Publication: Yogini's Eye by Sonam Tsemo

This is an excellent new publication that discusses in detail the system of Buddhist Tantra as understood by Lobpon Sonam Tsemo. The Yogini's Eye is quite technical and a slow read. Have patience.

Oxford Conference

This should be an interesting weekend. I am flying to Oxford, England, for a two day conference on life writing. Yes, I had to look it up as well. It will be about Tibetan life writing. It turns out it is a fancy word for biography.

I will keep you posted as the weekend and conference progresses. However, before that, I really have to write a Tricycle Blog entry and send it off once I land in Heathrow in the morning. Although the coach to Oxford does have wi-fi service. They are so modern in the old world!

Publication: Langkajie Tangka (The paintings of Namkha Gyan)

Namkha Gyan of Trehor was a very famous artist of East Tibet in the late 17th and 18th centuries. One of his chief patrons was the 3rd Panchen Lama who commissioned paintings which were then given to the Chinese Emperor of the time. These paintings can still be seen in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Other examples of Namkha Gyan's work can be found in Chengdu, as well as the Kangdze region of East Tibet.

This publication is of significant importance as the first modern publication in any language to be devoted to the works of an individual Tibetan historical artist.

Langkajie Tangka: The Legacy of Seventeenth Century Tangka Painting Master. Author: Yangtar Lhamo. January 2012. ISBN 978-7-5410-4806-7.

Publication: Collection of Tanglazewang

Thanglha Tsewang (1902-1989) first learned how to draw at age 10 from his uncle. He was very much encouraged at his studies by Katog Situ. Later, he became a monk and was very closely associated with Palpung Monastery in Eastern Tibet. Over the course of his life he created a large body of works, primarily Tibetan paintings - many of which are reproduced in the publication. Collection of Tanglazewang. Authors: Konchog Tenzin, Yontan Tsering, Dodril. August 2006. ISBN 7-5409-3235-X/J-121.

Gesar Publication from Chengdu, China

A new publication highlighting a set of eleven paintings depicting the life story of Gesar has been published by the Sichuan Museum of Chengdu, China. The large format coffee table style art book has full page images of the eleven paintings along with inummerable details of each. The text is primarily in Tibetan and Chinese language with three English language articles by prominant Western scholars. The well known R.A. Stein article in French on the Gesar painting set has been translated into English and Chinese. Amy Heller discusses the historical and art historical context and Jeff Watt contributed an article on the art and iconography of Gesar.

From the Treasury of Tibetan Pictorial Art: Painted Scrolls of the Life of Gesar. Sichuan Museum. Editor, Zhang Changhong. June 2012. ISBN 978-7-101-08513-6.

Hong Kong Airport

Arrived at the Hong Kong airport and had the good fortune after getting off the plane of being right next to a Cathay lounge. One of the best things to do after a long flight is to take a shower. Anyway, back to the seat experience. In the premium section of the plane there are only two seats with unhindered leg room. I was in seat 31C. The seat immediately to my left would be 31A or B. These are the only two with long leg room. All of the Premium seats are wider with a few extra inches of leg room. The food service is better and the video monitors are larger. That is it. There is no other differences than that. In the future I will continue to book the coach seating, exit row aisle.

Heading For Chengdu

I haven't left New York yet but will be shortly - heading to Chengdu. After I leave Hong Kong I won't be able to access this Blogger account so will instead post to the On the Road account. Last time I had some problems posting images to the account largely due to the fact I couldn't figure it out using an Ipad. I will try and post more images with the laptop. Anyway, here is the Url - http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Jeff-on-the-Road/

A few weeks ago when heading to Vancouver on Cathay they bumped me to the new Premium Class. I didn't like it. They gave me an aisle seat but in a regular row. Yes there was more leg room than usual, but, that is not the issue with tall people. It is knee space. There wasn't much. Today Cathay has upgraded me again to Premium. I declined, but they talked me into trying the front row aisle seat which they say has even more leg room without the knee space issue. The problem with tall people and flying is often the knees press against the back of the chair in front. After awhile this becomes excrutiatingly painful. In the front row of Premium there is only more leg room and then a barrier separating you from Business. I agreed to try it. We shall see. The flight to Hong Kong is a little long to be experimenting with new untried seats but there you have it - a new adventure in sitting. The food is much better in Premium based on my first experience some weeks ago. I was actually surprised by that. It was even comparable to Business Class which is very goood on Cathay.

