Seeing the Sacred in Samsara

An Illustrated Guide to the Eighty-Four Mahāsiddhas

By Donald S. Lopez Jr.

$29.95
SKU
9781611804041
Extras

Excerpt

Virūpa

Virūpa was a monk named Dharmapāla who devoted himself to monastic study during the day and tantric practice at night. When Virūpa became frustrated at his lack of success, the goddess Nairātmyā appeared to him and offered instructions to speed his progress along the path. When he began to openly transgress his vows—drinking wine and eating pigeons (that he later brought back to life)—he was expelled from the monastery and called Virūpa (“Ugly”). Many stories are told about him, including how he walked on water and parted the Ganges. In the most famous story, in order to continue drinking in a tavern, he stopped the sun from setting.

Description of the Painting

Virūpa sits on an orange mat dressed only in a pale blue dhoti. There is a bowl of fruit at his feet and vessels to his right and left. As indicated in the Painting Guide, he wears flowers in his hair, but that is not his only ornamentation. He wears jeweled earrings as well as bracelets, armlets, anklets, and sashes across his chest, all made of bone. A red and gold meditation belt is stretched over his left shoulder and right knee. In his left hand he holds a skull cup filled with liquid while a woman, perhaps the barmaid, offers another skull cup. Also at Virūpa’s feet, a layman kneels in the gesture of supplication. Perhaps this is the king, asking Virūpa to allow the sun, shining brightly above his head, to set. Other elements of the background evoke other stories about Virūpa. To the left, the sandy bottom of the Ganges lies dry between the parted waters. At the bottom, pigeons perch on the roof of a monastery, perhaps an allusion to the birds he famously ate and then brought back to life when he was a monk.


From the Painting Guide

He is like he is famously depicted. Regarding his different features, he has no ornaments apart from just a garland of flowers on the top of his shorn hair. With his right hand he makes a threatening gesture and in his left hand holds a horn filled with beer.

- Hardcover
Available
Shambhala Publications
05/28/2019
Pages: 232
Size: 7 x 9
ISBN: 9781611804041
Details

This exquisite full-color presentation of the lives of the eighty-four mahāsiddhas, or “great accomplished ones,” offers a fresh glimpse into the world of the famous tantric yogis of medieval India. The stories of these tantric saints have captured the imagination of Buddhists across Asia for nearly a millennium. Unlike monks and nuns who renounce the world, these saints sought the sacred in the midst of samsara. Some were simple peasants who meditated while doing manual labor. Others were kings and queens who traded the comfort and riches of the palace for the danger and transgression of the charnel ground. Still others were sinners—pimps, drunkards, gamblers, and hunters—who transformed their sins into sanctity.

This book includes striking depictions of each of the mahāsiddhas by a master Tibetan painter, whose work has been preserved in pristine condition. Published here for the first time in its entirety, this collection includes details of the painting elements along with the life stories of the tantric saints, making this one of the most comprehensive works available on the eighty-four mahāsiddhas.

Extras

Excerpt

Virūpa

Virūpa was a monk named Dharmapāla who devoted himself to monastic study during the day and tantric practice at night. When Virūpa became frustrated at his lack of success, the goddess Nairātmyā appeared to him and offered instructions to speed his progress along the path. When he began to openly transgress his vows—drinking wine and eating pigeons (that he later brought back to life)—he was expelled from the monastery and called Virūpa (“Ugly”). Many stories are told about him, including how he walked on water and parted the Ganges. In the most famous story, in order to continue drinking in a tavern, he stopped the sun from setting.

Description of the Painting

Virūpa sits on an orange mat dressed only in a pale blue dhoti. There is a bowl of fruit at his feet and vessels to his right and left. As indicated in the Painting Guide, he wears flowers in his hair, but that is not his only ornamentation. He wears jeweled earrings as well as bracelets, armlets, anklets, and sashes across his chest, all made of bone. A red and gold meditation belt is stretched over his left shoulder and right knee. In his left hand he holds a skull cup filled with liquid while a woman, perhaps the barmaid, offers another skull cup. Also at Virūpa’s feet, a layman kneels in the gesture of supplication. Perhaps this is the king, asking Virūpa to allow the sun, shining brightly above his head, to set. Other elements of the background evoke other stories about Virūpa. To the left, the sandy bottom of the Ganges lies dry between the parted waters. At the bottom, pigeons perch on the roof of a monastery, perhaps an allusion to the birds he famously ate and then brought back to life when he was a monk.


From the Painting Guide

He is like he is famously depicted. Regarding his different features, he has no ornaments apart from just a garland of flowers on the top of his shorn hair. With his right hand he makes a threatening gesture and in his left hand holds a horn filled with beer.