greeting cards & Postcard
Stupa Greeting Card
Designed by H.E. Garchen Rinpoche. The liberation on sight mantra is on the cover & liberation on touch mantra placed on the back where the recipient would hold the card.
Candle Light Greeting Card
Thousands of candles can be lit from one single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Size: 5" x 7" (blank inside)
Om is where the heart is Greeting Card
Beautiful card inside & out!
Text on front:
Om is where the heart is.
Blank inside
- 5" x 7"
- Printed on semi-gloss cardstock
- Beautifully designed interior
- Art by Jena DellaGrottaglia
Lotus Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
Lotus
The lotus is a symbol of absolute purity; it grows from the dark watery mire but is completely untainted or stained by it. The blue lotus (Skt. utpala) or 'night lotus' is a symbol of purity and compassion, and is usually depicted with eight, sixteen or thirty-two petals. On either side of the central blue lotus are two small red lotuses (Skt. kamala). Collectively these three lotuses represent various Buddhist trinities, such as the Buddhas of the three times, past, present and future.
© text by Robert Beer
Sarasvati Postcard
Artist : Denesh Charan Shrestha
Posdcard 6" x 4"
Sarasvati
Sarasvati, meaning 'flowing water', is both a Hindu and Buddhist goddess of learning and knowledge, who is especially venerated within the arts of music, singing, poetry and speech. The Sarasvati was once a great Indian river that dried up long ago, but its invisible presence is identified with the median nerve or central channel (sushumna) of the 'subtle body', with its two subsidiary lunar and solar channels being identified with the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers. As a Hindu deity Sarasvati is a consort of both Brahma and Vishnu, and as a Buddhist goddess she is a consort of Manjushri - the bodhisattva of wisdom. Sarasvati's vehicle is a white swan, which appears here amidst the turbulent waters that support her lotus pedestal. With her first two hands she plays upon her vina or lute, while with her second pair of hands she holds a rosary, and a text on the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita-sutra).
© text by Robert Beer
Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara Postcard
Artist : Ajay Lama
Postcard 6" x 4"
Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara
Avalokiteshvara (Tib: spyan-ras-gzigs), the 'Lord who ceaselessly gazes over the realms of existence', is the bodhisattva of great compassion. In his four-armed white aspect he is the recognized as the patron deity of Tibet who successively manifests in the bodily form of the Dalai Lama. He sits in vajra-posture upon a moon disc and a multicoloured lotus, with his two principal hands palms-folded in anjali-mudra before his heart as he cups a wish-fulfilling jewel. His second right hand holds a crystal rosary of a hundred and eight even-sized beads, while his second left hand holds the stem of an immaculate white lotus. His four hands represent the 'four immeasurables' of compassion, love, sympathetic joy, and perfect equanimity. A transparent rainbow encircles his radiant body as he sits amidst a landscape of rock, clouds and water. Colourful birds and pink flowers surround his aura, and the large cloud-borne leaf that supports his lotus seat glistens with fresh dewdrops. The full moon, the sun, a garuda, and a turquoise dragon appear in the cloud-capped sky. In the lower foreground are the sense offerings of cymbals, a mirror, a lute, incense and a perfume-filled conch that rest within a golden bowl, and behind these are jewels and the possessions of a chakravartin or 'universal monarch'. Avalokiteshvara is traditionally invoked by his six-syllable mantra, OM-MA-NI-PA-DME-HUM.
© text by Robert Beer
Eight Auspicious Symbols Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
Eight Auspicious Symbols
The Buddhist group of the eight auspicious symbols (Tib. bkra-shis rtags-brgyad) are depicted here in a composite form. At the top is the White Conch Shell, which spirals to the right in a clockwise direction. Below this is the White Parasol, with a golden crest bar, hanging silk valances and a draped white scarf. Below and behind this is the cylindrical Victory Banner, which is fashioned of hanging silks and ribbons. At the centre is the eight-spoke Golden Wheel of the Dharma, and on either side of the wheel are the two Golden Fishes. Below the wheel are the Eternal Knot, the Lotus, and the Golden Treasure Vase.
© text by Robert Beer
Vajrasattva And Consort Postcard
Artist : Chewang Dorje
Postcard 6" x 4"
Vajrasattva And Consort
Vajrasattva (Tib: Dorje Sempa), meaning 'the vajra-hero', is a deity employed mainly in visualisation practices to purify the defilements of body, speech and mind. His hundred-syllable mantra is believed to be particularly effective in pacifying the emotional afflictions of anger and hatred. In the Tibetan Nyingma tradition Vajrasattva is recognised as the Adi Buddha or source of transmission for the Dzogchen teachings, and he is accorded the central position in the 'mandala of the forty-two peaceful deities'. Vajrasattva is white in colour and is depicted here in sexual union with his white consort Vajragarvi (Tib: Dorje Nyenma-karmo), who embraces her lord with her right hand holding a curved knife behind his neck, and her left hand holding aloft a nectar-filled skull-cup.
Vajrasattva sits upon a white moon disc and a multicoloured lotus. He is beautiful and as youthful as a sixteen-year-old, adorned with the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks, and attired in the five silk garments and eight jewelled ornaments of a bodhisattva. He holds a golden five-pointed vajra before his heart with his right hand, while his left hand holds a ritual bell at the level of his hip. The attributes of a vajra and bell symbolises the perfect union of his skilful means and wisdom.
