A Short History
of Tibet
Tibet has a history dating
back over 2,000 years. At times, Tibet extended its influence over neighboring
countries and peoples and, in other periods, came itself under the influence
of powerful foreign rulers.
The entire country was first united during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo
(629-49). He promoted Buddhism in Tibet and sent scholars to India to learn
Sanskrit, to create a written language for Tibetan, and to begin to translate
the vast Buddhist literature. During the 13th and 14th centuries, after Genghis
Khan invaded and unified most of Eurasia, Tibet was formally incorporated
into the Mongol Empire. When the Mongol Empire fell apart, the native Tibetan
dynasty asserted control over Tibet. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Tibet
experienced a burst of energy for monastic education. On an historic visit
to Mongolia in 1573, Sonam Gyatso was named "Dalai Lama" ("Oceanic
Master") by the Mongolian emperor Altan Khan. Including his two predecessors
retroactively, Sonam Gyatso became known as His Holiness the Third Dalai Lama.
In 1642, the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Loazang Gyatso, assumed both spiritual
and temporal authority over Tibet and built a monastic, modern nation-state.
In 1949, after the British had left India and the Communist Party had won
the civil war in China, China forcefully re-established its dominance over
Tibet, which had been internationally recognized as an independent country.
Since then much of Tibet's cultural heritage has been destroyed. In 1959 the
Fourteenth Dalai Lama left to seek political asylum in India. In exile in
India, Nepal, and Bhutan, as well as in North America, Europe, and Australia,
the Dalai Lama and thousands of refugees continue to keep their unique civilization
alive.
In Tibet, the arts primarily service the Buddhist faith. Tibetans create art to open windows from the ordinary world we know onto the extraordinary realm of pure wisdom and compassion. This exhibition features one of the rich devotional arts that enable practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism to engage in the means of building an enlightened world–the creation of a sand mandala. Over a two-week period, monk-artists affiliated with the Drepung Gomang Monastery in Mundgod, India will create the intricate painting. Most sand mandalas are dissolved after they have been completed as a means of awakening in the mind the understanding of impermanence and non-attachment. This sand mandala, however, will be preserved for ongoing educational purposes and displayed on campus in the International Studies Building.
Buddhism is a social, religious, and philosophical movement founded in the 6th century BCE by Prince Siddhartha of the Shakya kingdom, in a region that currently spans the India-Nepal border. The young Prince renounced his kingdom, sought and found perfect enlightenment, and after becoming a Buddha was known as the Sage of the Shakya, or Shakyamuni. Among the many types of Buddhism are three overarching categories, all of which developed in India from c. 500 BCE to 1100 CE. Tibetan Buddhists consider the historical Shakyamuni Buddha to be the founder of the three main forms or "vehicles" of Buddhism: the Monastic or Individual (Hinayana/Theravada), the Messianic or Universal (Mahayana), and the Apocalyptic or Tantric (Vajrayana).
Buddhism based on the Theravada model is found today in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Cambodia, while the Mayahana style went north into China and from there Japan, Tibet, and Korea. Vajrayana Buddhism is a strand of Mahayana that blends the physical and spiritual world and engages both. Vajrayana Buddhism still exists in many countries, but it reached its full potential, and further developed, in Tibet.
To highlight some of the continuities and differences in Buddhist artistic practices throughout Asia, works from Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, and Thailand from the Museum’s collection are also included in this exhibition.
The mandala–a mystical diagram composed of geometrical shapes (usually a circle within a square)–is used to aid meditation and is prevalent in both Hindu and Buddhist art.
A mandala, which is Sanskrit for "circle," is an ancient form of Tibetan art and a symbol which is integral to Tibetan Buddhism. Mandalas can be painted, made of particles, or produced in three-dimensional forms. In general, all mandalas have outer, inner, and secret meanings. On the outer level, they represent the world in its divine form; on the inner level, they represent a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into the enlightened mind; and on the secret level, they depict the perfect balance of the subtle energies of the body and the clear light dimension of the mind. The creation of a sand painting is said to effect purification and healing on these three levels.
The mandalas are created whenever a need for the healing of the environment and living beings is felt. The monks consider our present age to be one of great need in this respect and, therefore, are creating sand mandalas where requested throughout their world tours.
Tibetan Sand Mandala of Bhaishajyaguru
(Medicine Buddha)
Created by Tenzin Shakya and Geshe Lobsang Kunga, monk-artists of the Drepung Gomang Monastery in Mundgod, India
Not all monks learn to make sand mandalas. Only those who show a special interest and aptitude are chosen by senior monks to carry on the tradition. Training often lasts two years during which time they construct the mandala again and again until they memorize the design.
The mandala that is being created for the University is a Medicine Buddha mandala. In Tibet the Medicine Buddha, called Bhaishajyaguru, is revered as the source of the healing arts. It is through him that the teachings embodied in the Four Medical Tantras, the basis of Tibetan medicine, came into being. The Buddha transformed himself into a deep blue Buddha, emanating healing rays of light, and taught an assembly of men and gods the science of medicine. The Buddhist orders valued medicine to alleviate suffering and prolong human life, to improve the human opportunity to attain enlightenment.
The central figure of the mandala represents Bhaishajyaguru. He is surrounded by five other iconographic groups: his seven emanations and Shakyamuni, sixteen bodhisattvas, twenty-four more bodhisattvas, and the four guardians of the world.
The Process of Creating a Sand Mandala
The mandalas made with colored sand are unique and exquisite. In Tibetan, this art is called dul-tson-kyil-khor which literally means "mandala of colored powders."
The mandala sand painting process begins with an opening ceremony during which the monks consecrate the site and call for the forces of goodness. This is done by means of chanting, music, and mantra recitation.
The monks then begin by drawing an outline of the mandala on the wooden platform. Millions of grains of colored sand are then painstakingly laid into place over a period of days or weeks. The sand, colored with vegetable dyes or opaque tempera, is poured on the mandala platform with a narrow metal funnel called a "chakpur" that is scraped by another metal rod to cause sufficient vibration for the grains of sand to trickle out of its end. The two chakpurs are aids that symbolize the union of wisdom and compassion. The exact proportions and all the details of the design are laid down in ancient Buddhist texts on the creation of mandalas. The monks carefully follow the canonical iconography. Since each mandala is extremely complex, monks specialize in the construction of only one or two kinds.
When finished, to symbolize the impermanence of all things, the colored sands are swept up and poured into a nearby river or stream where the waters carry the healing energies throughout the world.
Resources on Tibetan Buddhism and Art
Books:
Robert A. F. Thurman, Essential Tibetan Buddhism (1995).
Denise Patry Leidy and Robert A. F. Thurman, Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment (1997).
Marilyn M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet ( 1991).
Barbara Lipton and Nima Dorjee Ragnubs, Treasures of Tibetan Art: Collections of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art (1996).
Internet web-sites:
Homepage of the Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington, IN.
Homepage of the Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture.
www.graphics.cornell.edu/online/mandala/
Includes a computer-generated, three dimensional model of a mandala.