Robert Thurman will offer us a glimpse into the deeper meaning behind the beautiful visual forms. Within Tibetan culture, tangkas serve as doorways for the imagination to reach out beyond imprisonment toward freedom from suffering. The images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, mild and fierce, represent the greater reality of nirvanic freedom.

 

Tangkas can provide access to the bliss of freedom. They are not worshipped in and of themselves, but are sources of inspiration and elucidation for the spiritual seeker. They are portals. A practitioner born in a country and era far away and long after the time of the Buddha Shakyamuni in the world can enjoy the sense of the Buddha's presence and receive his blessings by visualizing a "wisdom duplicate" of the Buddha's presence in a painting.

 

Robert Thurman will help us better understand the relevance of this Tibetan sacred art form with regard to our universal and modern quest for happiness and fulfillment.