© text by Robert Beer
Face Of Heruka Chakrasamvara Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
Face Of Heruka Chakrasamvara
Chakrasamvara (Tib: 'Khor-lo bDe-mchog) is an important semi-wrathful yidam deity belonging to the Highest Yoga Tantra class of deity practices. In this detail of his two-armed aspect Heruka Chakrasamvara is dark blue in colour, with one face and three bloodshot eyes. With his arms crossed he holds a vajra and bell as he embraces his red consort Vajrayogini, who also has two arms, one face and three eyes. The lips of the deity and his consort touch, and their mouths are partially opened to reveal their sharp teeth and fangs. Chakrasamvara wears a crown of five dry white skulls, symbolizing the ultimate emptiness or drying-up of the five aggregates. Each of these skulls is crowned with a different coloured jewel, symbolizing his attainment of the Five Buddha Wisdoms. His long black hair is piled up into two topknots, which are adorned with small nets of bone and crowned at the top with a blazing jewel. At the centre of his upper topknot is a crossed-vajra of five colours, which represents the Five Buddhas and the fivefold-activities of Tantra. A one-day-old crescent moon appears on the left side of his crown, symbolising the waxing or increase of his great bliss. He wears a garland of fifty freshly severed heads, and a protective 'vajra-scarf' is looped behind his neck. His red consort, Vajrayogini, also wears a crown of five dry white skulls, and has a bone wheel with eight spokes crowning the top of her head.
© text by Robert Beer
Maitreya Buddha Postcard
Artist : Siddhimuni Shakya
Postcard 6" x 4"
Maitreya Buddha
Maitreya, meaning 'Loving kindness', is the great bodhisattva who is destined to become the Buddha of our next era, and the fifth in line of the thousand Buddhas of the great epoch. At present he resides in his Pure Land, which is known as Tushita (Tib. Ganden), and he may be represented either in the sambhogakaya form of a bodhisattva, or in the nirmanakaya form of an enlightened Buddha. In occidental fashion Maitreya appears here seated upon a moon disc, a lotus and an ornate throne, with his feet resting upon the seed-head of a pink lotus that floats above a rippling pool. He wears the three red robes of a Buddhist monk, and his hands are held before his heart in the teaching gesture known as 'turning the Wheel of the Dharma' (Skt. dharmachakra-mudra). His features are serene and beautiful, and upon the ushnisha or 'wisdom protuberance' that crowns his head is a small lotus-mounted white stupa. His ornate halo is adorned with two crocodiles or makaras with naked human figures in their jaws, and the crowning serpent-devouring head of kirtimukha. Two dragons writhe amongst the clouds in the background, while deer and birds wander fearlessly in the lower landscape's luxuriant foreground.
© text by Robert Beer
Lokeshvara Postcard
Artist : Siddhimuni Shakya
Postcard 6" x 4"
Lokeshvara
This exquisite chiaroscuro painting of Padmapani Lokeshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, was the last painting made by the great Newar artist, Siddhimuni Shakya. This monochrome painting has been rendered through a very subtle technique of ink shading, where all the luminous highlights are actually formed from the white paper that it is painted upon.
White Padmapani Lokeshvara stands gracefully upon a moon disc and a lotus that floats above a rippling lake. He is peaceful, serene, dignified and beautiful; his right hand reaches downward in the boon-granting varada-mudra of supreme generosity, and with his left hand he holds the thick stem of a white lotus at the level of his hip. He is adorned with the five divine silk garments and the eight jewel ornaments of a bodhisattva, an antelope-skin is draped over his left shoulder, and a serpent adorns his breast as a sacred thread. Amitabha Buddha is seated at the centre of his magnificent crown, and his ornate halo is adorned with two crocodiles or makaras with small figures in their jaws, and the crowning serpent-devouring head of kirtimukha. Two writhing dragons emerge from the darkness of the upper sky, and Lokeshvara's ornate aura is wreathed with a profusion of lotus flowers, leaves, tendrils, fruit and seed heads. Upon a floating lotus and moon disc in the bottom left corner kneels the radiant and beautiful white bodhisattva Lutavaha, who offers a lotus to Lokeshvara with pure adoration. Upon a similar moon disc and lotus in the bottom right corner kneels the semi-wrathful form of the wealth god Ranikunda, who holds a tray of jewels with his left hand, while he offers a wish-granting gem with his right hand. This beautiful painting is rendered in such a way that the light emanating from Lokeshvara's divine form appears to illuminate all the components of the background landscape.
© text by Robert Beer
Green Tara Postcard
Artist : Devendra Man Sinkhwal
Postcard 6" x 4"
Green Tara (Sepia)
Green Tara, the 'Liberator or Saviouress', is the principal female bodhisattva of compassion and the 'Mother of all the Buddhas'. She protects all beings from the eight great fears of samsara or cyclic existence: fire (anger); floods (attachment); lions (pride); elephants (ignorance); imprisonment (greed); snakes (jealousy); demons (doubt), and thieves (false views). Tara is peaceful and attractive, as youthful as a sixteen-year-old, and her beautiful body is adorned with all manner of divine silk, jewel and pearl ornaments. She sits upon a white moon disc, an open lotus and an ornate lion-throne in the posture of royal-ease, with her right foot resting upon a small lotus pedestal. With her extended right hand she makes the gesture of generosity, granting boons to all beings. With her left hand she makes the gesture of protection or giving refuge in front of her heart, with her thumb and ring finger holding the stem of an immaculate lotus that blossoms at the level of her ear. She appears within a nocturnal landscape, and her beautiful aura is fashioned from a symmetrical pair of scrolling jewel crests, which are entwined with a profusion of lotus flowers, leaves and tendrils.
© text by Robert Beer
White Tara Postcard
Artist : Cho Tsering
Postcard 6" x 4"
White Tara
White Tara and Green Tara are believed to have been born from the tears of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Tara is the 'Liberator or Saviouress', and in her white aspect as 'seven-eyed' (saptalocana) Tara she is one of the three principal long-life deities that are invoked for prolonging life, averting death, and removing life-threatening obstacles. White Tara is beautiful, youthful and radiant like an autumn moon, and she sits in vajra-posture upon a white moon disc and a multicoloured lotus. She is adorned with the five silk garments and eight jewelled ornaments of a goddess, and her golden tiara is adorned with divine flowers and jewels. Half of her sapphire-black hair is bound up into a topknot, while the other half hangs freely about her shoulders. The three eyes of her face symbolize the purities of her body, speech and mind; and the four eyes in her palms and soles represent the 'four immeasurables' of her boundless compassion, loving kindness, sympathetic joy and perfect equanimity. With her lowered right hand she makes the boon-granting gesture, and with her left hand held before her heart in the gesture of giving refuge, she holds the stem of an immaculate lotus flower. Red Amitabha Buddha appears amidst the clouds and rays of rainbow light above White Tara's head.
