The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa: Volume Seven (48 page)

There are three predominant schools of Tibetan thangka painting. The Kadam (Tt.: bka’ gdams), the early classical school, shows simplicity, spaciousness, and basic richness. Menri (Tt.: sman ris), the later classical school, originated in the fifteenth century with an artist known as Menla Töndrup (Tt.: sman bla don grub) from a family of great physicians. Its style maintains the simplicity and spaciousness with a greater emphasis on richness of detail, there being more Persian influence. New Menri (T.: Mensa; Tt.: sman gsar), a later development of the Menri school in the late seventeenth century, is quite, one might say, baroque and overwhelmingly colorful, perhaps intimidatingly rich. There is a great emphasis on curves at the expense of straight lines and very little open space. The third main school, the Karma Gardri (Tt.: karma sgar bris) school was developed in the sixteenth century, mainly by the eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje (Tt.: mi bskyod rdo rje, 1507–1554). This style was further elaborated by the renowned master Chökyi Jungne (Tt.: chos kyi ’byung gnas, 1700–1774), the eighth Tai Situ (Tt.: Ta’i Situ) and founder of Palpung (Tt.: dpal’ spung) in the area of rupas (sculptured images). The Karma Gardri style is clear and precise, spacious and, in places, rich. It shows marked Chinese influence, evidenced by the use of pastel colors and prominent stylized features of landscape.

The art of thangka painting was a family trade, passed on from father to son in a long apprenticeship. When a thangka, a fresco, or the embellishment of a monastery was commissioned, the master was accompanied in the work by a group of students, including his sons. The master and his apprentices were welcomed with a feast and there was a weekly feast for them for as long as it took to complete the work. They were presented with gifts at various times, usually at the time of the feasts. They were paid in commodities, such as cattle, quantities of butter, cheese, grain, jewelry, or clothes.

The traditional support for a thangka is white linen. Silk was used on rare occasions. This cloth, the re shi (Tt.: ras gzhi, “cloth background”), is stretched on a wooden frame. It is then prepared with a base of chalk mixed with gum arabic. The first step is a freehand charcoal sketch by the master. The charcoal is made by baking wood of tamarisk in a metal tube. The master then goes over the sketch in black ink and marks the various areas according to the colors that are to be put in by the apprentices.

Traditionally, blue is made from ground lapis lazuli, red is vermilion from cinnabar; yellow is made from sulfur, green is from tailor’s greenstone. Pink is made from flower petals and, more recently, also from cosmetics imported from China or India.

To make a brush, the tip of a stick, usually tamarisk or bamboo, is dipped in glue. The artist carefully places the hairs, one by one. Best is the hair of the sable or of a small Himalayan wildcat called sa (Tt.: gsa’). Ideally, the hair should be pulled from the tail of a live animal, since thus it remains more resilient. The hairs having been placed on the stick, they are bound by a silk thread, also dipped in glue.

When the basic colors are filled in by the apprentices, the master goes over the work, shading with lighter colors derived from flowers and vegetables. Finally he retouches with gold. An apprentice burnishes the gold with a roundpointed instrument made from an agate.

Traditionally, the eyes of the deities were left for last so they could be painted in at a special celebration called “opening the eyes.”

When the painting is completed it is mounted on cloth. Originally there were two borders, one of red brocade, one of blue. Later yellow brocade also became acceptable and the modern style has three brocade borders, yellow, red, and blue. In the center of the borders below the painting is placed a square of particularly elaborate brocade, which is known as the “door.” In some sense the brocade borders represent an edifice which houses the world of the painting. The “door” provides an entrance into that world.

The thangkas are covered for protection with red and yellow silk veils, red and yellow being the colors used for the clothing of the sangha (community of the dharma). Two red ribbons hang over the veils. These are known as lung non (Tt.: rlung gnon), “wind holders.” These ribbons hark back to the time when thangkas were hung in tents and wind required them to be tied against the wall. The rolling sticks at the bottom of the brocade are finished with gold or silver knobs.

Occasionally thangkas were done in silk appliqué or embroidered on silk.

