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Vajrayāna Art and Iconography

2000; Wiley; Volume: 35; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/0591-2385.00281

1467-9744

Jensine Andresen,

Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

Iconographic imagery in the Indo‐Tibetan Buddhist Tantric (i.e., Vajrayāna) tradition is replete with polymorphic symbolic forms. Tantric texts themselves are multivalent, addressing astronomy, astrology, cosmology, history, embryology, physiology, pharmacology, alchemy, botany, philosophy, and sexuality. The Sr? Kaālacakra , a medieval Indo‐Tibetan manuscript of great import, de‐scribes ritual visualization sequences in whichpractitioners visualize elaborate manidiala designs and deified yab‐yum (father‐mother) consort couples. The Kālacakra system is the preeminent conduit for the globalization of Tibetan Buddhism, and contemporary enactments of its initiation ceremony incorporate a variety of aesthetic genres, including sand manidiala construction and ritual dance.