© text by Robert Beer
Citipati Postcard
Artist : Chewang Dorje
Postcard 6" x 4"
Citipati
The brother and sister 'Masters of the Charnel Ground' (Tib. Dur-khrod bdag-po) appear as skeleton deities within a funereal landscape. Together they dance upon a sun disc and lotus, the left foot of the brother resting upon a white conch shell, and the right foot of the sister resting upon a white cowry shell. They are both adorned with silk garments, jewel earrings, a five-skull crown, and each holds a skeleton-club and a skull-cup full of blood in their right and left hands. Below them are various offerings and images of the charnel grounds; while above them rises the roof and gateways of their skeletal mandala palace. Twelve-armed Chakrasamvara crowns the top of this composition, with Tsongkhapa and his two main disciples appearing in the upper left corner, and Machig Labdron in the upper right corner.
© text by Robert Beer
White Mahakala Postcard
Artist : Chewang Dorje
Postcard 6" x 4"
White Mahakala
White, or 'Wish-granting Gem' Mahakala is a wealth aspect of this 'great black' (mahakala) wrathful protective deity, who is white in complexion with six arms. He stands upright upon a golden sun disc and a lotus, and with his two feet he tramples upon an elephant-headed male and female Ganapati, who each hold a white radish and a mongoose in their two hands. His curling yellow hair streams upward, his three red eyes are round and bulging, and his gaping mouth reveals his four sharp canine teeth and twisting tongue. He wears many ornaments of gold and bone, a five-skull crown, a long billowing silk scarf, a tiger-skin loincloth, an elephant-skin shawl, and a garland of fifty severed heads.
With his first right hand he holds a radiant triple-gem in front of his heart, with his second right hand he holds aloft a curved knife, and with his third right hand he rattles a wooden damaru. With his first left hand he holds a skull-cup of nectar that contains a vase full of gems at the level of his hip, with his second left hand he holds a skull-topped iron trident, and with his third left hand he holds an iron hook.
Mahakala's back is supported by a sandalwood tree, the upper canopy of which can be seen above the radiant arc of fiery jewels that surrounds his inner aura: And encircled within the sphere of radiant light above Mahakala's head is a sambhogakaya form of Ratnasambhava, who holds an eight-faceted gem and a bell in his right and left hands. At the bottom of the painting is a row of jewels with a stacked pyramid of jewels at its centre, with the eight auspicious substances, the five sense offerings, the chakravartin's seven emblems, and two nectar-filled skull-cups appearing behind.
© text by Robert Beer
The Mahasiddha Carbaripa Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
The Mahasiddha Carbaripa
Carbaripa is revered in both the Buddhist and Hindu Tantric traditions. For Buddhists he is one of the eighty-four Mahasiddhas, and for the Hindus he is recognized as one of the nine great Shaivite 'Nath Siddhas', and also as a preceptor of the Hatha Yoga traditions. In his Indian Buddhist legend he is identified as a siddha from the Chamba region of the west Himalayan foothills who possessed the ability to turn people into stone through the power of his gaze. He is depicted here flying in sexual union with his consort, as he leaps across a Himalayan river gorge.
© text by Robert Beer
Samantabhadra Postcard
Artist : Pema Dorje
Postcard 6" x 4"
Samantabhadra
Samantabhadra, the 'all good' or 'ever perfect', is the primordial Buddha of the ancient Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, or the pure dharmakaya aspect from whom the highest tantric lineages arise. He is often depicted in a trinity with Vajrasattva and Garab Dorje, who represent the sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya aspects respectively.
Samantabhadra is deep blue in colour, naked and unadorned, and he sits upon a moon disc and a lotus that rests upon an ornate lion throne, with his two hands resting upon his lap in the dhyana-mudra of meditation upon emptiness. His naked white consort, Samantabhadri (Tib: Kun-tu bZang-mo), sits in sexual union upon his lap, with her two legs wrapped around his waist, her two arms around his neck, and her long hair freely flowing into a single strand. Samantabhadra, as the male deity, represents the luminous or apparitional nature of the dharmakaya, and his female consort represents the emptiness or non-apparitional nature of the dharmakaya. Their union symbolises the non-duality of pure appearance and emptiness.
© text by Robert Beer
Paldan Lhamo Yab-Yum Postcard
Artist : Chewang Dorje
Postcard 6" x 4"
Paldan Lhamo Yab-Yum
This black thangka depicts the union of the main Karma Kagyu protector, Dorje Bernagchen, and Palden Lhamo in her form as Ranjung Gyalmo, the 'Spontaneously Self-arisen Queen'. This image of the 'Great Goddess in Face-to-Face Union with her Consort' originates from a vision of the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi (1204-83), and is unusual in its depiction of a male deity seated in reversed sexual union (yum-yab) upon the lap of the female protector. Dorje Bernagchen, the 'Black-cloaked One', is a dwarf form of Mahakala, who wears nine robes of embroidered black silk, and holds a crescent-shaped chopper and a skull-cup full of blood in his right and left hands. Rangjung Gyalmo sits upon her 'blue iron mule' that stands upon a sun disc and lotus. She holds a khatvanga-trident and a triangular iron dagger (phurba) in her two right hands, and a mirror and a serpent-noose in her two left hands.
