The subtle body is probably the most important subject of Tantric art. It illustrates the structure of the inner human body, used in yogic Sadhana (ones effort towards spiritual achievement), which has the same Tantric double value. From the aspect of Genesis it is the means by which the world is made real around him for every individual. It is thus closely analogous to the cosmic body. From another aspect, that of Sadhana, it is the fundamental mechanism by which the individual can work on the reconciliation between what he may think of as spirit and matter, as subject and object, or as Sankhya calls it ‘I’ and ‘That’. Tibetan Buddhist practitioners assert that there is a significant difference between their pattern of the subtle body and the normal Hindu one. However, the two systems definitely share the same fundamental ideas and both demand an intensive culture of the body and its faculties. Some orders of Hindu yogis carry such a culture to the extremes of possibility.

The details of the subtle body mechanism are as follows: Along the Susumna Nadi ( the central channel of the spinal column through which cosmic energy flows) are strung a series of Mandala discs; these are often known as Chakras or wheels and they are usually represented in art as open lotuses with differing numbers of petals. Hindu and Buddhist systems vary in the number of Chakras they recognize. Hinduism knows a basic six, Buddhism sometimes confines itself to five. In more elaborate Hindu systems a number of Chakras maybe developed in the divine realm above the highest Chakra in the human subtle body beyond the head. The basic six can easily be discovered by a modest act of introspection. They are in fact a special type of Yantra ( a diagrammatic representation or embodiment of a metaphysical energy, the visual partner of Mantra, the audio concentration of metaphysical energy).

Age: 19th Century.

Dimensions: Frame 52.5 x 39cm, Image 39 x 25cm.