The lama Khedrup-jey and the bodhisattva Manjushri

Vajrayana Buddhist meditation practices rely upon secret teacher-to-student transmission; this painting shows how such transmission allows Tibetan adepts to transcend even death itself.

Consider the case of Khedrup-jey. In the fifteenth century, Khedrup-jey was pupil to the founder of the Gelug order, a man named Tsongkhapa. After the death of his master, Khedrup-jey was distraught until the deceased Tsongkhapa appeared to him in a vision. In that vision, Khedrup-jey saw his master performing the key feat of Vajrayana Buddhist meditation: visualizing himself as an enlightened being, in this case the bodhisattva Manjushri. That is the vision you see before you. This painting is part of a series; another one executed in the same style and depicting another vision of Khedrup-jey is on view on the far right.