Crowning this thangka's top centre is Vajradhara, with Dombhi Heruka (left), Marpa (right), Karma Pakshi (lower left), and Karmapa Mikyo Dorje (lower right). In the top left corner is Vajravarahi, and below her is Four-armed Mahakala. In the top right corner is four-armed red Jinasagara or Gyalwa Gyamtso (Avalokiteshvara) with his consort, and below him is Six-armed Mahakala. At the centre left is the wealth god Vaishravana, and below him is the wrathful black form of Srin-mgon thod-pa'i phreng-ba-can, the 'Lord of the Rakshas with a Garland of Skulls', and his red consort Srin-mo 'bar-ma dmar-mo, the 'Mistress of Rakshasis, the Blazing Red One'. At the centre left is Klu'i-rgyal sngad-kyi bdag-po, the 'Naga King, Master of Herbs'; and below him is the 'Field Protector', Kshetrapala (Tib. Zhing-skyong) and his consort. At the bottom centre is the 'Dark-Blacksmith', Dam-can rdo-rje legs-pa, who wields a foundry hammer and bellows, and rides upon a goat with twisted horns. In the lower left corner are Trakshad Mahakala (above), and the protective goddess Achi choki (A-pyi chos-kyi), the 'Protectress of Dharma', both of whom are mounted upon horses. In the lower right corner is black Klu-rgyal mkha'-nag, the 'Naga King, Black Sky', who is mounted upon an elephant; and the Kagyu protector goddess Tashi Tseringma, who is mounted upon a lion.
© text by Robert Beer
Yamantaka Postcard
Artist : Chewang Dorje
Postcard 6" x 4"
Yamantaka
Yamantaka, the 'slayer of the lord of death (Yama)', is depicted here in his yab-yum form as Vajrabhairava, a wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of Wisdom. He is extremely fierce and blue-black in colour, with nine faces, thirty-four arms, and sixteen legs. His principal face is that of a black buffalo, with three round red eyes, a roaring fanged mouth, and a pair of sharp sky-blue horns that are tipped with fire. The three heads to the right of his central face are coloured yellow, blue and red; and to the left grey, white and black. Above his buffalo head is a wrathful blood-dripping red head, and above this is the semi-wrathful yellow head of Manjushri. Each of his nine heads is adorned with a five-skull crown, and their tawny locks of hair blaze upwards like fire. With his two principal arms he holds a curved knife and a skull-cup full of blood, as he embraces his wrathful blue consort, Vajravetali (Tib. rDo-rje ro-langs-ma), the 'indestructible resuscitated corpse'. She is blue in colour, with one face and two arms - the right holding a curved vajra-knife behind his neck, and the left offering a skull-cup full of blood to one of his mouths. With his two upper arms Yamantaka stretches the bloody skin of an elephant across his back, and with his other thirty outstretched hands he holds an array of weapons and ritual implements.
Beneath his eight right feet are eight mammals (human, buffalo, ox, mule, camel, dog, sheep, fox), and beneath these are the four Hindu gods Brahma, Indra, Vishnu and Rudra, who represent the four maras. His eight left feet trample upon eight birds (vulture, owl, raven, parrot, hawk, garuda, cockerel, swan), and the four great gods Kumara, Ganesh, Chandra and Surya. In 'warrior stance' he leans towards the right upon a sun disc and lotus. He is adorned with the six bone ornaments, a loosened tiger-skin loincloth, a serpent necklace, and a rosary of fifty freshly severed heads. His naked consort is adorned with the five bone ornaments and a garland of fifty dry white skulls, and they stand together in sexual union amidst a blazing mass of wisdom fire.
At the bottom of this thangka are the outer, inner and secret forms of Yama Dharmaraja, the 'Lord of the Dead'. The 'outer' form of blue Yama appears at the centre. He is naked with the head of a buffalo and an erect penis, and he tramples upon a blue buffalo and a human enemy, while holding a skull-club and a rope noose in his right and left hands. Chamunda, his naked consort, wears an ox-hide over her back and stands to his left as she holds a trident and offers a skull-cup of blood to her lord. At the bottom left is the dark blue 'inner' form of Yama, who has the face of a demon, wears a tiger-skin loincloth, and tramples upon an enemy as he holds a skull-cup of blood in his left hand, and a curved knife in his right hand. At the bottom right is the 'secret' form of red Yama, who is similar in appearance to blue Yama, but appears without a consort. He tramples upon a red buffalo and a human enemy, and holds a faceted jewel and a skull-cup full of blood in his right and left hands.
© text by Robert Beer
Green Tara Postcard
Artist : Sundar Sinkhwal
Postcard 6" x 4"
Green Tara
Green Tara, the 'Liberator or Saviouress', is the principal female bodhisattva of compassion and the 'Mother of all the Buddhas'. She protects all beings from the eight great fears of samsara or cyclic existence: fire (anger); floods (attachment); lions (pride); elephants (ignorance); imprisonment (greed); snakes (jealousy); demons (doubt), and thieves (false views). Tara is peaceful and attractive, as youthful as a sixteen-year-old, and her beautiful emerald-green body is adorned with the divine silk and jewel ornaments of an enlightened goddess. She sits upon a moon disc and lotus in the posture of royal-ease, with her right foot resting upon a small lotus pedestal. With her extended right hand she makes the gesture of generosity, granting boons to all beings. With her left hand she makes the gesture of protection or giving refuge in front of her heart, with her thumb and ring finger holding the stem of an immaculate lotus that blossoms at the level of her ear. Her radiant aura is surrounded with flowers and she abides within a beautiful landscape.
© text by Robert Beer
Standing Avalokiteshvara Postcard
Artist : Dinesh Charan Shrestha
Postcard 6" x 4"
Standing Avalokiteshvara
This exquisite painting depicts Avalokiteshvara (Tib: Chenrezig), the bodhisattva of compassion, in the form of Red Padmapani, the 'Holder of the Lotus'. He stands gracefully upon a moon disc and a multicoloured lotus that arises from a lake. He wears the eight jewel ornaments and five silk garments, with a lower robe made from diaphanous silk. An antelope-skin is draped across his right shoulder, and his aura is fashioned of ornate golden scrolls, which are embellished with leaves and lotus buds. His right hand is held downwards in the abhaya-mudra of giving refuge or protection, and his left hand holds the stem of a triple-flowered white lotus, which symbolizes the Buddhas of the three times; past, present and future.
