Saturday, August 6, 2016

The Living Encyclopedia of Tibet - Thangka Painting

In 1959 when the Chinese Communist invaded in Tibet and had destroyed a lot of monasteries, including many of the traditions treasures, holy statues and sacred manuscripts and Thangkas. In Tibet, the Thangkas are extremely sacred and it's so important and can be considered as a living Encyclopedia to the entire Vajrayana Buddhism. The Thangkas are used in temples & monasteries and as well can be hung above at the altars to support for our meditation and practices. 
Thangka is considered to convey a sacred message to the practitioners when meditating and looking attentively for a particular holy image. A Thangka could serve as a teaching of Buddha and every detail on it has a profound meaning and the painting refers to some parts of the Buddhist philosophy. A Buddha painting also helps the Buddhist meditations as it shows you how to visualize the Deity.

Thangka is a Tibetan silk painting with embroidery, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala of some sort. The Thangka is not a flat creation like an oil painting or acrylic painting , but consists of a picture panel, which is painted or embroidered over which a textile is mounted and then over which is laid a cover, usually silk. 
Generally, Thangkas last a very long time and retain much of their lustre, but because of their delicate nature, they have to be kept in dry places where moisture won't affect the quality of the silk. It is sometimes called a scroll-painting. Thangka performs several different functions. Images of deities can be used as teaching tools when depicting the life of the Buddha, describing historical events concerning important Lamas, or retelling myths associated with other deities. 
Overall, and perhaps most importantly, religious art is used as a meditation tool to help bring one further down the path to enlightenment. 

You can now easily learn more and can download it from iTunes here for about this astonishingly beautiful Tibetan Thangka of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Deity, Dakini, Guru Rinpoche.


Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turning the Dharma wheels in the world. 

Dedication of Merit
By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.
Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.
May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.
With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

Note
I do not own or violated any infringement of copyright of these pictures, Pictures courtesy and credit to the rightful owners.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.