The Buddha Shakyamuni with lamas

At the center of this painting, the historical Buddha Shakyamuni touches the earth at the very moment of his enlightenment. Nearer the top of the painting, there are figures dressed in light Indian garb; they are the adepts (siddha) who helped introduce esoteric Buddhism into the Himalayas.

Wearing heavier Tibetan robes and hats, figures on the right of the painting are teachers of the Profound Path, which focuses on the realization of Emptiness. On the left appear teachers of the Vast Path, which focuses on realizing the nature of Appearance. To realize Emptiness and Appearance simultaneously amounts to enlightenment in the Tibetan tradition.

Fierce forms of Buddhas visualized in the Himalayas appear here as well; each constitutes a combined male-and-female figure called yab-yum, which means “father-mother” in Tibetan. By visualizing such conjoined Buddhas, meditators realize how seeming opposites—like male and female, or self and other—are actually part of a holistic continuum.