© text by Robert Beer
The Wheel Of Life Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
The Wheel Of Life
The Wheel of Life is a pictorial illustration of the Buddhist teachings on cyclic existence or samsara. In the central hub of the wheel are a pig, a cockerel and a snake, which represent the three primary poisons of ignorance, desire and aversion. In the second circle are beings that rise and fall into the six realms of existence. These six realms are depicted in the wide third circle of the painting, with the three 'higher realms'; the god realm (top), human realm (upper right), and the jealous god or asura realm (upper left) occupying the top half of the wheel. And the three 'lower realms'; the animal realm (lower right), hell realm (bottom), and hungry ghost realm (lower left) occupying the lower half of the wheel. In the outer ring of the wheel are symbolically illustrated the Buddhist doctrine on the 'twelve links of dependent origination'. The wheel is held in the teeth and claws of a red demon (mara), which symbolizes impermanence and time. In the upper left corner the Buddha stands outside the entire wheel of cyclic existence and points towards the full moon as a symbol of enlightenment. In the upper right corner is the Sukhavati paradise realm of Amitabha Buddha, with a pathway leading from the 'judgment hall' of the hell realm into his heaven. In the lower left corner are a group of nine Chinese ladies who are indulging in the refined arts of playing Go, poetry, painting, etc. And in the lower right corner a group of nine skeletons show the outcome of these refined pursuits.
© text by Robert Beer
Padmapani Avalokiteshvara Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
Padmapani Avalokiteshvara
Padmapani, meaning 'lotus-in-hand', is the main two-armed form of the bodhisattva of compassion, Lokeshvara (Avalokiteshvara). He is white in complexion and stands gracefully upon a moon disc and lotus. He is adorned with the five silk and eight jewelled ornaments, and wears the emblem of an antelope-skin over his left shoulder. His right hand is extended downward in the gesture of generosity, as a gracefully swooping pheasant offers him a stem of three jewel-fruits, symbolizing the 'Three Jewels' of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. With his left hand he holds the stem of a lotus that blossoms at the level of his ear. On his right a female bird perches, and the pair of birds symbolize the union of his compassion (male) and wisdom (female). He stands within a luminous and transparent aura amidst a beautiful landscape. An elaborate silk parasol floats above his head, and various offerings are placed before him. The outer frame of the painting displays the 'face of glory' (Skt. Kirtimukha) at the top, a pair of dragons on either side, the eight auspicious symbols in the lower corners, and a fanlike crest of mantras flanked by two ornate pedestals across the bottom.
© text by Robert Beer
Dragon And Tiger Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
Dragon And Tiger
In Chinese symbolism the dragon and tiger represent the union of heaven and earth. The heavenly dragon symbolizes the male principal of yang and light, and the earthly tiger the female principal of yin and darkness. Here an old tiger gazes up wistfully at a young dragon, whose fiery red serpentine form coils amidst thunderclouds as he unleashes a storm of hail and lightning. The landscape depicts the sacred Tibetan lake of Manasarovar with the holy mountain of Kailash appearing on the horizon. A bolt of lightning, which emanates from the dragon's right claws, descends to touch the hilltop site of Chiu Gompa, the 'monastery of little birds', which is situated upon the western shore of Lake Manasarovar.
© text by Robert Beer
Face Of Vajrasattva Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
Face Of Vajrasattva
This painting shows the face of Vajrasattva (Tib. Dorje Sempa) as he appears in sexual union with his red consort, Vajragarvi (Tib. Dorje Nyema). Vajrasattva, the 'adamantine being', is peaceful and white in colour, with a sweetly smiling face and two bow-shaped eyes. He wears the dive silk and jewel ornaments of a bodhisattva, and his golden crown is adorned with five coloured jewels that represent the Five Buddhas of the five directions with white Vairocana occupying the central position.
Half of his long black hair hangs freely about his shoulders, while the other half is piled-up into two topknots and crowned with a fiery blue gem. Vajragarvi, his red consort is adorned with a five-jewel tiara, gold and bone ornaments, with a bone wheel of eight spokes and a half-vajra crowning her topknot. She has two eyes, and with her raised right and left hands (not shown) she holds a curved knife and a skull-cup.
© text by Robert Beer
Vajravarahi Postcard
Artist : Sunlal Ratna Tamang
Postcard 6" x 4"
Vajravarahi
Vajravarahi (Tib. Dorje Phagmo), meaning the 'Indestructible (vajra) Sow (varahi)', is a principal aspect of Vajrayogini, whose practice - both as a major yidam deity in her own right, and as the consort of Chakrasamvara - is of particular significance in the Tibetan Kagyu traditions. In this two-faced form she is also known as Indra's Dakini, whose lineage of transmission descends from Vajradhara to the early Indian king and mahasiddha, Indrabhuti, then later to Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa and the first Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa. This thangka shows Vajravarahi at the centre of her five-deity mandala, with her retinue of four directional 'heart-dakinis' surrounding her.
Vajravarahi is youthful, passionate, semi-wrathful and red in colour, with three piercing eyes. She stands in dancing bow-and-arrow posture, with her right foot drawn-up and her left foot pressing upon a golden sun and a corpse, which rest upon her white moon disc, multicoloured lotus, and the vajra-rock foundation beneath her. Her beautiful naked body is adorned with the five bone ornaments, a long billowing silk scarf, a garland of fifty freshly severed heads, and a garland of red karavira flowers. She frowns as she bares her sharp teeth and fangs, her tawny hair streams upward like fire, and she wears golden earrings and a five-skull crown.
