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Butter lamp

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Lamps traditionally burning clarified yak butter

This article is about the form of temple lighting. For the 2013 film directed by Hu Wei, seeButter Lamp. For the Festival, seeButter Lamp Festival.

A Tibetan pilgrim lighting ghee lamps in a sacred cave on the Tibet plateau

Preparing butter lamps atTakthok Monastery. 2010

Butter lamps orbutterlamps (Tibetan:དཀར་མེ་,Wylie:dkar me;simplified Chinese:酥油灯;traditional Chinese:酥油燈;pinyin:sūyóu dēng) are a common feature ofTibetan Buddhist temples andmonasteries throughout theHimalayas. The lamps traditionally burnclarified yak butter, but now often usevegetable oil orvanaspati ghee.

The butter lamps help to focus the mind and aidmeditation. According to theRoottantra ofCakrasaṃvara Tantra, "If you wish for sublime realization, offer hundreds of lights".^[1]

Pilgrims also supply lamp oil to gainmerit. The monks in the monastery manage the actual lamps, taking extreme care to avoid starting one of the devastating fires which have damaged many monasteries over the years. For safety, butter lamps are sometimes restricted to a separate courtyard enclosure with a stone floor.

Externally, the lights are seen to banish darkness. Conceptually, they convert prosaic substance into illumination, a transformation akin to the search forenlightenment.Esoterically, they recall the heat of thetummo yoga energy of theSix Yogas of Naropa, an important text forKagyu,Gelug, andSakya schools oftantric Buddhism.

References

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^Khandro

Wikimedia Commons has media related toButter lamps.

Butter

Types of butter

Dishes featuring butter

Butter-based sauces	Beurre blanc Beurre fondue Beurre monté Beurre noir Beurre noisette Café de Paris sauce
Compound butter	Beurre Maître d'Hôtel Truffle butter Garlic butter
Other	Butter cookie Butter tea Deep-fried butter Egg butter Fettuccine Alfredo List of butter dishes