Rare depiction of Guhyamanjuvajra,  symbolizing a Tantra of yogic discipline. The central doctrine of the Yoga Tantras is that we are not as different from each other as we believe. By practicing yoga, we can discover that the central column of the world is identical with our own subtle spine and the world that appears projected around us can be withdrawn into a stream of energy which will flower when male and female partners unite.

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Tangkas with a black background like this one form a special category of contemplative paintings. They are a highly mystical and esoteric type, usually reserved for advanced practice. Black is the color of hate, transmuted by the alchemy of wisdom into the ultimate-reality-perfection wisdom. It is not that darkness is the absolute; the void is not nothingness. Rather, darkness represents the imminence of the absolute, the threshold of experience.  The absolute itself is the clear light transparency within which all relative forms and vulnerable living things are sustained. But the dark connotes death, which enlightenment converts into the Body of Truth. It is used for terrific ritual actions, the radical conquest of evil in all its forms --  conquest not by annihilation, but by turning evil into good, which is the truth and basic operation  of the mystical law.

The two figures combine for a total of 12 arms, signifying the purification of the twelve links of dependent-arising explained in the Wheel of Life. The  embracing mudra symbolizes the supreme unification of method and wisdom. 

(an expanded iconography will be provided upon purchase)