Vajravarahi's black sow's head appears above her crown, with its fierce squealing face and sharp tusks representing her triumph over ignorance. Her two faces symbolize the union of relative truth (human face), and absolute truth (sow's face). With her raised right hand she holds a vajra-handled curved knife, which she circles towards the ten directions to overcome all maras or demonic obstructions. And with her left hand she holds a skull-cup full of blood in front of her heart, which represents the generation of great bliss. A tantric-staff or khatvanga rests within the crook of her left arm, which essentially symbolizes her inseparable union with her consort, Chakrasamvara. The khatvanga has an eight-sided white shaft with a half-vajra at its lower end; and a crossed-vajra, a nectar vase, a decaying green head, a fresh pink head, a dry white skull, and another half-vajra that crowns its top. A billowing white silk ribbon is tied around the neck of the golden vase; while from a separate golden thread hang the emblems of a small damaru, bell, sun, crescent moon, and a white yak-tail pendant. Light rays emanate from the inner-heat of Vajravarahi's blissful body, and she abides within a blazing aura of wisdom fire.
The four heart-dakinis of Vajravarahi's five-deity mandala are all identical to her in form and appearance, except that they each have a specific colour and stand upon the throne of a corpse, a golden sun disc, and a pink lotus. In the east (lower left) is blue Dakini; in the north (lower right) is green Lama; in the west (upper right) is red Khandaroha, and in the south (upper left) is yellow Rupini. Within the cloud-borne orb of rainbow light above Vajravarahi appears the white sambhogakaya form of Vairocana Buddha, who sits upon a moon disc and lotus with his two hands making the dharmachakra-mudra, or gesture of teaching. In the foreground landscape is a row of stacked jewels, with the eight auspicious substances appearing behind them. And to the left and right of these jewel offerings are skull-cups that contain swirling blue nectar (alcohol), and fresh blood.
© text by Robert Beer
Vajrasattva Postcard
Artist : Pema Dorje
Postcard 6" x 4"
Vajrasattva
Vajrasattva, 'the vajra-hero', is a yidam or meditational-deity whose practice is commonly employed to purify the defilements of body, speech and mind. This visualization practice is believed to be particularly effective in overcoming the emotional delusions of anger and hatred. A hundred thousand recitations of his hundred-syllable mantra are traditionally performed as one of the four 'preliminary practices' of the Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhist path. Here Vajrasattva is shown seated in vajra-posture upon a white moon disc and a multicoloured lotus that is supported by two white lions. He is white in colour, as youthful as a sixteen-year-old, with two bow-shaped eyes, a sweetly smiling face, and he is adorned with the five silk garments and the eight jewelled ornaments of a bodhisattva. With his right hand he holds a five-pointed golden vajra before his heart, and with his left hand he holds an inverted silver bell at the level of his hip. His black hair is bound up into topknots and hangs freely about his shoulders, and the scintillating golden rays of his aura are encircled within a rainbow of coloured light.
© text by Robert Beer
The Mahasiddha Ghantapa Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
The Mahasiddha Ghantapa
Ghantapa, the 'bell-man', was a highly realized yogin who lived in eastern India during the reign of the ninth century king, Devapala. When Ghantapa refused to honour Devapala, the king chose to humiliate him by sending a courtesan's daughter to seduce him. This young girl first came to Ghantapa's hut as a servant, but over the course of time she began to sleep with him and soon gave birth to a child. Upon hearing this news Devapala came with many of his subjects to publicly ridicule this fallen yogin, and found Ghantapa holding his child in one arm and a pot of alcohol in the other. Enraged by the king's accusations Ghantapa threw the child and pot onto the ground, whereupon they immediately transformed into a vajra and bell, while a great flood began to arise from their impact. Grasping the vajra and bell, Ghantapa embraced his consort and flew up into the sky with her as they transformed themselves into manifestations of Chakrasamvara and his consort, Vajravarahi. In great repentance the king and all his subjects bowed down before Ghantapa, and by the power of their prayers the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara appeared to stem the floodwater with his feet.
© text by Robert Beer
Vajrakila Postcard
Artist : Chewang Dorje
Postcard 6" x 4"
Vajrakila
Vajrakila or Vajrakilaya, meaning 'the dagger of indestructible reality', is a powerful and wrathful yidam deity of the Nyingma tradition who embodies the destructive energy of the triple-bladed ritual dagger or kila (Tib. phur-bu), which annihilates all demonic obstacles and hindrances. He is blue-black in colour, with three faces, six arms and four legs, and he tramples upon the Hindu gods Mahadeva and Umadeva, who lie prone upon his sun disc and lotus. With his two principal arms he rolls a vast triple-bladed dagger as he embraces his consort, Diptachakra. She is dark blue in colour, and wears a leopard-skin loincloth, gold and bone ornaments, and a garland of fifty dry white skulls. With her left hand she holds aloft a skull-cup full of blood, while with her right hand she holds a blue lotus behind Vajrakila's neck as she embraces him.
With his second and third right hands Vajrakila holds a nine-pointed vajra with open prongs, and a five-pointed vajra with closed prongs. With his second left hand he makes the 'threatening forefinger' gesture as he unleashes a blazing mass of fire from the palm of his hand, and with his third left hand he holds a khatvanga trident.
Vajrakila's three wrathful faces are coloured white (right), blue-black (centre), and red (left), which represent his triumph over the three poisons of ignorance, hatred and desire. He stands amidst a blazing mass of fire; with the sharp feathers of his vajra-wings spread open, and his tawny hair streaming upwards. He is adorned with the 'eight attires of the charnel ground': human ash on his forehead; blood on his nose and cheeks; human fat on his chin and neck; a five-skull crown and a garland of fifty freshly severed heads; ornaments of writhing serpents; a tiger-skin loincloth; a human skin shawl, and a flayed elephant skin that is stretched across his back. Above his head is a serpent-devouring garuda, and in the sky are two vultures carrying eyes and human entrails. At the top centre are blue Samantabhadra and his white consort, Samantabhadri, and at the bottom are skull and jewel offerings.
