The Treasury of Lives

Dominique Townsend is an assistant professor of religion at Bard College.

Published January 2010

Images

Avalokiteśvara

This sixteenth-century thangka of Avalokiteśvara depicts the teaching lineage named for Tsembupa known as 'tshem bu lugs', one of the five great systems of Avalokiteśvara practice in Tibet. This system is well preserved in Geluk and Sakya traditions.

Damarupa

Damarupa and Avadhutipa, two Indian Siddhas. On the left is the siddha Damarupa holding upraised in his right hand a damaru drum and a skullcup in the left. On the viewer's right is Avadhutipa holding a skullcup to the heart with the left hand and pointing downwards with the right hand.

Bibliography

Grags pa 'byung gnas. 1992. Gangs can mkhas grub rim byon ming mdzod. Lanzhou: Kan su'u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, pp. 1724-1725.

Lo chen byang chub rtse mo. (14th c.) Bsod nams rgyal mtshan gyi rnam thar. Unpublished manuscript.

Ngag dbang kun dga' bsod nams. 1986. Sa skya'i gdung rabs ngo mtshar bang mdzod. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, p. 267 ff.

Stearns, Cyrus . 1999. The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen. Albany: State University of New York.

van der Kuijp, Leonard. 1993. “Fourteenth Century Tibetan Culture III: The Oeuvre of Bla ma dam pa Bsod nams rgyal mtshan (1312-1375).” Berliner Indologische Studien vol. 7, pp. 109-147.

van der Kuijp, Leonard. 1994. “Fourteenth Century Tibetan Cultural History 1: Ta'i sit u Byang-chub rgyal-mtshan as a man of religion.” Indo-Iranian Journal, vol 37 number 2, pp. 139-149.

View this person’s associated Works & Texts on the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center’s Website.