Yama - the God of Death- one among the many faces of Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezi) - the Budha in Tibetan belief.
As god of the dead (Yama) and snarling monster Avalokiteshvara also holds the “wheel of life” in his claws, which is in truth a “death wheel” (a sign of rebirth) in Buddhism. Among the twelve fundamental evils etched into the rim of the wheel which make an earthly/human existence appear worthless can be found “sexual love”, “pregnancy” and “birth”.
In the world of appearances Yama represents suffering and mortality, birth and death. So much cruelty and morbidity is associated with this figure in the tantric imagination that he all but has to be seen as the shadowy brother of the Bodhisattva of mercy and love. Yet both Buddha beings prove themselves to be a paradoxical unit.
". Every Buddha and every Bodhisattva — tantric doctrine says — can appear in a peaceful and a terrible form. This is also true for the Bodhisattva of supreme compassion.."
(The Shadow of the Dalai Lama – Part II – 1. The Dalai Lama: Incarnation of the Tibetan Gods
© Victor & Victoria Trimondi)
photos taken from Tibetan Settlement Mungod, Uttara Kannada District, Mundgod, Karnataka.
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