Guru Rinpoche is considered the second Buddha by the Tibetans. In the Seventh Century CE he brought Buddhism to the land of Tibet, founded the Nyingma lineage and is said to have conquered many the local deities that opposed him and turned them into Dharma Protectors. He was a magician in addition to a greatly realized Dharma practitioner and is almost always depicted with a magician’s staff with three heads on it and in this picture a trident top. His right hand is in the dispelling of negative forces mudra in which he hold a dorje and in his left had he hold a skull cup of Amrita. He was not born of parents but rather was found by the king of Orgyen the size of an eight year old boy in a lotus flower in a lake. He was given the name Padmasambhava (emanation of a lotus) This painting shows the lake and miraculous lotus flower with the mountains of Tibet on his right.

In this very detailed picture Guru Rinpoche is best seen as a large photo and pictures in dispelling obstacle pose (not Konchog Chidu pose) with his two consorts--Mandarava and Yeshe Tsogyal. Below is Mahakala and Guru Drakpo as protectors. Above are the seven emanations of Guru Rinpoche. He is arising out of the lotus lake and on the left are the mountains of Tibet and the right the mountains of India where he came from.

To either side of Guru Rinpoche are his two consorts ––queen Mandarava that was his wife before coming to Tibet and Yeshe Tsogyal his second wife who it is said was the first Tibetan to reach enlightenment.

Around Guru Rinpoche are his eight phases or emanations of his life. At the top going from picture's left to right (not counting Chenrezig and Amitabha: (1) Loden Chokse, (2) Nyima Ozer, (3) Orgyan Dorje Chang, (4) Shakya Senge, (5) Pema Jungne, (6) Pema Gyalpo and at bottom blue Senge Dradog and red Dorje Drolo.

Directly above Guru Rinpoche is Chenrezig because Guru Rinpcohe is considered an emanation of Chenrezig and above that is the Amitabha Buddha who represents the buddha family Chenrezig comes from.

All of these photos are very high quality (300 dpi) and free of copyright restrictions. 

You can download the medium size (4 by 6 inches) or the large size (8 x 10 inches) or both.

You can also order a print of this photo in the Dharma Photos section of this website.