“Lord Yama’s Mirror”
Inspired by Lord Yama, the Vedic “God of Death & Karmic Judgement”
There is a moment described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead (in the third Bardo), where, after death, in the transition from this shell to the next, we meet Lord Yama. He greets us with a mirror, this mirror reflects all of our actions upon us, good and bad. We are faced with a moment of judgement, forced to experience the weight of all of our unresolved Karma at once.
Since most of us have done actions that we are not proud of, we begin to run away from the Mirror, in hopes to escape an unavoidable truth, an imbalanced Karma where we’ve done more bad than good.
As we scale the astral planes running from the omnipresent mirror we seek refuge in nooks where we can hide, and since the Mirror is unescapable, we find a corner where curl into fetal position plagued with surrender.
This is the moment we are born into the next shell, as a cradled fetus.
There are some who have practiced resolving their Karma in their lifetime, and those are unafraid of the Mirror and greet Lord Yama with acceptance. These few are known to break the cycle of reincarnation (samsara) and join Lord Yama as a force of nature, and simply become energy itself.
“Lord Yama’s Mirror” is a contemporary take on ancient Vedic text taught throughout Buddhism and Hinduism. From afar this work may seem as a pure abstraction but as you closer the layers begin to reveal themselves.
Please take some time with this work, zoom, sit with it and allow the form to reveal itself.
Hari Om🕉️🙏🏾
“Lord Yama’s Mirror”
72” x 56”
Oils Acrylics Pastel on Canvas
(2026)