Dharmapala Thangka CentreTibetan Antiques

This large and heavy [0.8 kg] Tsa Tsa clearly belongs to the Nyingma school, it shows a manifestation of »Dorje Dragpo« [Tib.: གུ་རུ་དྲག་པོ་] or »Dorje Drolo« [Tib. གུ་རུ་རྡོ་རྗེ་གྲོ་ལོད་], a wrathful meditation form of Padmasambhava. He is a protector of the Dharma and a destroyer of obstacles on the path to enlightenment. The depiction does not correspond to the classical form of »Dorje Dragpo« [where, for example, a scorpion is among his attributes]. However, there are several variants of him, but his four wrathful companions identify him without a doubt.

Guru Dragpo, the »Wrathful Spiritual Teacher«, is a ferocious meditational aspect of Guru Rinpoche, who manifested in this form when he received teachings from Vajravarahi and several other dakinis. His various practices arise from the terma or »Revealed Treasure« traditions of the Tibetan Nyingma School, where certain deities arise from the outer, inner, and secret manifestations of »Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava«

He is depicted in the yab yum position along with his companion. She has one face and two hands. In his left hand he holds a skull bowl.

The Tsa Tsa is bordered with a projecting ogival arch, forming a protective border.

Four wrathful companion deities [nos. 4, 6 - 8] are seen. Among them, »Singyel Raksha Thötreng« [Tib.: Srin rgyal Raksha thod phreng, no. 4] is seen in the upper right. He is a manifestation of Padmasambhava, which he assumed after entering paradise. The lama depicted at the top [no. 3] cannot be identified. To the left and right of him the mantra »OM - AH - HUM« can be seen. The mantra syllable »HUM« is repeated vertically five times below.

»Ekajati« [Tib. རལ་གཅིག་མ་ - ral gcig ma - no. 7] is the protector of the secret mantras and is considered a great mother, especially the mother of Palden Lhamos and Mahakalas.

»Dorje Legpa« [Tib.: རྡོ་རྗེ་ལེགས་པ - rdo rje legs pa - no. 6] is a protector of the Buddha's teachings.

»Rahula« [Tib.: kyab jug - no. 8] is a Dharmapala [Protector of the Buddha's teachings] of Tibetan Buddhism. The protector »Rahula« is a so-called »oath-bound protector« , a spirit being who was subjugated in the 8^th century by the great tantric master Padmasambhava and bound to the Dharma under oath.

In Indian mythology, he is a demon who causes eclipses by devouring the sun and moon. He thus takes revenge on the sun, which betrayed him to Vishnu. Since the latter cut off his immortal head, which now lives on alone, Rahu is represented as a head in the series of planets.

There was no wood for cremation in ancient Tibet and the ground was mostly rocky or frozen, so earth burials were not possible. In the center, to the right and left of »Vajrakila«, we see two so-called mortuary fields [no. 5] on which corpses are eaten by vultures and dogs as symbols of the cycle of rebirths, but on which there are also emanations of Guru Rinpoche promising help, and on each of which there is a chörten as a symbol of enlightenment.

From a Tibetan Buddhist perspective, mortuary fields also have significance for ritual activities of Indo-Tibetan Dharma traditions, especially those traditions influenced by the Tantric view. The impermanence of all life became particularly clear here.

Due to systematic suppression of Buddhism by the Chinese, urbanization, and the decimation of vulture populations, there are few such sites left in Tibet.