Description
☛ INTRODUCTION TO THANGKA:
A thangka, variously spelled as a thangka, tangka, thanka, or tanka, is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk applique, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala. Thangkas are traditionally kept unframed and rolled up when not on display, mounted on a textile backing somewhat in the style of Chinese scroll paintings, with a further silk cover on the front. So treated, thangkas can last a long time, but because of their delicate nature, they have to be kept in dry places where moisture will not affect the quality of the silk.
☛ SAMANTABHADRA:
The image of Samantabhadra is one of the oldest & among the most complex Buddhism, because of its simplicity & because the figures bear no symbolic objects (accoutrements) which otherwise define the form. Yet most people realize that there is some profound underlying meaning behind the form. The represents the realization & flowering of pure consciousness. Owing to its simplicity, there are several Samantabhadra interpretations & meanings attached to the form.
The central concepts regarding the image
1. The original self which is perceived to be a pure awakened consciousness [Skt. bodhi]. The Awoken self [viz. spiritual nature] which realizes the delusion of the material world which is the common perception of reality & in doing so is liberated.
1b.Understanding of the sun & moon, which themselves represent time {place} & the human condition respectively.
2a. The eternal Present moment which from the Awoken Mind of bodhi realizes the union of the past, present & future.
3. The origin of all form out of which all form is derived & within to which all form dissolves into Nothingness. The nature of truth of reality, explored by the Buddhist Early Schools. These two leading schools are Sunyavada [aka. Madyamanka] & Yogacara. The realization of this truth of reality generates the Boddhi-sattva [the enlightened being of ‘pure consciousness’.
4. According to Vajrayana Buddhism all Deities & Dakinis arose out of Samantabhadra. This idea is especially connected ot the Dhyana Buddha Familiies of Amitabha, Akshobhya, Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasambhava & Vairochana 5. Bodhissatva & figure of the Lotus Sutra [Skt. Avatamsaka Sutra] made the 10 vows to guide a bodhisattva.
☛ USE OF REAL GOLD:
This thangka of The Way To Heaven has real gold painted on its surface along with other paints. This is an ancient process of decorating the thangka in Tibetan Buddhism, Here gold is ground into gold dust, which is then mixed with other undisclosed material to make it paintable on the canvas. this mixture is then mixed with transparent glue and painted on the thangka.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.