THE ICONOGRAPHY OF TIBETAN LAMAISM

by Antoinette K. Cordon ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The study of the Tibetan Tantra is sooner or later indispensable to any thorough investigation of Buddhism. This volume is an enlarged, revised edition of a work first published twenty years ago by the curator of the important Tibetan collection of art in the American Museum of Natural History. It presents a great amount of iconographical information organized into charts and diagrams with about 175 illustrations (but only 2 in color) of mandalas, tankas, sculptures, and ritual objects. There are lists and descriptions of Buddhas, Saktis, Dharmapalas, mudras, symbols, etc., to enable one to make some approach into the complex realms of technical thought which underlie them and which the aesthetic approach has consistently failed to solve. The author makes some common errors in her annotations, such as stating that the Mahayana involves the worship of a Supreme being---actually one, of the three or four conceptions invariably attacked by every school of Buddhism. But on the whole she is sympathetic and enthusiastic, and this well-organized book will help to fill one of the many huge gaps in this field of study.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Tuttle

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION