Christian Luczanits presents some of the earliest depictions of Padmasambhava and explores their historical and religious contexts.
While Tibetan texts of some of Padmasambhava’s teachings are recorded in the Dunhuang material, depictions of Padmasambhava are considerably later and appear to become common only in the course of the thirteenth century. This lecture will present some of the earliest such depictions and explore their historical and religious contexts. It will also discuss the distinct appearance of the Precious Teacher in depictions up to the fifteenth century.