Introduction

In the summer of 1999 I completed the text of The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs (Boston: Shambhala & London: Serindia). This book took a long time in its making. The brush drawings alone took almost eight years to complete, and were created in a prolonged period of semi-retreat in the remote Western Highlands of Scotland. By comparison the writing of the text was relatively quick and painless. When there is much to say words are easy to come by, and perhaps my greatest difficulty was in knowing when to stop. After writing nearly a quarter of a million words my publisher and editor 'brought the chopper down'. The book was way past its deadline, and there wasn't even time left to create an index. But I felt it was a good and original work, although I also felt it was virtually being presented in its first draft.

At the beginning of 2000 I wrote a concise pictorial index for Deities of Tibetan Buddhism (Willson, M. and Brauen, M. 2000. Boston: Wisdom). Martin Wilison spent around fourteen years translating and annotating the Tibetan texts for this work, which covers the abridged descriptions of just over five hundred deities. With the almost simultaneous publication of these two works I felt that some original insight had been presented on the complex symbolism of Vajrayana art.

This Handbook is based on a synthesis from the original text of The Encyclopedia, and of the condensed version that appears in Deities of Tibetan Buddhism. Although only a limited selection of my original drawings appear in this book, and the scope of the subject matter has been reduced, I feel that this material is now presented in a more accessible and user-friendly format.

I have tried to structure the contents of this book into a logical progression, so that the many lists of numerical concepts, which are so characteristic of the Buddhist teachings, are gradually introduced into the text. The first five sections of this Handbook covers the main groups of auspicious symbols, offerings, and emblems, many of which appeared as the first symbolic motifs of early Indian Buddhism. The sixth section deals with the origins of the main natural and mythological animals that appear in Buddhist art. The seventh section deals with the cosmological symbols of the sun and moon, the five elements, Mount Meru, and the mandala offering. The eighth section introduces the main ritual Vajrayana implements of the vajra and bell, crossed-vajra, and ritual dagger, and the tantric kapalika attributes of the khatvanga, damaru, thighbone trumpet, skull-cup, and curved knife. The ninth and tenth sections cover the array of traditional and magical weapons that are mainly wielded by the semi-wrathful yidam and wrathful protective deities, whilst the eleventh section deals with some of the more necromantic attributes of these deities. The twelfth and thirteenth sections encompass the spectrum of hand-held implements and plant attributes that are held by many diverse deities and human teachers. The fourteenth and fifteenth sections deal with some of the more esoteric symbols of Vajrayana Buddhism, including the 'reality-source' or dharmodaya, 'sacrificial cake offerings' or tormas, and the 'inner offering'. The sixteenth section completes the text with a description of the main hand gestures or mudras made by the deities.

At the end of the book are four appendixes and a glossary. The first appendix relates the ancient Indian legend of the churning of the ocean. The second appendix gives a brief outline of the conceptual assembly of the Five Buddha Families. The third appendix gives a brief explanation of the various kayas or 'divine bodies' of the Buddhas. The fourth appendix attempts to briefly explain the complexities of the Buddhist 'channel wheel' systems of the Highest Yoga Tantras, which symbolically relate to the transmutation of the processes of birth, life, death, and rebirth into the state of supreme enlightenment. The subject matter of these last three appendixes is extremely profound. Although these subjects are only briefly and inadequately explained here, a deep understanding of them is vital for a true insight into the amazingly sophisticated principles and practices of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Throughout the text I have used the term 'symbol' to refer to the intrinsic meanings ascribed to a particular object or attribute. A more accurate interpretation of this term should perhaps be 'purity', as these attributes essentially represent the enlightened qualities or 'purities' of the deities. These purities are evocatively expressed in the various 'Praises to the Deities', which were composed by many great Indian and Tibetan masters over the last fifteen hundred years. The poetic verses of these beautiful prayers often reveal the reverence, faith, love, and devotion that these masters perceived in the deities as their sources of refuge and inspiration.

