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TIBETAN THANGKA OF THE BUDDHA MANDALA !!!! GORGEOUS!!!!!BY VIBEK LAMA!!!! |
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| Item condition: | New | |
| Item location: | Nepal | |
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| Price: | US $ 1045 Sold! |
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| Shipping: |
Estimated delivery within 7-10 business days
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The Buddha Mandala
(The cosmos of the enlightened vision)
The word Buddha in Sanskrit means “to be awakened” to a primordial reality of radiant compassion and self-existing wisdom. Expressed in art, Buddhas are not objects of worship, but mirrors of our innermost being, icons of the journey from ignorance to illumination.
Although the painting draw from traditional Buddhist iconography, the practitioner or Buddhist scholar who searches through the Sadhanamala and other scriptures for the textual sources of these paintings will be disappointed. These paintings represent the school of contemporary Nepalese art that could almost be called postmodern: they adopted the visual components of an ancient iconographical tradition and present them in new context unconstrained by religious and artistic conventions.
Mandalas and other forms of Buddhist art have always been used as supports for religious contemplation, redirecting the mind from the world of conventional appearances to celestial realms veiled form ordinary awareness. Through their rich colors, symmetry, and proportions, Buddhist mandalas harness the discordant energies of mind and universe and reveal and underlying if unseen reality. At the center of this “cosmos of enlightened vision” is a representation of the Buddha –the awakened consciousness of our innermost being. The gilded walls and roofs of a celestial palace radiate outward from this sacred center, expressing the fully realized nature of the human mind and body-the arena of enlightenment. The petals of an unfolding lotus support further Buddha emanations, each adopting different hand gestures, or mudras, indicating states of enlightened intention. These thirty-six celestial forms recall the renowned assembly of thirty-five Buddhas of repentance and purification. The our rings of stylized clouds and fire, in turn, inscribed by vignettes of the eight charnel grounds renowned in Tantric traditions as optimal environments of awakening from life illusions. They are rarely illustrated in mandalas of peaceful Buddhist deities.
This mandala of liberated vision contains in seed from all elements of the celestial gallery whether wrathful, ecstatic, or blissfully serene, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas that in habit this book of visions draw on traditional iconographical sources, but ultimately transcend them. These postmodern thangkas, or scroll paintings, boldly express the spirit of tradition growing beyond its conventional forms. The paintings originate in the creative spirit contemporary Himalayan artists who draw from the past to enrich the present. Incongruent colors and compositions take on new meaning (or break free of meaning) in an exuberant world of meticulous detail.
This is a representation of Mandala of Buddha Shakyamuni followed by two disciples that I have seen rarely, and in fact I like this very much. This one is the finest quality that I have and it is done with gradation technique on sky, hills, clouds, wave of river, flowers and temple walls. This painting is painted with 24 karat gold and gold detail has details within detail. Because of the difficulty of making these gradation, the extremely beautiful detail, and the number of finely done figures, this one is priced quite high, but is definitely worth it!!! There are 4 guardian kings at four gates of mandala and 35 Buddhas of confession surrounding the circle of the Mandala. Top left - Future Buddha, Maitreya followed by Buddhist scholar Atisa and one other lama. Top center- Je Tsonkhapa with two sons, Gyaltsab je and khedrup je. Top right - Amitava followed with two Bodhisattva. There is Milarepa, great yogi of Tibet, is also can find with in rocky mountain in this painting and many beautiful sceneries are also included in this painting. The artist is Vibek Lama of Nepal. Don't judge the quality of a thangka by whether the artist is known or not, or if it is signed or not. It is only recently that some artists have begun to sign their works of sacred art in response to what is done in the West, and an increasing market of Westerners. It is also a misconception that an artist who has "Lama" in his name is a monk or a monastic. This is not the case. The majority of Tamang, and Sherpa artists in the Kathmandu Valley have taken the name "Lama" after they receive some formal education in Buddhism or they are family members within Lama family.
Measures about 19 inches by 27 inches, excluding the outermost red border.
This thangka is not mounted in brocade but we are able to provide brocade mountings for our thangkas at very reasonable prices. The finest quality Varanasi brocade is available. It will take a while to get the mounting done, but it will be good practice in patience!
We
strive to provide the best quality thangkas. They are all original paintings done with mineral pigments and pure gold paint on canvas. Please compare the detailed photos of my thangkas to other thangkas available on internet to determine the quality.
We
want to make clear that in no way, shape or form do we represent ourselves as an expert on Tibetan iconography or thangka painting. We are just a beginner in understanding this profound art form. If there is any kind of problem, let us know. We will never knowingly misrepresent anything we are producing and selling. There is always the chance that we may have been fooled ourselves, but will try to correct the situation if that ever happens. Please contact us if you think we have been misled. We also don't try to exaggerate the colors or contrast in my photos to make them more appealing.
The best way to determine if it is an original painting is to hold it up to a bright light or the sun. You will clearly see different thicknesses of paint and some brush strokes. They are all on cotton canvas, but they are treated with a layer of gesso (like plaster of paris or gypsum) and rubbed smooth. Some of them are so smooth you cannot see the individual fibers. To prove to yourself that the painting is on canvas, try ripping the corner of the border area and you will see threads.
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