More later......

Virupa Page on the HAR Website

Virupa, the Lord of Yoga, 9th century (Tibetan: bir wa pa, nal jor wang chug); foremost in magical attainments amongst the 84 mahasiddhas of India. He can appear in a number of different forms and colours. He can also appear in different contexts such as a set of lineage images, a narrative scene, the set of Eighty-four Mahasiddhas, as a Guruyoga meditation form, etc. Virupa is not unique to any one tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and therefore can be found almost anywhere. In the Sakya Tradition Virupa is typically depicted in one or all of six textually documented forms that follow the major events in his life story.

When depicted with the right arm raised in the air and performing a wrathful gesture Virupa can easily be mistaken for the Nyingma teacher Shri Simha who appears in a similar posture and gesture.

"Reversing the Ganga and subduing the evil king; while holding the sun - drinking the liquor of the entire country, without being drunk; completely shattering the Linga and subduing the Chandali; to the renowned Lord of Power, I bow my head." (Sakya liturgical verse).

Twenty-one Paintings & Me

Here is an impressive set of twenty-one paintings depicting a large central Shakyamuni Buddha in each with the one hundred and eight previous life and life stories of the Buddha surrounding the center. It is quite impressive to see all hung together and even more impressive that the set is still together. It is very common for art dealers, East and West, to break up sets because the dealers can get more money for individual paintings than for sets of paintings.

Yes, it is Asia Week again in New York City, but for those of you that have been through a few Asia Weeks, then you know it is more like two, three or four weeks in total time investment and cumulative exhaustion.

Sakya Tridzin Wangdu Nyingpo

Additional images have been added to the Wangdu Nyingpo main page. He was the 29th Sakya Tridzin and considered the second Padmasambhava of this Age. He was considered to be a rebirth of Ngor Khenchen Palden Chokyong and others. Most of his profound teachings were received from his father Kunga Lodro, the previous Sakya Tridzin. Wangdu Nyingpo constructed a new Vajrabhairava temple in Sakya with a bigger than life size central image along with the twelve wrathful retinue figures slightly larger than the size of a man. Along with that he constructed a new protector chapel with very large sculpture. Renowned as a 'treasure Revealer' (terton) his books are still available and read today.

Wangdu Nyinpo is sometimes employed as a guruyoga practice based on a text that he wrote himself. He is depicted in a wrathful form with either a black hat topped with a raven or a standard Sakya hat with lappets draped across the top.

The 69th Abbot of Ngor Evam Choden Monastery, Ngagwang Yontan Gyatso (1902-1963), was believed by some to be an incarnation of Wangdu Nyingpo, as is the current Sakya Tridzin, Ngagwang Kunga (born 1941).

The Pillars of Lhakang Chenmo, Sakya Town

The temple of Lhakang Chenmo in Sakya Town, Tibet, is famous for it very large and massive pillars. There are four principal pillars in the main temple of Lhakang Chenmo. Each of the pillars are named and have a special story relating their symbolic meaning and how they came to be in the main temple of Sakya.

- Yellow Pillar

- Tiger Pillar

- Wild Yak Pillar

- Black Blood Dripping Pillar

Sakya Monastery & Town

The Sakya Monastery & Town Page on the Himalayan Art Resources website has been updated with 600 images from the SRG Archive. Not all of the images have been divided into their subject or location themes. This will happen over the next couple of weeks. The Manjushri Cave has been added. This is the location where Sachen Kunga Nyingpo had direct communication with Arya Manjushri during a six month retreat. The Ushnishavijaya Stupa has been added. This is the final resting place for the body of Bari Lotsawa Dharma Drag. Both of these sacred sights are located in the same building on the North side of Sakya to the left of the white patch of earth. The protector chapel of Lhakang Chenmo, the main South Monastery, has also been added.