Thus bereft of the wisdom of these astrological teachings, mankind was plunged into the darkness of ignorance, and chaos ensued. Manjushri was divinely petitioned to reinstate these teachings for the benefit of mankind.
From his own mind Manjushri projected a giant golden tortoise, causing it to arise from the depths of the primal ocean. From his bow he unleashed a golden arrow which pierced the side of the tortoise, impaling it and causing it to roll over onto its back. On its undershell Manjushri inscribed the astrological diagram, revealing to mankind the astrological teachings and prognostications of the myriad destinies that were to come to pass throughout all future times.
The lower part of the painting is occupied with the astrological diagram which Manjushri inscribed on the undershell of the tortoise. The inner central circle is divided into nine sections. In each of these sections are to be inscribed numerals from 1 to 9, with the number 5 at the center and the other eight numbers arranged around it so that their digits add up to fifteen-horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. These numerals are then referred to as the 'nine mewas'. The term mewa refers to a blotch or skin blemish, mole or birthmark. This probably derives from the ancient Indian system of divination or omen interpretation based upon where moles or birthmarks occur on a person's body. The Chinese almost certainly had similar system of birthmark divination.
The magic square of fifteen was also known to the Hebrew, Arabic, and Western magical traditions. In the Chinese tradition this pathway sequence is known as the 'nine paces of Emperor Yu', the legendary emperor who is said to have received the tortoise shell bearing the nine-mewa sequence, and to have travelled through the nine provinces of China following this sequential pathway.
Numerologically a perfect symmetry is derived from this magic square of fifteen: the base of three multiplied by the central five totals fifteen; the central five is midway between one and nine; the numbers on either side of the central five are balanced (plus or minus) in their relationship to five; and the central five multiplied by nine produces forty five, which is the total sum of the digits of this magic square. Nine as the square of three occurs as a unique perfect number in numerology: any number multiplied by nine produces a number the sum of whose digits is also multiple of nine.
Since it is considered very auspicious to fill in the numerals in the magic square, it is left blank by the monk artist. It befits that it be filled in by the patron himself (the buyer).
In the second circle are eight lotus petals, each containing one of the possible combinations of trigrams. These trigrams are formed by a combination of lines of two different kinds, one an unbroken line, the other a line broken into two parts. Viz. - and --. The broken line is symbolic of yin and the unbroken line is symbolic of yang. These eight trigrams follow the 'King Wen' system or sequence as used in the Chinese divinatory I Ching (Book of Changes), with south at the top, west on the right, north at the bottom, and east on the left.
The third outer circle of the tortoise shell is divided into twelve lotus-petal segments, each containing one of the twelve animals of the 'twelve year cycle'- derived originally from the Chinese system of the 'twelve terrestrial branches'. The twelve branches are employed chronologically in horary calculations to denote the particular qualities or influences arising in the hours, days, months, and years. The Chinese twelve-year cycle commences with the rat (or mouse) in the north (bottom) and moves clockwise through each of the following eleven years. The Tibetan twelve-year cycle commences with the hare in the east (left).
The orientation of these twelve animals places two animals in each of the cardinal directions, with the remaining four animals occupying the inter-cardinal directions.
According to a Buddhist legend these twelve animals were believed to have come to pay their last respects to Shakyamuni Buddha before he passed into paranirvana at Kushinagara.
The fourth outer circle is divided into eight segments. They are inscribed with stacks of protective talismans, depicting symbols of the nagas, earth spirits, mountain spirits, gods and goddesses who influence all divisions of time. These are composed of protective seals and tetragrams formed by the addition of horizontal lines to each of the eight trigrams of the King Wen system. These create pictographs of each of the eight trigrams depicting the eight 'elementals' of fire, earth, lake, heaven, water, mountain, thunder, and wood.
The main function of the Tibetan Astrological diagram is to act as a very powerful amulet for protection against all astrological and spirit afflictions. It is frequently hung on doorways to protect a building or homestead from evil spirits. To create auspicious circumstances it is prominently displayed at major events or transitions, such as birth, marriage, moving or building a house, illness and death.