Throughout the text I have also used the terms 'often, usually, frequently, generally, and traditionally' to refer to particular symbolic definitions or descriptions. The use of these terms does not stem from an uncertainty about a symbol's meaning or depiction, but from the fact that these symbols often have iconographical variations according to different traditions or lineages. To explain these tangential variations is beyond the scope of this book, although I have sometimes partially attempted to do so in the more voluminous text of The Encyclopedia. In Vajrayana iconography the three levels of an outer, inner, and secret symbolism are sometimes given, particularly within the practices of the Highest Yoga Tantras. The depths of meaning concealed within these teachings are extremely profound and multifaceted. Like a wish-granting gem that refracts a myriad rays of rainbow light, the nature of this light is one, although its aspects of illumination appear to be many.

A similar spectrum of understanding can be applied to the classical English terms that are used to describe the various Buddhist listings of mundane and enlightened qualities. These terms, such as the Eightfold Noble Path, the six perfections, and the four immeasurables, are all 'relative' terms with no easily definable 'absolutes'. Their meanings are essentially inspirational, and as subjects of contemplation they continually deepen in significance to accord with the practitioner's emotional, mental, psychological, philosophical, and spiritual capacities. In the Buddhist scriptures each of these numerical lists may be further subdivided into various aspects or components. The six perfections, for example, are each divided into a further threefold structure. The 'absolute' meaning of these terms exists only within the enlightened mind, where they spontaneously manifest as the innate radiance of the Buddhas' infinite clarity, wisdom, compassion, and love.

The vast pantheon of Buddhist deities and their symbolic attributes are purely an encapsulation or visual expression of the entire path of the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana teachings. They can only really be understood through a deep comprehension of these teachings, and they can only be directly realized through the continuity of prolonged practice, performance, and perfection. To think that one can understand them through historical, psychological, or comparative interpretation is simply not adequate. Buddhism is a living tradition that extends back over two and a half thousand years, to which thousands of great scholars, philosophers, and practitioners have devoted their entire lives and being. These teachings are perfectly integrated as they are and need no alternative interpretation. They can be apprehended and understood by the human mind, and herein lies the immaculate beauty of this 'living tradition', wherein one ultimately realizes that the dharma exists nowhere except in one's own mind, and that what one has been looking for is in reality what is actually looking.

Buddhism evolved within its homeland of India for seventeen hundred years, until the invading Islamic armies finally destroyed its great monastic academies at the end of the twelfth century. The tantric transmissions of Vajrayana Buddhism were 'revealed' between the eighth and twelfth centuries, and this period of four hundred years represents the final blossoming of Indian Buddhist culture. It was during this same period that the Buddhist teachings were being transmitted into Tibet through Kashmir and Nepal, and translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan. Most of the symbols that appear in Tibetan art are of Indian Buddhist origin, and many of these symbols already existed in ancient India prior to the advent of Buddhism itself. Similarly all of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, major yidam and protective deities are of Indian Buddhist origin, and are adorned in the silk robes and jewel ornaments of Indian royalty, or the bone ornaments and animal skins of Indian tantric yogins and yoginis.

The indisputable Indian origin of most of these symbols inevitably poses the question: "What is it that distinguishes Tibetan Buddhism from early Indian Buddhism?" In his book The Jewel in the Lotus (London. Wisdom. 1987), Stephen Bachelor writes: "In their presentation of Buddhism the Tibetans did not diverge greatly from their Indian forerunners in terms of doctrinal content, but in the ways in which they organized this content into systematic stages leading to enlightenment. It is the logic of the Buddhist path which is Tibetan, not the individual doctrines or insights which are arranged in the light of this logic. What gives Tibetan Buddhism its own peculiar flavor, therefore, is not any uniquely Tibetan ingredient, but the way in which these common Buddhist ingredients have been blended together in the Tibetan mind."

I have now been involved in the study and practice of Buddhist art for more than thirty years, yet never have I ceased to be amazed by all of the incredible wonders and insights that I have discovered within it. Like a magic mirror it lights up with meaning the longer that you gaze into it, and I bow down in gratitude before the Enlightened Mind that conceived all of this divine beauty. There are some lines at the end of Sam Mendes' film American Beauty that seem to succinctly express this sentiment: "I guess I could be pretty pissed-off about what happened to me, but its hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst, and then I remember to relax and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain, and then I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea of what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry, you will someday."

Robert Beer
Oxford, England
Easter Sunday 2003