Guyhasamaja Thangka

The name Guhyasamaja (gsang-ba ’dus-pa) means “the assembly of hidden or secret factors.” Guhya (gsang-ba) means “secret,” and samaja (’dus pa) means an “assembly.” Guhyasamaja is one of the most important tantric deity of esoteric practice in Gelug tradition. The practice of Guhyasamaja is of significance for the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism and to the Lineage of the Dalai Lamas. In its fullest form, it consists of seventeen chapters, though a separate "explanatory tantra" known as the Later Tantra is sometimes considered to be its eighteenth chapter. Guhyasamaja is considered one of the oldest, if not the oldest, tantra systems to surface in written form in India. And within the classification of tantra, the way that it’s classified in the so-called New Translation period (gSar-ma) is anuttarayoga tantra, which means that it’s dealing with the systems of the subtle body – chakras, channels, winds, these sorts of things – in order to gain access to the subtlest level of mental a