I was listening to my favorite podcast as I drove home from a retreat last month. In a reversal of roles, On Being host Krista Tippett was
At a distance, the monumental nine-panel painting appears to be an explosion of black calligraphic brushstrokes and electric neon-toned splashes. Wakana Kimura’s (b. 1978) work CHARACTER is a
“Whoever speaks in primordial images speaks with a thousand voices; he enthralls and overpowers, while at the same time he lifts the idea he is
A member of the Bhutanese Royal Family, Princess Ashi Kesang Choden T. Wangchuck is executive director of Bhutan’s Thangka Conservation Center and a scholar of
The Mogao Caves, located near Dunhuang in the Gobi Desert in northwest China, comprise nearly 500 Buddhist cave temples dating from the 4th to the
Art for art’s sake has never been an overriding motivation in Tibetan culture or Tibetan Buddhism. For example, we can understand thangka painting, the sacred art of
Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has become renowned internationally for his colorful, smiling flowers, his anime-inspired paintings and sculptures that range in style from erotic to
Thangka paintings are Tibet’s most plentiful and portable form of sacred art. Less known and rarely seen are the highly prized appliqué thangkas. In fact, when I
The Medicine Buddha is a healing Buddha from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Many cultures have healing deities or rituals, and the Medicine Buddha is a
Visually, there are two forms of language: one that has to be learned and one that communicates directly with the other-than-conscious part of our mind.
The Longmen Grottoes, whose name translates into English as “Dragon’s Gate Grottoes,” are located along a one-kilometer stretch of cliffs on either side of the
The Wheel of Life and Death is a central concept and image in Buddhist understanding. Escaping the Wheel of Life and Death is a Buddhist
