The great adept Dombipa

Yoga practice can present an image of serious focus and austerity, but the practitioners who transmitted yoga from India to Tibet can look anything but austere. This painting depicts a number of these "eighty-four successful ones (siddha)"—yogis who have achieved supernatural powers that allow them to cross conventional boundaries and alter ordinary reality.

Fantastic, often symbolic imagery depicts the ability of "successful ones" to transform experience. At the top left of the second row, for example, appears the siddha Virupa. His name, which means "The Distorted One," refers simultaneously to his physical appearance and to his ability to twist reality. Apart from its edgy depiction of "successful ones," this painting is remarkable for the scope of yoga postures, practices, and personalities depicted.