Antique
Chinese gilded bronze, black patina with green malachite. Depicting Je Tsong Khapa,
the eminent scholar who reformed the old Kadampa sect, creating the new Gelugpa
sect (the Yellow Hats), eventually converting Mongolia and all other Himalayan
kingdoms to Tibetan Buddhism. In 1409 he founded the massive Ganden Monastic University
with many thousands of monks.
Taught
from early childhood by numerous lamas of different traditions, Tsong Khapa traveled
widely in Tibet collecting teachings, lineages and empowerments until he had thoroughly
mastered all aspects of Buddhist logic and practice. He is revered by Tibetans
as an emanation of the Buddhist god of wisdom, Manjushri. Just as William Blake
had persistent visions of angels, so Tsong Khapa is reported to have regularly
seen and conversed with Manjushri from an early age. He
wrote:
All ordinary
beings are carried by the continuum of the four powerful currents,
and tied
with the tight bonds of actions difficult to oppose.
Having entered into the
iron cage of belief in an inherently existing self.
They are completely beclouded
with the thick darkness of ignorance.
Vow, then, to awaken.