November 05, 2012

སྟོན་པའི་བྲིས་སྐུ་ཐོག་མ།

Again according to some Tibetan sources the first ever image of the Buddha to be made is what has been designated by Tibetans as Thub-pa-chu-len-ma (“The Sage’s [Image] Taken/Traced [from his reflection in] Water”). See the Ri mo’i rnam gzhag (p. 500). As in the case of Thub-sku-’od-zer-ma (see our entry), although historically one can hardly produce evidence that the image of the Buddha existed or originated already during the Buddha’s time, the idea ought to be found in Indian sources. It is unclear to me which one, Thub-pa-chu-len-ma or Thub-sku-’od-zer-ma, is conceived of to be earlier and hence the first. 


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