When we see events through the lens of a pure mind.

Transcendent Buddha Akshobhya. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

When we see events through the lens of a pure mind, we no longer experience the world as a battleground of opposing forces, where we must fight to secure our happiness and avoid suffering. Instead, we recognise that all events, whether pleasant or unpleasant, are part of the natural flow of life. They arise and pass away according to causes and conditions, and we can meet them with equanimity, knowing that they do not define us or our happiness.

This pure awareness is not detached or indifferent. It is deeply engaged with life, but it is not bound by the dualities of gain and loss, success and failure, pleasure and pain. It is an awareness that sees the fleeting nature of all things and, in doing so, responds with compassion, wisdom, and clarity. In this state of mind, every event, no matter how seemingly mundane or challenging, becomes an opportunity for insight and awakening.


Image: Transcendent Buddha Akshobhya.

Transcendent Buddha Akshobhya. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Akshobhya, the ‘Immovable One,’ is one of the classic subjects of early Tibetan painting, a representation of one of the five Transcendent Buddhas who presided in Vajrayana Buddhism. He embodies the pure mind that distinguishes (higher) reality from (material) illusion, symbolised by the power of the vajra sceptre he displays before his throne. He is understood to embody the highest expression of the power to pacify aggression and transmute it into wisdom. This painting functioned as one of a set of five such paintings, representing the five Transcendent Wisdom Buddhas, the Tathagatas, loosely translated as “those who have entered into [the truth of] highest perfection.” They were typically venerated in a mandala configuration, each assuming a specific iconographic form distinguished by directional orientation, body color and attributes. Akshobhya displays the vajra, serves as the protector of the East and is deep blue in complexion (‘like the ocean’). This is one the few surviving painting from a grand tradition of monastic cloth painting practiced in Tibet in the 13th through to the early 14th century.

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Click here to read more teachings on awareness.




Categories: Buddhism, Buddhist meditation, Everyday Buddhism, Mahayana, Tibetan Buddhism

Tags: , ,

4 replies

  1. Thank you so much for this priceless enlightening message 🙏🏽

    I like to know who posted this message.
    I can’t find the name of the writer.

Leave a reply to Buddhism Now Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.