rather than at its edges.

**Shakyamuni, right hand reaching past the knee to touch the ground.** *Shakyamuni · 52 × 74 cm · Mineral pigment and 24k gold*

Why it comes first

Refuge is not a mood or a preference. It is a formal act, taken once and renewed daily, in the Buddha, in what he taught, and in the community that has carried it since. Everything else in these nine purposes assumes it has already happened. That is why the figures gathered here are the ones a household puts at the centre of a shrine rather than at its edges — not because they are the most powerful, but because they are what the rest is measured from.

What is in the group

Shakyamuni is the historical Buddha, painted seated with the right hand reaching past the knee to touch the ground. Padmasambhava is the figure credited with carrying the teaching over the Himalaya into Tibet in the eighth century, and he is painted crowned, holding a vajra. The two are kept together for the reason a family keeps a founder and a first ancestor together: one is where the teaching begins, the other is where it arrived.

Three from this purpose

普贤菩萨 · JPTK-011 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

释迦牟尼佛 · XTK-022 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

大势至菩萨 · JPTK-001 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

View the collection

How it is kept

A refuge painting is hung where it can be seen from the door and from the place a person sits. In most households it is the one thangka that is not moved, not lent and not given away; the others rotate with the year and with the occasion. By convention it is also the one commissioned largest.

Traditionally the first painting a family commissions, and the one that stays when the others have been given away.

The figures · 6 figures

Shakyamuni释迦牟尼佛

Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha

He is shown golden or saffron-toned, seated in full lotus on a lotus throne, wearing plain monastic robes without ornament. The right hand reaches down over the knee in the earth-touching gesture; the left rests in the lap holding an alms bowl. The head bears a cranial protuberance and tight snail-shell curls. Two monk disciples often flank the throne.

As the founder of the tradition his image is customarily placed at the centre of a shrine, above other figures. Paintings of him are traditionally associated with the events of his life and with Vesak observances.

See Shakyamuni pieces

Padmasambhava莲花生大士

Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, who brought tantra to Tibet

He sits in royal ease on a lotus, wearing three layered robes and a red pointed hat with upturned flaps. His right hand holds a golden vajra at the heart; his left holds a skullcup with a long-life vase in it. A trident staff, the khatvanga, rests in the crook of his left arm. He has a moustache and a short beard, and his eyes are wide open.

He is remembered as the master who established Buddhism in Tibet in the eighth century and founded Samye. The tenth day of each lunar month is traditionally kept for him.

See Padmasambhava pieces

Samantabhadra普贤菩萨

Samantabhadra, the bodhisattva of practice and vows

In East Asian painting he is golden or white, seated on a white elephant with six tusks, holding a lotus, a scroll or a wish-fulfilling jewel, and usually paired with Manjushri on his lion. Tibetan art uses the same name for Kuntuzangpo, the primordial buddha: deep blue, naked, without ornament, hands resting in meditation.

He is associated with carrying out what has been understood. The ten great vows of the Aspiration to Good Actions are recited in his name at the close of many ceremonies.

See Samantabhadra pieces

Yellow Jambhala Mandala黄财神曼陀罗

A mandala composition centred on Yellow Jambhala

The composition is a circular palace plan seen from above, set inside a square with four T-shaped gates at the cardinal directions. Yellow Jambhala sits at the centre, golden, holding a mongoose and a citron. Surrounding circles carry lotus petals, vajras and flame. The outer field is usually filled with clouds, offerings and lineage figures along the upper register.

Mandalas of this kind are traditionally used as supports for visualisation practice and as offerings, and are customarily commissioned in connection with a teacher's instruction rather than acquired casually.

See Yellow Jambhala Mandala pieces

Mahasthamaprapta大势至菩萨

Mahasthamaprapta, bodhisattva of the power of wisdom

He is depicted as a bodhisattva in princely dress: silks, a five-leaf crown, necklaces and armlets, usually white or pale in colour. His crown bears a vase, which is his identifying mark. He commonly holds a lotus, and stands or sits on a lotus base. In East Asian painting he appears to one side of Amitabha, opposite Avalokiteshvara.

Traditionally associated with Pure Land practice, where he forms one of the three figures of the Western Paradise alongside Amitabha and Avalokiteshvara. Images of him are customarily kept in that devotional context.

See Mahasthamaprapta pieces

Lotus莲花

The lotus, the flower that grows from mud unstained

The lotus is drawn as a stylised flower, seen from the side or from above, with layered pointed petals and a seed head at the centre. Pink and white forms are the most common. The blue utpala, with narrower petals and a curving stem, is a separate flower, carried in the hand by Tara and by Manjushri rather than sat upon.

It is one of the eight auspicious symbols. In the tradition it stands for purity and for awakening that is unaffected by its surroundings, and it appears on offering vessels of every kind.

See Lotus pieces

In the collection