The lowermost layer of the painting is inhabited by five animals. This group consists in the center of the three hybrid creatures, namely the fish-otter, the makara-snail and the garuda-lion (from left to right). Each of these creatures is formed by the union of pairs of traditionally hostile animals. Collectively they represent the harmonious union of opposites and are referred to as the three victorious creatures of harmony.
The eight-limbed or Garuda-lion is created from the interbreeding of the lion with its traditional competitor, the Garuda bird. Its eight limbs are formed by having claws both on its foot-pads and knees, although usually only its foot claws are pictorially represented. As the garuda is the lord of the skies and the lion is lord of the earth, the garuda-lion unifies heaven and earth in victory. Its body, limbs, mane, and tail are those of a lion, whilst its head and wings are those of the garuda. The creature can easily be identified with its mythological Western equivalent, the griffin or gryphons. The griffin has the body of a lion, with the head, wings and talons of an eagle. The historian Herodotus wrote that griffins lived on high Indian mountains, where they dug for gold with their sharp talons. The talons of a griffin were believed to change color in the presence of poisons, and could only be acquired by holy men.
The 'fish with hair' or the fish-otter is born from the union of a fish with ise traditional enemy, the otter. Its body and limbs are that of an otter, but its head, gills, and sometimes its tail, are those of a fish. Like the otter its body is covered in brown, or black hair. The scales of the fish's neck dissolve into the otter's fur.
The 'makara-snail' is born from the union of the makara (chu srin in Tibetan)- a water monster usually equated with the crocodile-and its traditional prey, the conch or water snail. The makara-snail is probably derived from the hermit crab which destroys the conch mollusk and takes up residence in its shell. Land hermit-crabs are also found in streams throughout the Himalayan foothills. The makara as water monster is represented in its usual form with scales, horns, tusks, mane, upturned snout, and with its two legs protruding from the mouth of the conch shell. The dynamic and detailed torso of the makara seems to thrust itself fearlessly from the conch shell, its swirling tail bursting from the conch shell, its swirling tail bursting from the shell's tip.
Of the two remaining animals in the bottom row, the left most is the well-recognizable tiger. The tiger is not a native animal of Tibet, but the Bengal tiger of India and the long-haired tiger of neighboring China ensured its frequent appearance in Tibetan imagery. The tiger is a symbol of strength, fearlessness and military prowess. Tigers' skins were worn in battle, and the Buddhist victory banner (dhvaja in Sanskrit and rgyal mtshan in Tibetan) is frequently adorned with a tiger skin. A full tiger skin often formed the seat or asana of certain deities, yogis, siddhas, oracles and greta teachers. This has its origin in the Hindu tradition, where Shiva killed the tiger of desire and used its skin as his meditation seat, symbolising his transcendence over desire. All these features make the tiger a commonly represented motif in Tibetan art, where the artist in a stylistic interpretation of its stripes, depicts a whirling spiral of stripes on the tiger's breast and back.
Occupying the right most portion of the lower part of the painting is the snow-lion. The white snow-lion is the presiding local deity (gnyan in Tibetan) of Tibet's snow mountain ranges. Hence the snow-lion is the national animal symbol of Tibet; it adorns Tibet's national flag, its government seal s of office, its coins, banknotes and stamps, and forms the insignia of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The lion, as king of all beasts, is the symbol of Shakyamuni Buddha- who is also known as Shakyasimha, the 'Lion of the Shakya clan'. The lion is therefore one of the rpime symbols of Buddhism itself, with the eight lions of the eight directions supporting Shakyamuni's throne of enlightenment.
The lion as sacred, solar or regal symbol permeated many ancient cultures spanning westward from Egypt to the Greek and Roman empires of Europe, and eastward from Egypt into Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Persia. The lion of Indian Buddhism found its cultural representation in Tibetan art as the mythological snow-lion, which inhabited the formidable snow mountains of Tibet. Like Buddhism itself, which 'leaped' over the Himalayas from India, the white snow-lion is a magical animal which is auspiciously sighted making playful leaps from one mountain peak to another.
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