Aro Yeshé
the lineal tiger seat of the Aro gTér Lamas
Aro Yeshé sits on a tiger skin in the tradition of Aro Lingma – but in this depiction the tiger has a ‘living head’ which roars as a symbol of the manifestation of Aro Lingma’s gTérma cycle.
Khandro Déchen comments:
Many Tibetan woven carpets which depict tigers do so showing a ‘living head’ in order to display the fact that the tiger is not the result of hunting. One does not sit on a tiger skin to display one’s prowess as a hunter of tigers – but rather to display the qualities of the tiger in terms of one’s enlightened nature. The tiger in the case of the Aro gTér is always a symbol of
Tashi Chhi’drèn who was the tiger upon whom Dorje Tröllö rode.
Jomo Pema ’ö-Zér – the incarnation of Tashi Chhi’drèn – was the mother of Khyungchen Aro Lingma. According to Jomo Chhi’mèd Pema, Khyungchen Aro Lingma was the child with whom Tashi Chhi’drèn was pregnant when she manifested the
tigress form with Dorje Tröllö. It is for this reason therefore that all the Aro gTér Lamas sit on tiger
skins.
