Skip to main content
To her right are dakinis, goddesses who walk the skies, dancing with her. To her left, a tantric master, possibly Machik’s teacher, is blowing into a leg bone trumpet. A personification of the Perfection of Wisdom, the deity Prajnaparamita is above her among the buddhas, symbolizing that the realization of the empty nature of reality is what frees one from the attachment to self, the root cause of all suffering. Chod practitioners intentionally visualize in their mind’s eye their own bodies as offerings to the gods and spirits.
Machik Labdron (1055-1153)
OriginKham Province, Eastern Tibet
Date19th century
Dimensions44 5/8 × 24 3/4 × 1 1/4 in.
MediumPigments on cloth
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin
Object numberC2006.66.563
Himalayan Art Resources Number1045
DescriptionMachik Labrdon, a woman famous for her mastery of the tantric practice known as “cutting through ego” (chod), is shown adorned in bone ornaments, dancing to the sounds of her drum (damaru) and the bell she holds.To her right are dakinis, goddesses who walk the skies, dancing with her. To her left, a tantric master, possibly Machik’s teacher, is blowing into a leg bone trumpet. A personification of the Perfection of Wisdom, the deity Prajnaparamita is above her among the buddhas, symbolizing that the realization of the empty nature of reality is what frees one from the attachment to self, the root cause of all suffering. Chod practitioners intentionally visualize in their mind’s eye their own bodies as offerings to the gods and spirits.
19th century
ca. 16th - 17th century
early 20th century
ca. 16th century
20th century
19th century
12th century
early 19th century
18th-19th century
14th century