Yab-Yum

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Yab-Yum (Father-Mother). The iconographical representation of two deities in ritualized intercourse (Skt., maithuna) in Tibetan Buddhism. Although such Tantric representations have a long Indian history, the Yab-Yum, with an active female astride and facing a passive male, is a peculiarly Tibetan style. While the function of the Yab-Yum is primarily as an instructive symbolism that may also serve as a basis for visualization, its actual enactment through the taking of Tantric consorts is not unknown.

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