Magazine issue:
Special issue. THE ART OF BUDDHISM
Literally, lineage is a line. But a line of what? For Tibetan Buddhist tradition lineage is something that is understood. But if we are trying to explain it to a wider audience then we can say that lineage, for example, provides authenticity. To give a further explanation: if you find a painting by some great master, what proves that it is indeed that painting? You know that it came from this family, and then it went from them to another, and then to another. If you have something that authenticates the painting from the time when it was painted until the present, then it has authenticity, and also it has potency. And then, for example, there is a blessing in that. If it is a painting, it is worth something.
Literally, lineage is a line. But a line of what? For Tibetan Buddhist tradition lineage is something that is understood. But if we are trying to explain it to a wider audience then we can say that lineage, for example, provides authenticity. To give a further explanation: if you find a painting by some great master, what proves that it is indeed that painting? You know that it came from this family, and then it went from them to another, and then to another.
