Bernagchen Mahakala If You Become Angry/Merely Owing to an Injury, Then Why Not Be Angry with Anger,/Which Destroys Your Goal of Liberation? Nagarjuna1
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ART AND IMAGES IN PSYCHIATRY SECTION EDITOR: JAMES C. HARRIS, MD Bernagchen Mahakala If you become angry/Merely owing to an injury, Then why not be angry with anger,/Which destroys your goal of liberation? Nagarjuna1 N 1729 SITU PANCHEN CHOKYI .org/image.cfm/15135.html). These Marco Polo when he was at the Chi- Jungne moved his monastic seat works are important in his revival of the nese imperial court. to Palpung Monastery in East- Karma Gadri style of Tibetan painting.3 When Karma Pakshi incurred the dis- ern Tibet. There he revitalized This last thangka (Figure 1)4 shows Situ pleasure of Mongol emperor Kublai Ithe scholarship of his religious school, Panchen Chokyi Jungne himself. He Khan, he called for protection from his excelling in the translation of early re- wears the orange Tai Situ crown adorned protector deity, Mahakala, who ap- ligious texts, Tibetan grammar, poetry, with 3 jewels, a crescent moon, and the peared to him then and in a series of and painting.2 His responsibilities in- sun. Lamas, monks, artists, and atten- other visions during his lifetime. These creased when the leader of his Tibetan dants engaged in many activities are visions resulted in Tibetan liturgies and religious school, the 12th Karmapa rituals for the visualization of Bernag- (1703-1732), died in China under ques- chen Mahakala (written communica- tionable circumstances while en route tion; Jeff Watt; December 26, 2008). Situ to meet the Manchu imperial family.3 Panchen Chokyi Jungne’s painting of Before leaving for China, the 12th Bernagchen Mahakala (Figure 2) is based Karmapa asked Situ Panchen Chokyi on these early Tibetan liturgies (http: Jungne to update important religious //www.himalayanart.org/image.cfm texts. Not only did he do so, but also he ?icode=65083&CFID=18402045 illustrated the Buddhist teachings by pre- &CFTOKEN=83053386). Although the paring a series of more than 100 paint- thangka artist is frequently unknown, ings of Avadana stories that show the life, this thangka bears the inscription, past lives, and teachings of the Buddha. “Without error [doubt] this painting of The series was dedicated to the memory the Five Deity [Mahakala] was done by of the deceased Karmapa.3 the hand of [Situ] Chokyi Jungne.” The stories illustrate the inescap- Bernagchen Mahakala is shown with able nature of karma, the moral law of a retinue of 5 fierce attendants, 1 on each cause and effect, and how Buddhist side and 3 others below him. The wrath- teachings may lead one to enlighten- ful, black-cloaked Mahakala emerges from ment. Prepared for lay audiences, they the clouds. He is black, with 3 round pro- emphasize how good deeds are re- truding eyes, an open red mouth with warded and emphasize individual re- white fangs, a beard, large eyebrows, and sponsibility. In his previous lives, the hair that flows upward. He holds aloft a Buddha is shown as he successively per- curved flaying knife with a vajra (spiri- fected virtues such as generosity, cour- tual implement) handle. His left hand age, justice, and patience that are essen- Figure 1. Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne. holds a blood-filled skull cup. He wears tial for attaining Buddhahood. a crown of 5 white skulls, earrings, brace- The Avadana teaching stories are told shown in the foreground. White Tara, lets, and a garland of freshly severed heads from Tibetan painted scrolls known as his meditational deity, floats above him. around his waist. His wrath is like that of thangkas. Thangka paintings have reli- She is a bodhisattva of compassion and a parent protecting a child from mortal gious significance and are hung in mon- fulfills a role similar to that of a patron harm. Fearful to fear itself, he adopts the asteries, placed in family shrines, car- saint in the West. Prayers to the bodhi- appearance of the forms he is seeking to ried in religious processions, and most sattva Tara are among the many texts he destroy. Each of the elements of his dress importantly used in meditation. When translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan. has symbolic significance in overcoming used for meditation, the religious fig- Protective deities play a central role self-deception and egocentrism.1(p45) The ures shown are not simply representa- in Tibetan Buddhism. Among them, the goal is the destruction of hatred, re- tions of a deity but believed to be the wrathful Bernagchen Mahakala (Black- venge, greed, anger, and ignorance. physical embodiment of a state of en- Cloaked Mahakala) is a central figure.4 To the viewer’s right of Mahakala is lightenment. The mounting of the He protects the Buddhist teaching, the his female counterpart, Shri Devi Dud- thangka too has an iconography and Karmapa, and