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Sacred Texts: Buddhism

Chapter XIV. Representation of Buddhist Deities

19th Century BuddhologyBuddhist IconographyTibetan Buddhism

Connected to
Chapter VIII. The Sacred Literature Shares 3 topics Chapter XVI. The Systems of Reckoning Time Shares 3 topics Chapter III. The Religious System of Sakyamuni Shares 3 topics Chapter VII. Historical Account of the Introduction of Buddhism into Tibet Shares 3 topics
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This is a scholarly excerpt — likely from a 19th-century European treatise on Tibetan or Mongolian Buddhism — covering Buddhist sacred iconography and its material production. It traces the historical expansion of Buddhist worship from simple veneration of Shakyamuni's image through to the elaborate Tibetan pantheon of hundreds of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Dhyani figures, and deified priests. A central argument is that consecrated images are not merely representations but are believed to become literally "animated" with divine power, which explains both the staggering quantity of images produced and the Lamas' jealously maintained monopoly over their manufacture. The text details the technical methods used — pinholes and coal-dust transfers for paintings, clay or papier-mâché moulds for sculpture, even butter tinted with vegetable dyes — and the elaborate ceremonies governing each stage, including which days are permissible for painting the eyes. It also systematically catalogues iconographic conventions: specific body postures and hand gestures (mudras) encode theological meanings (e.g., a downward palm signifies charity; interlaced fingers symbolize the union of wisdom and matter). A notably distinctive claim is that no Buddhist ritual gestures overlap with Brahmanical ones, which the author presents as evidence of Buddhism's doctrinal independence from Hindu tradition.

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