The iconography of Tsong kha pa in the Bla ma mchod pa tshogs zhing, the spiritual feld for the accumulation of merits by offering and devotion to the Guru

In the dGe lugs Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Bla ma mchod pa – an ensemble of tantric literatures, liturgies, and meditative practices – is a particularly revered form of guruyoga related to the highest tantric systems of the yoganiruttara classes. One of the main instructions related to the Bla ma mchod pa is the visualization of the merit feld, the tshogs zhing. This concerns the visualization of a spiritual feld of masters and deities gathered together to bestow blessings and knowledge to the adept. The instructions related to the visualization of the tshogs zhing gave birth to complex artistic representations based on iconographies which are still relatively little studied. The reference fgure of the assembly of the tshogs zhing is Tsong kha pa Blo bzang Grags pa (1357-1419), the founder of the dGe lugs tradition, known in this context as Bla ma Blo bzang Thub dbang rDo rje ’chang. The fgure of the founder is characterized by special symbols, uncommon to other dGe lugs tantric or non-tantric meditation systems. The present paper intends to provide an iconological study of the artistic representation of Tsong kha pa as depicted in the Bla ma mchod pa’s tshogs zhings with special attention to the literary sources and oral instructions connected to that iconography