Chakrasamvara

肃火斤

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85 Donkey-Faced (Kharamukha) Chakrasamvara Mandala
Tibet
Ca. 16th century
Opaque watercolor on cotton cloth
H: 23 in. (49.2 cm) W: 18 1/4 in. (39 cm)
Zimmerman Family Collection


The ultimate goal of the Chakrasamvara meditation is to realize that the entire physical world is empty of all self-nature and has no absolute reality. Once this is understood, the yogin realizes that absolute reality is defined by illusion, and the two are completely inseparable, much like the union of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi.

This rare painting of Donkey-faced Chakrasamvara illustrates this dichotomy of illusion and reality and emphasizes the multiple layers of Chakrasamvara imagery. The Sanskrit word, khara means "hard, rough," with the sense of sold and concrete; the secondary meaning is donkey, derived from the sound that the animal makes. Thus, as the center of the mandala, the Donkey-faced Chakrasamvara manifests phenomenal physical world, which corresponds to Chakrasamvara’s innate (sahaja) nature. By replacing the deities’ faces with those of the lowly donkey, all expectations and traditional categories have been overturned, yet another essential understanding in Tantric practices.