the members of the or- solma, black with 1 face and 4 hands symbolic relationships to its contents. der. In depicting him (Figure 2), Situ holding a vajra peg, katvanga staff, skull The first painting in the series was Panchen Chokyi Jungne turned to a cup, and mirror. She rides atop a don- that of the historical Buddha. The last series of historic visions of Mahakala by key. On the left stands Damchen Garwa thangka painting is dedicated to Situ the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi Nagpo, the blacksmith who is bound by Panchen as patron and creator of the (1203-1283). Karma Pakshi was an oath to protect the Buddhist teaching; series and contains within it a scroll important religious teacher in Tibet his hands hold a blacksmith’s hammer acknowledging his contributions and China during the time of the Mon- and a bellows. Below Mahakala are 3 (Figure 1) (http://www.himalayanart golian Khans and a figure known to other wrathful attendants. At the left, (REPRINTED) ARCH GEN PSYCHIATRY/ VOL 66 (NO. 2), FEB 2009 WWW.ARCHGENPSYCHIATRY.COM 122 ©2009 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 10/02/2021 fearsome Trakshe stands with a female ous cultures, leading him to propose an proaches emphasize calming the mind, consort at his side. In the center, Tsog- archetypal depth psychology. Despite the improving focused attention, develop- dag, a male naga with a hood of snakes, similarities he found, Jung encouraged ing mindfulness, and regulating emo- sits on an elephant. To the right, Shing- individuals who came to him to remain tion. More recently, meditation prac- kyong, a male attendant with the face of within their own spiritual tradition, tices that foster compassion are being a lion, sits on a black horse, holding a warning them about the risks of adopt- studied. One study6 has evaluated the ef- spear in his right hand and a skull cup ing religious practices based in other cul- fects of compassion meditation on im- filled with wrathful food offerings. tures. He spoke of the archetypal anima mune, neuroendocrine, and behavioral Above Mahakala at the top center sits as the portal into the spiritual life for men responses to psychosocial stress and the the Karmapa, the incarnation of the bo- and proposed that the archetypal ani- effects of meditation practice on stress dhisattva of compassion, representing mus served the same function for reactivity. The authors concluded that the personal teacher or guru. His hand women. He viewed Tibetan deity im- compassion meditation may reduce the raised in a teaching gesture, he reigns ages as projections of the archetypal un- stress-induced immune anti-inflamma- over the thangka. To the right of conscious. Moreover, he suggested that tory cytokine (IL-6) response and be- Karmapa, standing in a dancing pos- spiritual images might arise spontane- havioral responses. ture, is the enlightened meditational de- ously in dreams and visions in the pro- Situ Panchen’s Palpung Monastery ity Vajravarahi. She holds a curved knife cess of individuation. Jung considered continued to thrive until 1959, when un- in her upraised right hand and in her left mandalas produced by his patients as der communism it lost its special politi- hand a skull cup with a katvanga staff representative of the unconscious self, cal and economic status. During the Cul- resting against her left shoulder. She has noting that his patients’ paintings of tural Revolution, Red Guards sought to 3 glaring eyes; hair upswept, she wears mandalas enabled him to identify emo- stamp out its traditions; the monastery a 5-skull crown and ring-shaped ear- lost its belongings and cultural trea- rings. She is a principal meditational de- sures. In 1998, it was listed as endan- ity and the consort of Chakrasamvara; gered by the World Monuments Fund. their sexual embrace symbolizes the There is an ongoing effort to restore it. union of compassion and wisdom. The main building is being rebuilt, and The 2 figures directly above Ma- a new college of Buddhism has opened hakala are worldly protective wealth dei- nearby.7 By tradition, the Situ Pan- ties. The one to the left is Vaishravana, chen’s school of Buddhism believes that Guardian King of the Northern Direc- the Tai Situ is the incarnation of tion, who swore an oath to protect the Maitreya, the future fully enlightened Buddha; he wears the 5-pointed crown Buddha who is yet to be born, the bo- and the armor of a king. He is both a pro- dhisattva of loving-kindness. A large tector and a benefactor with a round, full statue of Maitreya stands at the monas- face with eyebrows and a moustache. He tery. On September 1, 2007, the Chi- holds a conical banner and a mongoose nese government’s “Management mea- that spews wish-fulfilling jewels in all di- sures for the reincarnation of living rections. He carries a victory banner and Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism” went is mounted on a snow lion.