Ancient Meets Modern as Artists, Scholars Try to Restore Tibetan Art

Hanging on the wall of the Tibetan Buddhist exhibit, the sacred art of centuries past gleams in the mellow glow of museum lighting.

In a back room a few steps away stands something that helped create the display--a thoroughly up-to-date computerized, two-color press.

It’s centuries-old knowledge meets modern know-how as a group of Buddhist scholars and artists works to restore the lost religious heritage of Tibet.

“It’s sort of taking what the culture has produced and turning it in a positive direction,” says Jack Petranker, editor of Dharma Publishing, which has opened a new exhibit, “Sacred Mandalas: The Art and Books of Tibet.”

Dharma Publishing traces its roots to 1962, when exiled Tibetan lama Tarthang Tulku founded a small press in India to begin publishing texts brought out of Tibet after the Chinese invaded.

Tulku moved to the United States in 1969, and Dharma Publishing was founded in 1970. It is nonprofit and staffed by volunteers, with Tulku serving as director. Publishing and donation efforts are funded by sales of other books, including a number of English-language books about Buddhism.

So far, the company has published a vast collection of ancient Tibetan texts--755 atlas-sized volumes encompassing 35,973 texts written by 1,542 authors. The collection includes the General Tibetan Buddhist Canon, known as the Kanjur and Tanjur, and the Nyingma Canon, Great Treasures of Ancient Teachings.

About 60,000 of the books have been shipped to Tibet and 14,000 more, along with 70,000 thankas, or painted scrolls, are going out this year, said Rosalyn White, art director of Dharma Publishing.

About 5,000 people visited Dharma last year to see the richly bound Tibetan texts. This year, the company is showing the books along with thankas and sacred mandalas, intricate paintings that hold a special place in Buddhist iconography. The thankas include original 18th- and 19th-century paintings, as well as some reproductions. There are five original mandalas, along with 30 reproductions, some of them made with the new press.

Also on display are a replica of a Tibetan altar and a number of prayer wheels, large cylinders containing prayers written on strips of paper. When the wheel turns, it is believed the prayers are speeded on their way.

The exhibition runs through April 26. A sampling of the art exhibit will also be traveling over the next 18 months to public libraries in Vancouver, St. Louis, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Albuquerque, San Francisco and Chicago.

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At first sight, the mandalas, which represent the cosmos, are a kaleidoscope of geometric designs executed in vivid colors. A closer look reveals a multilayered world of meaning.

For instance, the basic shape of a mandala is a square, representing palace walls with four gates corresponding to the compass points.

In the center is a circle in which the sacred figure or figures that are the subject of the painting may be depicted. The center is often blue, a color signifying ignorance, a quality that, when transcended, becomes wisdom.

The four quadrants of the square also have special meanings. In many mandalas, east is white, which means anger or, transcended, insight; south is yellow, which means pride or, transcended, equanimity; west is red, which means greed or, transcended, compassion; north is green, which means jealousy or, transcended, achievement.

Circles of lotus leaves surrounding the center and the square signify purity, as does an outer rim of five-flamed fire.

The mandalas, which originally often were painted as murals, are mainly used as a means to meditation.

The reproductions hanging in Berkeley represent the struggle to keep a culture from slipping into oblivion.

“Because so much of Tibetan culture has been in peril, it’s crucial that what still remains is protected and preserved for future generations,” White said.

China sent the army into Tibet in 1950 and maintains a tight grip over the region, but allegiance to the Dalai Lama and the goal of independence among Tibetans remains strong.

Some Tibetan texts and pictures have been smuggled out by fleeing Tibetans who later had to sell them for food; some texts were plundered and made their way to the marketplace. The treasures can turn up in unexpected places; a few of the thankas on display were found rolled up in a basement.

Vu Lan Houng, a lay member of the Vietnamese Buddhist Kim Son monastery in Watsonville, says Tulku and his staff are attempting an “immeasurable” job.

“I think it is very important, and not only for the Tibetans, but it is for all beings,” she said.

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Vietnamese Buddhists understand what it is to lose the sacred objects of their religion to the chaos of war, she said.

“When we see the Tibetan sacred art . . . preserved here, we are very happy.”

Paintings on display offer a glimpse into the complex, mystical world of Tibetan Buddhism.

One painting shows the 11-headed, 1,000-armed figure of Bodhisattva Avalokiteschvara. (A bodhisattva is a being working toward enlightenment for the benefit of humankind.) Avalokiteschvara was busy trying to empty the realms of hell, but they filled back up as fast as he could work. Frustrated, he burst apart, growing the extra heads and arms to get the job done. It still didn’t work, teaching the lesson that someone cannot vicariously enlighten another; wisdom can only come from within.

White hopes the display will give viewers something to think about.

“It shows a different level of consciousness that’s available,” she said. “In modern life, we find ourselves in many different levels of difficulty. This is perhaps an opportunity to experience our human consciousness and human energy on a high level. It’s possible to develop more insight and awareness of qualities of beauty and balance and harmony in our world.”