Black Ögyen Chenrézigs

Ögyen Chenrézigs

four-armed black Chenrézigs yab-yum

Ögyen Chenrézigs and Yeshé Tsogyel each hold a dorje (rDo rJe – vajra). The dorjes are depicted on a lotus blossom rather than being held. This is an iconographic method of depiction that is used in thangka painting when the mudra being performed by the yidam(s) is not one for holding an implement. The yidams are not performing a vajra-holding type of mudra, so the lotus allows the vajra to emerge. Ögyen Chenrézigs and Yeshé Tsogyel are performing the touching mudra which is related to their being the Buddhas of compassion.