Sculptured images in the traditional manner are first modeled in sealing wax (T.: be; Tt.: ’bes). Clay is molded onto a wax image and the wax melted away. The metal cast in the clay molds is usually pure copper. Very old images are found to have been cast in bell metal, a mixture of copper, silver, and pewterlike alloys. Once cast, the images are gilded. Then they are often highlighted with painted colors. Ornaments are sometimes inlaid with jewels and, quite frequently, the hair, lips, and eyes are touched with color. There is a special “opening of the eyes” ceremony, just as with thangkas, when the eyes are painted in. The images are hollow and after the “eye-opening” they are consecrated in a ceremony which involves filling them with relics and mantras. Before the bottom is sealed, as the very last thing, grains of precious stones are put into the image to add a sense of basic richness. It is on account of this practice that images have frequently been broken into by those hoping to find valuable gems.

As a social phenomenon, making images was much the same as thangka painting. The art and lore were passed down in families and through apprenticeship. A sculptor and his apprentices having come to a monastery to provide it with a new treasure, were feted, given gifts, and paid just as were the thangka painters.

It is widely thought that thangka painting is a form of meditation. This is not true. Though all the thangkas have religious subjects, most of the artists were and are laypeople. As has been said, the art is passed down in families. It is true that a master thangka painter has a knowledge of iconographical detail that might easily awe a novice monk. Naturally, also, artists have a sense of reverence for the sacredness of their work. Nevertheless, the painting of thangkas is primarily a craft rather than a religious exercise. One exception is the nyin thang (“one-day thangka”) practice in which, as part of a particular sadhana, while repeating the appropriate mantra, uninterruptedly, without sleeping, a monk paints a thangka in one twenty-four hour period.

Thangkas were painted on commission for noteworthy social occasions: for the welfare of a newly born infant, for the liberation of one just dead, at the commencement of some new project. Often artistically inclined gurus or abbots painted thangkas to glorify their lineages or convey the richness or inspiration of their tradition.

Thangkas are used as objects of adoration, but mainly as a means to refine a meditative visualization. They are displayed over shrines which are bedecked with butter lamps, incense and offerings, and ritual objects of many kinds. Thangkas of the lives of saints are displayed for the celebrations of holidays associated with them. Special thangkas painted by great teachers of particular lineages are also hung for yearly ceremonies. Practitioners hang the thangkas of their yidams or gurus over the shrines in their rooms as constant reminders of their presence. Formal rooms were hung with thangkas in Tibet to receive important guests such as kings, government officials, or eminent spiritual teachers. Sometimes thangkas hung in the audience halls of local rulers.

Thangkas were never bought or sold, but changed hands only as gifts.

E
LEMENTS OF
I
CONOGRAPHY

Thangkas and other forms of Tibetan art express the vision of tantric Buddhism. The subjects they depict are definite elements in that view of the world.

Thangkas and sculptured images fall into six general categories according to their subject matter: (1) enlightened beings, (2) yidams, (3) dharmapalas, (4) mandalas and stupas, (5) illustrations of the teaching, (6) yantras.

The iconography of tantric Buddhism, as all other aspects of it, is inspired by the teaching of the five buddha principles: vajra, ratna, padma, karma, buddha. These are the five basic energies present everywhere. They are often known as the buddha families. Each is particularly associated with a certain ordinary emotion which can be transmuted into a certain definite wisdom or aspect of the awakened state of mind. The buddha families are also associated with colors, elements, directions, seasons, landscapes—with any aspect of the phenomenal world.

As has been said, thangkas are mainly for the purpose of refining visualization, which is a tantric or vajrayana meditation technique. The vajrayana is the third and most advanced level of Buddhist spiritual training. To arrive at this stage, students are expected first to undergo intellectual and meditative training on the hinayana and mahayana levels. In hinayana they must understand the basic truths of egolessness, impermanence, and suffering as well as practice shamatha and vipashyana meditation. In mahayana, a competent master must show them a different way of seeing reality, from the perspective of shunyata, or emptiness.

At this point, tantric practice begins with the four foundation practices: one hundred thousand prostrations, one hundred thousand repetitions of the refuge formula, one hundred thousand repetitions of the one-hundred-syllable Vajrasattva mantra, one hundred thousand presentations of mandala offerings. Some schools also add one hundred thousand repetitions of the bodhisattva vow. All of these tantric practices are accompanied by a visualization.

