Tibetan Portable Mandala: Cundi Bodhisattva Thangka Gau – A Locket Holding the Wisdom of Three Generations of Buddhas
$1,800.00 USD
When your fingertips brush the silver frame of this Thangka Gau, you’re not just holding an accessory—you’re clutching a "portable Buddhist realm" passed down through Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism for millennia. Centered on Cundi Bodhisattva, it condenses the wisdom and compassion of three generations of Buddhas into a tiny, wearable mandala.
In the Tibetan Buddhist cosmology, a gau (a portable shrine locket) is never just a pendant: it’s a mobile altar, a "walking mandala" for life in the world. The soul of this gau is Cundi Bodhisattva, known as the "Bodhisattva of Seventy Million Buddhas"—an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara and revered as the "Mother of Buddhas of Three Generations." In the Vajrayana system, she is one of the rare supreme 本尊 (yidam) that "unites the five divisions of esoteric teachings": embodying the perfection of the Buddha Division, the majesty of the Vajra Division, and the purity of the Lotus Division. Within this small locket lies the core spirit of Tibetan esoteric practice.
The Yidam in a Locket: The Vajrayana Code in Eighteen Arms
Cundi Bodhisattva on this Thangka, depicted in her classic "three eyes and eighteen arms" form, unfolds the symbolic system of Vajrayana in vivid detail:
- Three Eyes, Three Realms: The Buddha Eye on her forehead sees the perfection of the Buddha Realm; the Dharma Eye in her left eye illuminates the true nature of the Dharma Realm; the Wisdom Eye in her right eye penetrates the karma of the worldly realm. These three eyes, opened together, embody the "equality of the three truths (wisdom, principle, and phenomenon)"—for the wearer, understanding this is like carrying a mirror of wisdom that "reveals the essence of afflictions."
- Eighteen Arms, Infinite Dharmas: Each arm holds a ritual tool, a skillful means for "saving sentient beings": the central hands form the Dharma-teaching mudra, directly breaking the attachments of greed, anger, and delusion in the human realm; the wisdom sword raised in the right hand is a "vajra weapon" to cut through ignorance; the lotus held in the left hand is a metaphor for "the inherent pure Buddha-nature of all sentient beings"; even the 108-bead mala twisted between her fingers corresponds to the esoteric meaning of overcoming 108 worldly afflictions.
These are not mere decorations—they are the Tibetan practitioners’ path of "entering nature through form." When you gaze at the arrangement of the eighteen arms, you connect with the Bodhisattva’s "union of wisdom and compassion"—an extension of Tibetan Vajrayana’s "visualization practice" into daily life, allowing faith to exist not just in temples, but in every moment.
A Mandala in Miniature: Faith Expressed Through Material and Craft
The frame of this gau is hand-chiseled with interlocking lotus patterns using aged silver—interlocking lotuses symbolize "innate purity" in Tibetan context, echoing the lotus seat of Cundi Bodhisattva in the Thangka. The Thangka itself is painted with mineral pigments: the turquoise robes use the calm hue of Tibetan lapis lazuli; the vermilion lotus seat takes the solemnity of cinnabar; even the lightly dyed cloud patterns in the background are tinted with natural orpiment to evoke the "auspiciousness of the Buddhist realm."
The core function of the gau—as a portable shrine—holds the Tibetan philosophy of life: in the past, herders placed scriptures and nectar pills inside; today, the wearer carries the wish to "subdue afflictions with wisdom." In Tibetan understanding, this is not the utility of a "protective charm," but the spiritual companionship of "aligning with the yidam."
When Tradition Meets Modernity: Dual Blessings in One Locket
In the secular sense, Cundi Bodhisattva is already the "wish-fulfilling yidam" in Tibetan Vajrayana: Tibetan elders say that wearing a Cundi gau can ward off adverse astrological influences and protect daily peace and well-being. On a spiritual level, this gau is a reminder that "afflictions are enlightenment"—when tangled in life’s trivialities, a glance at the Bodhisattva’s three eyes recalls the Vajrayana wisdom that "afflictions are inherently illusory."
It comes from Tibetan monasteries, yet fits the spiritual needs of modern people: you don’t need to master esoteric teachings to know that within this locket lies the wisdom of three generations of Buddhas, the belief that "all sentient beings can become Buddhas," and the Tibetan way of "abiding in the world with faith."
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Returns will be accepted for up to 10 days of Customer’s receipt or tracking number on unworn items. You, as a Customer, are obliged to inform us via email before you return the item.
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Returns will be accepted for up to 10 days of Customer’s receipt or tracking number on unworn items. You, as a Customer, are obliged to inform us via email before you return the item, only in the case of:
– Received the wrong item.
– Item arrived not as expected (ie. damaged packaging).
– Item had defects.
– Over delivery time.
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The returned product(s) must be in the original packaging, safety wrapped, undamaged and unworn. This means that the item(s) must be safely packed in a carton box for protection during transport, possibly the same carton used to ship to you as a customer.
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