© text by Robert Beer
Milarepa Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
Milarepa
Milarepa (1040-1123), the 'cotton-clad' yogin, is Tibet's most famous and beloved poet-saint. His intense perseverance and devotion under the arduous guidance of his Tibetan guru, Marpa Lotsawa, his spontaneous songs of realization and poignant life-story, are a constant source of inspiration for all spiritual aspirants. He is shown here sitting upon a black antelope skin in his meditation cave on the eastern side of Mt Kailash in western Tibet. He wears the single white cotton robe of a Tibetan yogin or repa, symbolizing his attainment of the yogic practice of tummo or 'inner heat'. His long hair hangs freely down his back, and he wears a red meditation belt across his right shoulder. With his right hand he cups his ear in the gesture of singing, while with his left hand resting upon his lap in the gesture of meditation he holds a skull-cup full of nectar. Hanging from the roof of his cave is a small bundle of provisions and a scroll of special instructions that Marpa gave him to help overcome a future period of doubt and difficulty. In the background of his cave is a clay pot full of boiled nettle soup, and in the bottom corners are the nettles that still grow in front his cave, which for many years served as Milarepa's main sustenance.
© text by Robert Beer
The Mahasiddha Udhilipa Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
The Mahasiddha Udhilipa
Udhilipa, the 'flying siddha', was a wealthy Indian who one day gazed out of his window and saw strangely coloured cloud formations that were assuming the forms of animals. Mesmerized by this illusory display he developed a desire to fly like a cloud across the sky. Then one day the Mahasiddha Karnaripa came begging at his door, and from this great master he learned of a practice that could enable him to fly. This involved him travelling to the twenty-four sacred sites of ancient India, and from each of these sites he collected the twenty-four elixirs of the great female dakinis who dwelled at these places. He was then instructed to alchemically synthesize these elixirs in vessels of copper, silver and gold. After twelve years he succeeded in distilling the elixir of flight, and having simultaneously attained the realization of Mahamudra he ascended bodily into the dakini's paradise realm of light. Udhilipa is depicted here seated in meditation posture upon a triangular rock formation, and wearing a garment of leaves.
© text by Robert Beer
Ardhanarishvara Postcard
Artist : Uday Charan Shrestha
Postcard 6" x 4"
Ardhanarishvara
Ardhanarishvara, 'the Lord who is half-woman', is a representation of the great Hindu god Shiva (Mahadeva), who is united with his consort or shakti, Parvati (Umadevi), in one body. The right half of Ardhanarishvara's body depicts Shiva's white male form, as he holds aloft his attributes of a trident and damaru with one hand, and a small egg-shaped stone lingam with his other hand. A five-day-old crescent moon adorns Shiva's crown, and the River Ganga spouts from the matted topknot on the crown of his head. His body is smeared with ash, and adorned with a tiger-skin loincloth, serpent necklace, a skull crown, and a third eye. The left half of Ardhanarishvara's body depicts Parvati's red female side with its one full breast. She is adorned with the divine silks and jewel attire of a goddess, and she holds a pink lotus in her raised left hand. The union of male (white) and female (red) within one body symbolises the merging of semen and menstrual blood to create life, and the alchemical transmutation or merging of the energies of the white lunar and red solar channels within the 'subtle body', which awakens the goddess Kundalini, causing the ascent of her blissful energies to 'enter, abide, and dissolve' within the subtle body's central channel.
© text by Robert Beer
Ganesh Postcard
Artist : Dinesh Charan Shrestha
Postcard 6" x 4"
Ganesh
Seated upon a lotus, a silver moon disc, and a roaring white lion is the ten-armed form of Ganesha, the elephant-headed 'remover of obstacles', who appears here as Heramba Ganapati, the protector of the poor and weak. His complexion is white, and his five elephant heads are coloured white (centre), yellow (right), red (left), black (rear), and white (top). With his first right hand he holds a small stone lingam, and his other four right hands hold a sword, a trident, a club, and make the open-palmed gesture of generosity. With his first left hand he embraces his golden-orange consort, Lakshmi, who sits upon his left knee and makes the gestures of generosity and fearlessness with her right and left hands. Ganesha's other four left hands hold an ear of grain, a rope-noose, a chakra or discus, and a white lotus. He sits amidst a blazing mass of wisdom fire.
© text by Robert Beer
The Medicine Buddha Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
The Medicine Buddha
The Medicine Buddha, or Medicine Guru (Bhaisajya-guru), is the form in which Shakyamuni manifested in order to reveal the Medical Tantras. The meditation practice of this deity is believed to cure the afflictions of body, speech and mind. He is also known as the 'King of Vaidurya Light', referring to his radiant and deep blue form, which is like sapphire or blue-beryl (vaidurya). He sits in vajra-posture upon a white moon disc and a multicoloured lotus, wearing the three red robes of a Buddhist monk. His right hand is extended downwards in the boon-granting gesture of supreme generosity, as he holds a triple-fruited branch of a myrobalan tree between his thumb and index finger. His left hand rests upon his lap in the gesture of meditation and supports a blue alms-bowl of vaidurya gemstone, which contains medicinal nectar and another myrobalan fruit. In both the Tibetan and Indian Ayurvedic medical traditions the dried and plum-like fruit of the myrobalan (Skt. arura) is known as the 'King of Medicines'. In the two lower corners are offerings of coloured jewels.
© text by Robert Beer
The White Syllable 'A' (AH) Postcard
Artist : Robert Beer
Postcard 6" x 4"
The White Syllable 'A' (AH)
In 1989 I was commissioned by the publishing editor of Penguin Arkana to make this painting as a cover for Namkhai Norbu's forthcoming book, "Dzogchen, The Self Perfected State". The syllable A is the primordial vowel sound of both the Sanskrit and Tibetan alphabets, which as a bija or 'seed syllable' underlies the 'rosary of speech' as mantra. The three syllables OM (white), AH (red), and HUM (blue), respectively symbolize the three aspects of Enlightened Body, Speech, and Mind, which correspond to the crown, throat and heart centres, and these three Tibetan syllables are traditionally inscribed on these three psychic centres upon the blank back surface of deity thangkas. The Enlightened Qualities and Activities of the deity are also represented by the syllables SO and HA in their respective navel and sexual centres.
