Chakrasamvara: The Wheel of Bliss Tibetan Thangka
36"x 21" Framed. Painting: 19" x 15"
Chakrasamvara: The Wheel of Bliss. The Wheel of Supreme Bliss is an icon of the enlightened mind in which desire and wrath are transformed into rapturous compassion. Chakrasamvara embraces his consort Vajravarahi. Their union represents the inseparability of emptiness, wisdom, and compassion, female and male. This empathic embrace of all existence expresses the essential spirit of the Tantric tradition. So desire becomes compassion, aggression becomes clarity and ignorance transforms into the awareness of the interdependent nature of all life.
When desire no longer clings to an object, it awakens to its primordial nature which no longer divides into self and other. This blissful awareness encompasses all life and emotions allowing the vision of selfless ecstasy.
All creation begins with the sacred union of male and female energies. To experience the pure creative passion between man and woman, to know unconditional love, is to manifest the body, mind, and spirit of Buddha.
This wheel is held by Je Tsongkapa, 1357-1419, founder of the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
At the top is the garuda or flying celestial eagle that in Buddhist myth. can cover the span of the universe with a single flap of its wings.
By Romio Shrestha & Ian Baker: Celestial Gallery
Handpainted by monks in Tibet
