Brocade Tibetan Door Curtain, with Kalachakra Embroidery, Red

Iconography

The idea of Kalachakra revolves around the concept of time [Skt. Kala] and the cycles [Skt. Chakra's] of existence. Everything from the cycles of a clock, the cycles of habit, the cycles of the planets through to the cycles of human breathing. Everything is the world is governed by cycles of time & the clearer we understand cyclical patterns the more we can work with them & liberate navigate towards a more enlightened state.Kalachakra is atemporally conjoined with his consort yellow Kalachakri in an embrace called Yab-Yum. Kalachakra has four heads, 24 arms & 2 legs. A principle head is blue, with a blue upper body & four blue left & four right arms. His two principle arms embrace Kalachakri. Additionaly a left red head, four red left, four right arms & a red left leg; a white right facing head, four white right arms & a white right leg. Kalachakra is an emanation of blue Akshobhya [Skt.] [Eng. unshakable which is why Kalachakra is predominately blue. The two other original transcendent Buddha Families (Meditation [Skt. Dhyana] Buddhas) depicted are red Amitabha [Skt.] meaning bearer of love who can greed into love & white Vairochana [Skt.] meaning illuminator who can snuff out delusion into realised wisdom. The wisdom energies of ddhist ArtAmitabha, Akshobhya & Vairochana respectively transmute greed, hatred & delusion tuning the Wheel of Life. His crossed two principle blue arms are in Victory over the Three Realms gesture [Skt. Triolyavijaya Mudra], also called the Humkara Mudra with reference to the syllable 'Hum'. The three realms form the Trikaya Principle of Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya & Dharmakaya. The right hand holds a vajra topped bell [Skt. Ghanta] (barely visible) symbolising female wisdom & a diamond [Skt. Vajra] sceptre which symbolises method or compassion. He wears a special necklace of interlocking Diamond Sceptres [Skt. Vajramala] & a second made of skulls [Skt Kapalamala]. He wears a tiger skin dhoti representing his power over hatred. He stands & subdues two four armed demons. One of his left hands holds a blue wooden club [Skt. Danda] representing the crushing of the veils of ignorance. The top left red hand holds a hammer [Skt. Mudgara] representing the destruction of greed. The head of the hammer is bell-shaped symbolising the female wisdom quality, the vajra-shaped back part representing the male method quality & surmounted by a jewel representing conviction. The third red left hand holds an iron hook [elephant goad] with a vajra pommel [Skt. Vajrankush] which represents subjugating negative afflictions. The fourth red hand holds three unkindled firebrands [Skt. Agnidanda or Jvaladanda] often shown as three fire arrows [Skt. Agnibana] representing the power of subjugating the three original Kleshas being greed, hatred & delusion which form the centre of the Wheel of Life.



The top right white hand holds the Four Heads of Brahma [Skt. Brahmashiras] representing the severance of all conceptualisations & development of the four measureless states being loving kindness [Skt. Metta], sympathetic joy [Skt. Mudita], equanimity [Skt. Upekka] & lastly compassion [Skt. Karuna] which themselves know no bounds. The Four abodes are also known as the Temples of Brahma. The third white hand holds a sun disc [Skt Suryachakra] representing absolute truth with the third blue hand holding a moon disc representing awoken realisation of relative truth. His fourth right white hand holds the right turning conch shell [Skt. Dakshinavarta Sangha] representing sound & the seed [Skt. bija] syllables, Buddhism according to the Dharmas. Descriptions the other shown hand-held attributes are found in Robert Beer's book The Handbook of Tibetan Symbols. The triangular diamond rock formation in the foreground represents the Source of Reality [Skt. Dharmadaya] within which the deities manifest & the principle of Trikaya arises. This is generated from emptiness by the syllable E which in Indian language is a Triangular shaped letter D.

Commentary

Yab-Yum is a Tibetan word meaning father-mother which describes Kalachakra in sexual union with his female consort Kalachakri. Yab-yum is generally understood to represent the primordial union of wisdom & compassion. In Buddhism the masculine form is active, representing either skilful means or compassion [Skt. Upaya] that should be developed for enlightenment. The feminine form is passive representing wisdom [Skt. Prajna]. United, the figures symbolize the union necessary to overcome the veils of Maya, the false duality of object & subject. Kalachakra is also a tutelary meditation[Skt. Ishtadevata; Tib. Yidam] deity.

Mantra of Kalachakra