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Course: Art of Asia > Unit 6
Lesson 2: Tibet- Sacred arts of Tibet
- The Making of a Thangka Painting
- Bön, Tibet’s indigenous belief system
- Views of Tibet
- Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism
- Tibetan Buddhist orders
- Jowo Rinpoche, Jokhang Temple, Tibet
- The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
- Buddhist text about the Bodhisattva Manjushri
- Mandala of the Buddhist deity Chakrasamvara
- The Buddhist deity Mahakala as a Brahman
- The Buddhist deity Simhavaktra Dakini
- The Buddhist protector deity Penden Lhamo
- The Goddess of the White Umbrella (the Buddhist deity Ushnisha-sitatapatra)
- The Great mystic Virupa
- Thunderbolt and bell
- Prayer wheel
- Cabinet for storing offerings
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Sacred arts of Tibet
Discover the sacred arts of Tibet. Learn more about Tibet on the Asian Art Museum's education website. Created by Asian Art Museum.
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- is tibet an integral part of china or a separate province?(4 votes)
- It is called an "autonomous region" which would make you think it was separate and the Tibetans had some autonomy (the right or condition of self-government), however this is not the case. China appoints the leaders there who are hand picked from Communist Party ranks, and Tibet as well as Xinjing (Uyghur Autonomous Region) have been under a lock down since 2008 with heavy police and military presence, as well as thousands of people being locked up without trial.(5 votes)
- Did Chinese art influence Tibet?(2 votes)
- Dragons are a common motif woven into the fabrics of each, but who influences who? I think they absolutely have influenced each other over the centuries, but India also has great influence in Tibet- some of their greatest monks like Padmasambhavaja are from there, and this Indian influence can clearly be seen in the style of many thangka paintings as well as deities that a worshiped and depicted in art. Bhutan is also another place with a lot of cultural interaction taking place over the centuries, as well as Nepal and even Persia. Since the Chinese take over of Tibet in the early 1960's Chinese influence has become far greater and cultural exchanges far less of a two way street.(2 votes)
- What are those ritualistic hats called? 1:38(2 votes)
- Those hats are called Yellow Hats(1 vote)
- What was that and what were they doing with it? 0:51(2 votes)
- They also make mandalas with cow excrement to the bodhisattva Cundi as well.(2 votes)
Video transcript
The Buddhism of Tibet has been influential throughout the Himalayan region. What function does art play in Tibetan Buddhism? The Tibetans don't really have a word for "art." The term is "gunda," something which is like the body. And the term "body" is an honorific term, so it's "like the body of the Buddha." A painting or a statue is not considered complete unless it's been consecrated. In a ritual, the spirit of that deity is made to enter into, that's physically enter into and inhabit, that painting or that statue, not as if it were the deity, it is the deity in a very important sense. Many artworks can be used as tools for meditation. The mandala is the Buddha Field, where the Buddha lives. So when you do the practice, then you have to have the model of the Buddha Field. So the mandala actually has two meanings: one is the model for your visualization, the other meaning is the ritual. Ritual objects play an important part in Tibetan ceremonies. In practice, the thunderbolt and bell are manipulated by monks and prescribed movements. Monasteries are the center of Buddhist life, where monks spend much of the day debating Buddhist philosophy. Tibetan Buddhism, to me, looks more like a philosophy. So the debating is the practice to analyze and to understand the philosophy part. Ordinary Tibetans worship using prayer wheels and prayer beads. They make pilgrimages to sacred places. At festivals, the monks bring out special objects and perform sacred music and dance. Tibetan Buddhism has become increasingly popular worldwide. Its practices are becoming better understood, and scholars of medicine, religion, philosophy, and psychology have begun to look to it for inspiration and insight.