Liberation At Sight by wysiwig
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Description
For those who don't know, a Thanka is a religious painting on a scroll depicting deities, saints, Mandalas and Buddhist legends.
I thought you all might appreciate some closer detail of the great Thanka.
On the final day of the tshechu a giant tapestry of Guru Padmasambhava is unfurled. Called the Thongdrol this tapestry is one of the most sacred objects of Bhutanese Buddhism. Thongdrol literally means ‘liberation at sight' and it is said that glancing at the Thongdrol will wash away all sins and bless one for life. I now pass those blessings on to all of you.
Comments (13)
netot
Will print a copy to view every day;) Great capture and very interesting text, Mark!
Wolfenshire
Can you imagine the skill it took to make such a beautiful tapestry. I'm assuming it was hand made of course.
durleybeachbum
Amazing work!. It seems to be a most useful thing to have handy.
Faemike55
Great photos of this beautiful work of art. my good blessing follow you all the days of your life
auntietk
Beautiful! I love textiles, and this closer look is much appreciated.
AZBO
The work is amazing and greatly captured
sandra46
EXCELLENT SHOT AND THANKS FOR THE BLESSING! MARVELOUS SERIES AND INFO!
alanwilliams
utterly magical
JuliSonne
What a great work ...... there are also a multitude of sins. We are all only human. Thank you for absolution smile
ZanderXL
Much appreciated! Lord knows, I could do with a good cleansing now and then!
tennesseecowgirl
they are beautiful!
fantass
Sorry but your art is boring and just pictures .. No art at all
anahata.c
I once asked a yogi if I could be enlightened in a day, and he said, "it all depends on what you do in that DAY". I thought, "well, THAT'S helpful!" He sensed my disappointment---it wasn't hard, I was harumphing---and said: "It takes many lifetimes. It's not easy" I said, "what if we only have one lifetime?" I would've given him a standing ovation if he'd said "then you're in deep s___t, dude!" But he didn't. (Like that was likely.) He said, "Mark, don't worry about enlightenment: Be your best now. Find enlightenment in every moment you can. The big 'E' comes when it comes, just be your best." So while I'm not taking a thing away from all who feel they get liberation by looking at these phantasmagorical (and beautiful) tapestries, I like the idea of moments of enlightenment. At least for most of us. I assume capturing these (with your camera) weren't easy, as you'd have to maneuver to get good angles; but you got the typical array of deities and haloes, and a feeling of what these must look like in person, and "whole". And the stylized art is all here, and all the iconographies, etc...This has an almost story-book feeling to it, very stylized, very fairy-tale-like in its simple lines and depictions. Another moment from you, in short words and vivid image, to bring us into this world. In the Lotus Sutra, when Buddha finishes a big sermon, the sky opens up and deities---similar to the ones here---appear across the cosmos; and it says one could see the Buddhas of all ages preaching to their populations, across the sky, and flowers dropped to earth the size of hills, etc. (I take it buddha was a good speaker!) And one of the onlookers says something like, "wow!" (Only in ancient diction, and more formal---but it's basically, "wow". Wow---I don't know, if I saw all that I'd probably scream "eeeee-yowwwwwwww!" and run for shelter. (They were big flowers. Really big.) But the idea was that after real truth is revealed, the whole universe seems to join in; it dances. That's the feeling of these tapestries and of your description: Something beautiful is revealed, and the universe dances. Another eye opening entry from you, in this wholly revealing journey.