ABSTRACT
Consider the Tibetan Paramasukha-Chakrasamvara painted cloth icon (tangka) of the late fifteenth to early sixteenth century in the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Private Collection. This icon represents the Buddha as the union of Father and Mother, which is to say, the union of Compassion and Wisdom. One commentator writes:
Wisdom comes through experiencing the perfect ‘transparency’ of the self, which leads to utter freedom from self-concern. Such transparency of self gives a clear view of others; such freedom from self-concern makes room for concern for others. Wisdom is the bliss of seeing through the delusion
of self-preoccupation to reveal the underlying dimension of freedom. Compassion is the expression of such bliss to others. Compassion is also sensitivity to others’ suffering. It sees them imprisoned in selfinvolvement, and reaches out to show the way to freedom.1