Visualization is not a magical practice nor worship of an external deity. It is a process of identification with a particular principle of inspiration and energy, with conviction in its presence. The visualization is preceded and terminated by the shunyata experience, which dissolves the ego’s tendency to hang on to something solid. It has been said that visualizing without shunyata is dangerous; it accumulates fixed ground for ego and leads to the achievement of egohood.

There is a progress of sophistication in the practice of visualization as the practitioner develops through the tantric levels of teaching. It begins with regarding what is visualized as an object of devotion; the process then becomes the acknowledgment of a transcendental presence; finally visualization means unifying with the wisdom body of a deity.

Enlightened Beings

Thangkas of buddhas, gurus, and bodhisattvas all fall into this category. Such figures are visualized in order to identify with the lineage of spiritual transmission from teacher to disciple, to surrender and to take refuge.

Taking refuge is a process of freeing oneself from the notion of an external refuge. It is often said in the Buddhist scriptures that one should not take refuge in an external god or in external protectors, material or psychological, such as parents, relatives, or wealth. Instead one should take refuge in the guru-buddha, the embodiment of the dharma, which is the nature of reality itself. Surrendering means becoming an empty vessel, becoming emotionally ready to receive the teaching.

Buddhas.
There are three types of buddhas: nirmanakaya buddhas, sambhogakaya buddhas, dharmakaya buddhas. The main nirmanakaya buddhas are the “buddhas of the three times,” that is, the buddha of the past age, Dipankara; the buddha of the present age, Shakyamuni; and the buddha of the future age, Maitreya. The nirmanakaya buddhas are those having human bodies and generally sharing the human condition. They wear the three robes of a monk, signifying the complete attainment of discipline, meditation, and wisdom. Their hair is surmounted by an unadorned topknot.

Sambhogakaya buddhas are the yidams (
see below).
There are two dharmakaya buddhas to be found in the iconography. Samantabhadra (T.: Kuntu Zangpo; Tt.: kun tu bzang po), not to be confused with the bodhisattva of the same name, is the dharmakaya buddha according to the Old Translation school. He is depicted naked, symbolizing the formlessness and simplicity of the dharmakaya. He wears the topknot, is dark in color, and holds his hands in the meditation mudra. Vajradhara (T.: Dorje Chang; Tt.: rdorje chang) is the dharmakaya buddha according to the New Translation school. He appears wearing sambhogakaya garments and ornaments, the same as those of the peaceful yidams. Samantabhadra and Vajradhara are the primordial buddhas, who represent the totally unconditioned quality of enlightened mind. According to the New Translation school, Shakyamuni took the form of Vajradhara to teach the tantras.

Bodhisattvas.
The bodhisattvas depicted in the iconography are the bodhisattva mahasattvas, the “great bodhisattvas.” They are disciples of the Buddha Shakyamuni on the sambhogakaya level, ideal figures who are the complete expression of bodhisattvahood. Each according to his nature works ceaselessly to bring enlightenment to all sentient beings. They also act as spokesmen for sentient beings to the nirmanakaya buddhas. Often, it is said, sentient beings are too confused even to seek the teachings; therefore the bodhisattvas approach the buddhas, asking that they turn the wheel of dharma. They also wear the garments and ornaments of the peaceful yidams, but in the manner of princes rather than kings. Examples are Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, and Tara.

Gurus.
The guru thangkas show the accomplishments, powers, and attributes of the great teachers. For example, Guru Rinpoche appears wearing several different layers of clothing. He wears the white under-robe of vajrayana; over that he wears the three robes of a hinayana monk. Outside these he wears a blue kimono-type gown (T.: per; Tt.: ber), a vermilion cloak, and lotus hat. The gown, cloak, and hat are the costume of a king representing the universal monarch of mahayana. These garments signify that he has accomplished all three yanas and can manifest to his students on whichever of these levels is appropriate.

Other gurus are depicted wearing the robes appropriate to their lifestyle of yogi, monk, or pandit. They hold in their hands the appropriate attributes: a gold wheel for power, sword and book for pandit, begging bowl for monk, skullcup for yogi, etc. The richness of the lineage and the teaching is symbolized by highly ornamented robes and richness of detail.