Shenlha Ökar
Bön · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Shenlha Ökar (gShen-lha 'od-dkar), the 'gShen-god of White Light', is among the most important peaceful deities of the Bön religion of Tibet. In the standard Bön theology described by Per Kværne he is 'the God' within the tetrad of Four Transcendent Lords, alongside the goddess Satrig Ersang, the procreator Sangpo Bumtri, and the teacher Tönpa Shenrab. He embodies compassion and luminous wisdom, is depicted as a serene white figure radiating light, and is regarded as the source from which Shenrab descended into the human world as teacher.
Domains
- light
- compassion
Powers
- to send forth enlightened emanations into the world to teach beings
- to dispel darkness and suffering with radiant white light
Epithets
Relations
- companion: Satrig ErsangBoth belong to the divine tetrad of the Four Transcendent Lords heading the peaceful Bön pantheon.Per Kværne, The Bon Religion of Tibet: The Iconography of a Living Tradition, 1995 (secondary)
- companion: Sangpo BumtriFellow member of the Four Transcendent Lords.Per Kværne, The Bon Religion of Tibet: The Iconography of a Living Tradition, 1995 (secondary)
- creator of: Tönpa Shenrab MiwocheIn Bön doctrine the teacher Tönpa Shenrab is regarded as the emanation in the human world sent forth from the compassion of Shenlha Ökar.Per Kværne, The Bon Religion of Tibet: The Iconography of a Living Tradition, 1995 (secondary)
Sources
- Shenlha Ökar, the 'gShen-god of White Light', is the principal peaceful god of compassion in Bön and one of the Four Transcendent Lords, from whom the teacher Tönpa Shenrab emanates.: Per Kværne, The Bon Religion of Tibet: The Iconography of a Living Tradition, 1995 (secondary); David L. Snellgrove, The Nine Ways of Bon, 1967 (secondary)