Jnanatapa surrounded by lamas and mahasiddhas

Upon completion comes fulfillment.
With fulfillment comes liberation.
Liberation allows you to go on,
Even death is not a true ending.
Life is infinite continuation.

 

Always finish what you start.  That alone is discipline and wisdom enough.  If you can follow that rule, then you will be superior to most people.

When you come to the end of a cycle, a new one will begin.  You might say that completion actually begins somewhere in the middle of a cycle and that new beginnings are engendered our of previous actions.

Completing a cycle means fulfillment.  It means that you have achieved self-knowledge, discipline, and a new way of understanding yourself and the world around you.  You cannot stop there, of course.  New horizons are always there.  But you can reach out for those new vistas with fresh assurance and wisdom.

With each turn of the wheel you go further.  With each turn of the wheel you free yourself from the mire of ignorance.  With each turn of the wheel comes continuation.

Turn the wheel of your life.  Make complete revolutions.  Celebrate every turning.  And persevere with joy.
 
 

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Portrait of Jnanatapa surrounded by lamas and mahasiddhas,
ca. 1350  Tibet, Riwoche Monastery
Distemper on cloth; 27 x 21 1/2 in. (68.6 x 54.6 cm)
Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1987
Metropolitan Museum of Art
This painting of the Tantric practitioner Jnanatapa was created for Riwoche Monastery in eastern Tibet during the fourteenth century. Surrounding the central figure are the progenitors and abbots of Taklung Monastery, of which  Riwoche was a branch. The two latest historical figures, second from the top on both sides and identified by inscription, are (left) Onpo Lama Rinpoche (1251 to1296), the fourth abbot of Taklung and founder of Riwoche, and (right) his young disciple, Choku Orgyan Gonpo (1293 to1366), who became second abbot of Riwoche. Despite some intriguing clues, the identity of the central figure in this painting was a mystery until recently. When the painting  was uncovered in recent years, attached to it was a silk cloth inscribed  "Jnanatapa." The figure depicted under an arch, directly above the central figure and thus in the position where one would expect his teacher to be, is identified by inscription as Avagarbha. The identity of the central figure  became clear after reference to a chapter on Onpo Lama Rinpoche in a  Taklung history written by Ngawang Namgyal (1571 to1626), which includes an account of one of Onpo's previous lives in India. Ngawang Namgyal states that in his Indian incarnation, Onpo was "the peerless mahasiddha Jnanatapa" and his Tantric teacher was Avagarbha, a Bengali siddha in the tradition of Tilopa and Naropa. Remarkably, here we have a painting that illustrates the spiritual lineage of Riwoche Monastery, featuring at its center a  portrait of one of the Indian incarnations of its founder. Why Onpo's Indian incarnation should have been considered a worthy subject for portraiture is unclear, but one recalls the Tibetan concern for the purity of spiritual lineages, which often were judged by their unbroken links with respected Indian masters.