The lama Tsongkhapa and the refuge field of the Gelug order

Seated upon a lotus rising like a tree from the primordial ocean, the lama Tsongkhapa—founder of the Dalai Lama’s Gelug order—reveals the vast scope of his lineage in the form of a refuge field (tshogs zhing). Refuge field paintings serve as the focus for religious practices in which the meditator “goes for refuge” (skyabs ‘gro) to the lineage of lamas the painting represents. This image has as its structural template a vast tree (shing) whose trunk can be seen at the bottom center of the painting. Above Tsongkhapa’s head rises a chain of teachers going all the way back to the most ancient of buddhas. Below and around him, in a series of concentric circles, Himalayan Buddhist deities rise in ascending ranks from the immense lotus supported by the tree.
These paintings allow worshippers to make offerings (mchod pa) to these same lamas, a practice that over time results in the accumulation of merit (bsod nams). Because the painting is thought to contain the essence of the teacher’s intelligence, to perform these rites before the painting is fully as effective as doing so in front of a living teacher.