Tibetan Art
In the Buddhist art of India, Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet, yab-yum is the male deity in sexual union with his female consort. The symbolism is associated with Anuttarayoga tantra where the male figure is usually linked to compassion (karuṇā) and skillful means (upāya-kauśalya), and the female partner to 'insight' (prajñā).
The symbolism of union and sexual polarity is a central teaching in Tantric Buddhism, especially in Tibet. The union is realised by the practitioner as a mystical experience within one's own body. Yab-yum is generally understood to represent the primordial (or mystical) union of wisdom and compassion.
Tantric Buddhism is itself an outcrop of Tantrism, advanced techniques of which included 'the ritual sex act (Maithuna) which was a feature of Tantric yoga'. Given that 'sex is holy to a Tantric...Tantric art, writings and religious rituals glorify sex'.
Read more about this topic: Sexual Ritual
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