# Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) in Multiple Forms, with Peaceful and Wrathful Meditational Deities and Protectors

- By: Tibet
- Date: 18th century
- Medium: Opaque watercolor with gold on cotton
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: 60 × 43.4 cm (23 5/8 × 17 1/8 in.)
- Culture: Tibet
- Credit line: Everett and Ann McNear Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/34310)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/f5114c43-1716-6d7e-586d-347ddbe6f9a4/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The main form of Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava, called the "Lotus Born," is seated in the center with vajra and skull cup, and surrounded by a number of his other manifestations, such as Guru Dragpo and Simhamukha (his "inner" and "secret" forms, directly below and to the right, respectively). He is further accompanied by additional peaceful and wrathful meditational deities and protectors of the Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as monastic figures from the lineage of Buddhist teachers.

Padmasambhava (8th century) was originally an Indian Buddhist adept notable for contributing to the introduction of Buddhism from India to Tibet during the rise of the Tibetan Empire. He gained even greater importance in subsequent centuries with the emergence of texts and legends that identified him as a fully enlightened being, sometimes even given the epithet "the second Buddha." The complex deified forms and mythology of Padmasambhava depicted in this thangka emerged in particular from the Treasure (Terma) tradition of sacred texts bestowed on individuals through divine inspiration from a deity. This thangka may be based on a treasure text cycle revealed by Jatson Nyingpo…

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0