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Vajrasattva
Description: Mold and Carver: Sanu Raja and Family
Material: Copper and Gold Plated
Height:16.5 in
Finished Year: 2011
The earliest image of Vajrasattva known to the authors of “Circle of Bliss” is that on the ceiling of the ca. 6th century Initiation Cave at Kakrak in Afghanisthan.
Vajrasattva is regarded as Adi-Buddha in Vajrayana tradition according to the text Vajrasattvakaya. Vajrasattva is the manifestation of the purity of body, speech, and mind of all the Buddhas, Vajrasattva is visualized as an expression of mind’s pure essence in the form of meditational deity.
This beautiful image captures the centrality of the Vajrasattva practice in the Newar Buddhist tradition. Indeed, for the Vajracharya Priests, Vajrasattva serves as the primordial teacher of the Tantric path. Thus, by donning the Vajrasattva crown the Vajracharya priests verify their identity with Vajrasattva by “becoming” Vajrasattva during ritual contexts. |