Within the 'Great Perfection' practices of Dzogchen or Ati-Yoga the white Tibetan syllable A (pronounced as a long aspirant 'AH'), is widely visualized within a luminous sphere (Tib. thig-le) of rainbow light. In the practice of awakening to the 'natural light' of dreams a white syllable AH is visualized and held at the centre of one's body or throat during the process of consciously passing from the waking state into sleep. A series of spontaneously-arisen AH syllables may also be visualized as creating an interlinked chain of AH syllables, which are said to deepen the state of clarity and lucid awareness in the dream state.
In the Dzogchen tradition the syllable A is essentially a symbol of the fully awakened or 'natural state' of mind; and among the various length versions of texts of the Prajnaparamita-sutras, the syllable A is said to represent the ultimate essence of all the 'Perfection of Wisdom' teachings.
© text by Robert Beer
The Eight Medicine Buddhas Postcard
Artist : Sunlal Ratna Tamang
Postcard 6" x 4"
The Eight Medicine Buddhas
The assembly of the Eight Medicine Buddhas depicts the image of Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Guru, surrounded by his 'six brothers' and Shakyamuni Buddha. All eight of these figures wear the three monastic robes and sit in vajra-posture upon a moon disc and lotus, with only their specific colours and right hand gestures differentiating them. Bhaisajyaguru, who is also known as the 'King of vaidurya light', appears at the centre. He is radiant blue in colour and holds a stem of the medicinal myrobalan plant with his right hand, while with his left hand he holds an alms-bowl of blue beryl (vaidurya) gemstone that contains three myrobalan fruits. At the top centre is red Shakyamuni Buddha, with his right hand making the 'earth-witness' gesture. Bhaisajyaguru's 'six brothers' are: (1) golden-yellow Suparikiritita-nama-sri-raja (top left); (2) golden-yellow Svaraghosa-raja (top right); (3) red Suvarna-bhadra-vimala (mid left); (4) pink Asokottama-sri (mid right); (5) white Dharmakirti-sagara-ghosa (bottom left), (6) red Abhijna-raja (bottom right). Various auspicious offerings, jewels, trees and medicinal herbs appear in the lower landscape of this thangka.
© text by Robert Beer
White Tara Postcard
Artist : Lalman Lama
Postcard 6" x 4"
White Tara
Tara, the 'Liberator or Saviouress', is the female bodhisattva of compassion and the patron goddess of Tibet. In her two principal green and white aspects she is believed to have manifested from the tears of Avalokiteshvara, the male bodhisattva of great compassion. In her white pacifying aspect as 'seven-eyed' (saptalocana) Tara, she is commonly invoked for increasing longevity or removing life-threatening obstacles. Along with Amitayus and Usnishavijaya she appears as part of the trinity of long-life deities. White Tara is extremely beautiful and youthful, adorned with all manner of divine silk and jewel ornaments, and she sits in vajra-posture upon a white moon disc and a multicoloured lotus. The three eyes of her face symbolize the purities of her body, speech and mind; and the four eyes in her palms and soles represent the 'four immeasurables' of her boundless compassion, loving kindness, sympathetic joy and perfect equanimity. With her lowered right hand she makes the boon-granting gesture, and with her left hand held before her heart in the gesture of giving refuge, she holds the stem of an immaculate lotus flower. Within the pink lotus that appears beneath Tara's throne is an offering of the five senses, and above her halo is red Amitabha Buddha.
© text by Robert Beer
Love is the inner light Greeting Card
Love is the inner light in everyone and everything.
The Love is the inner light card comes from a mindful meditation by Ram Dass.
In addition it includes an uplifting illustration by Sue Zipkin
This card is blank inside, 5″ x 7″ and printed on recycled paper using soy based inks.
Love in the Past..... Greeting Card
Note Card
Size:11,5x16,7 cm
front and rear four-colour-printing, painted empty inside with envelope
Green Tara Detail Greeting Card
Blank inside
- 5" x 7"
- Printed on semi-gloss cardstock
- From the Sacred Images of Tibet card series
Healing Blessings Greeting Card
Text on front:
Healing Blessings
Blank inside
- 5" x 7"
- Printed on semi-gloss cardstock
- Beautifully designed interior
- From the Illuminating Spirit card series
Anjali Mudra (Divine Offering) Greeting Card
Text on front:
Namaste
Blank inside
- 5" x 7"
- Printed on semi-gloss cardstock
- Beautifully designed interior
- From the Duirwaigh Whimsy card series
Om Greeting Card
Text on front:
Om
Blank inside
- 5" x 7"
- Printed on semi-gloss cardstock
- Beautifully designed interior
- From the Duirwaigh Whimsy card series
Gratitude Lotus Greeting Card
Text on front:
Gratitude for you in my life
Blank inside
- 5" x 7"
- Printed on semi-gloss cardstock
- Beautifully designed interior
- From the Duirwaigh Whimsy card series
THE SEVEN CHAKRA ELEMENTS Greeting Card
Pieter Weltevrede has beautifully captured the essence of chakras; the seven centers of spiritual energy.
Card is blank inside and 5″ x 7″ with envelope
Artwork © Pieter Weltevrede. All rights reserved.
Please note: Watermark does not appear on actual card.
Front:
The Seven Chakra Elements
Inside:
- Blank
Love and Light Koi Greeting Card
Text on front:
Love and light.
Blank inside
- 5" x 7"
- Printed on semi-gloss cardstock
- Beautifully designed interior
- From the Illuminating Spirit card series
Golden Buddha Greeting Card
Note Card
Size:11,5x16,7 cm
- front and rear four-colour-printing, painted empty inside with envelope
