Vajrasadhu

When Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was studying at Oxford in the late 1960s as a Spalding Fellow, he also composed teachings and painted. One of the works to come out of that period was a series of three "masks," colorful and detailed depictions of the faces of three protector deities: Vajrasadhu, Ekajati, and Four-armed Mahakala. The ferocity of the protectors inspires the practitioner to ward off the obstacles on the path and transform them into wisdom. As the tantric story goes, Vajrasadhu, god of gambling and war, was subdued by Padmasambhava (who was instrumental in bringing Buddhism to Tibet) and enlisted as a protector of the teachings. We were worried about this coming out on our Christmas-time issue, but it turned out to be very popular. One distributor liked it so much he made the cover into a poster. It's one of a very few paintings of Trungpa Rinpoche's, and to my mind one of the most beautiful and most potent. It's also atypical of thangka style, since there is nothing but sky as background. –Liza Matthews

The Vajrasadhu prints have been made available to us from an archival quality, limited offset print run produced by one of the premier art printers in the US.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was one of the leading Buddhist teachers of the 20th century and a pioneer in bringing Buddhism to the West. He was a poet, painter, and calligrapher who coined the term "dharma art," and whose teachings describe a profound connection between meditative mind and the creative process.

Learn more about Trungpa Rinpoche's work at: Shambhala Sun.