Samvara   At one time or another almost all the gods of Tibet are shown in intercourse in sculpture or painting. Here is one of the best of those Shakta-Shakti, Yab-Yum (father-mother) paintings. The subject of these paintings is very recondite and not about sex at all. These artists have translated a discussion of spirit and matter -- or object and subject, or verb and noun -- into terms that might be understood by human beings. This example is one of the most powerful images of this force that exists. It strikes a living center and its grasp of the essentials is immediate. Any viewer will know this, for it is dynamic and moves with a wind and a sound of its own. There is another kind of heat that is unknown and this the Tibetans felt would allow a cosmic fluidity to flow. This would be both venom and nectar, which would result in a complete involvement resulting in an explosive change, a change in the midst of storms and lightning. These crackle through this painting. There, in this kind of revelation that the Buddhist felt could come from meditating on this art, he would discover infinite bliss and realize the basic vajra (lightning) nature of himself and his beliefs. This he shows with these flames circles containing god figures wrapped in elephant and tiger skins. Opposites are united -- how difficult it is to see where one figure begins or ends! -- and in this intensity a stillness is created and a oneness. The ferocity of Tibetan art was in pursuit of this moment when being and nonbeing exist simultaneously as the sum of all things and all circumstances. The artist wanted to grasp that point where man was in complete unity with the universe. Next
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