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