HomeThangka - FigureWay To HeavenTibetan Thangka of The Four Harmonious Friends

Tibetan Thangka of The Four Harmonious Friends

US$100

Code

HCS18642

Weight

100 gm / 0.22 lbs

Size

51x38 Cm / 20.08 Inches

Material

Cotton Canvas

Availability

Available

Date Added

2020-06-30 06:24:36

Note : We used to sell this product 4 years ago so it may no longer be in our stock.
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Introduction to Thangka
A thangka, also known as tangka, thanka, or tanka, is a vibrant and intricate Tibetan Buddhist painting that serves as a visual representation of spiritual teachings. Crafted with meticulous detail on cotton or silk appliquÃ©, thangkas depict a wide range of subjects including Buddhist deities, sacred scenes, mandalas, and narrative stories. These sacred artworks are traditionally kept unframed and rolled up for storage, resembling ancient scrolls. To protect their delicate nature, thangkas are mounted on textile backings and often adorned with a silk cover on the front. Proper preservation in dry environments is crucial to maintain the integrity and longevity of the silk.

These sacred paintings serve as objects of contemplation, inspiration, and instruction, guiding practitioners on their spiritual path. Thangkas provide a visual gateway to the world of Tibetan Buddhism, encapsulating its rich symbolism, iconography, and spiritual concepts. With their vibrant colors, intricate patterns, and skillful craftsmanship, thangkas offer a profound visual medium for deepening one's understanding and connection to the teachings of Buddhism.

Thangkas come in various sizes, ranging from small pieces resembling Western half-length portraits to grand-scale creations spanning several meters in each dimension. While the larger thangkas are intended for temporary display during religious festivals, the majority of these artworks are designed for personal meditation or as educational aids for monastic students. The compositions of thangkas are meticulously crafted, featuring intricate details and often incorporating numerous small figures. A central deity or focal point is typically surrounded by a symmetrical arrangement of other divine beings, symbols, or narrative elements that convey profound spiritual teachings.

How is Thangka made

First, the canvas on which the painting is to be executed is laid on a wooden frame to determine the required dimensions. This canvas is an extremely finely woven cotton material, referred to in the Holy Scriptures as "Ãura Canvas".

Then the canvas is cut, hemmed and, with the use of sturdy strings, very tightly mounted in the wooden frame. Painting is carried out with the frame in an upright position, without any further rigid support or backing.

In this studio, our primary artist, who works virtually exclusively for us, applies the undercoat consisting of a mixture of chalk and glue to the canvas by hand. Other Thangka workshops have turned to mainly using industrially pre-primed canvas.

This photo shows how the canvas, after receiving its base coat followed by a second coating of bone glue, is polished and smoothed by hand with a stone to attain a perfectly smooth, featureless painting surface. Through this process the canvas becomes quite rigid, thereby providing perfect conditions to evoke very finest artistic detail and over-all superior painting quality.

Using a different Thangka, we see how, after mounting, the complete basic pattern of the respective theme is applied to the canvas.

The following picture shows the steps in creating a gold-based Thangka, such as our No PH 9, the "Holy Mount Kailash". To achieve more intensive colour, yet another prime coat, in ochre, is applied, followed by a coat of pure gold. The so-called Thangka painting gold is traditionally produced by members of the Newar people in Nepal. 24-karat gold is ground to finest powder and mixed with bone glue and water in proportions suitable for direct use in painting. Thus, the Thangka gold is not gold leaf at all! Silver can be processed and used in the same way: Mount Kailash and the surrounding peaks in our completed Thangka were not painted with white paint, rather with precious silver.

Here, the nearly completed piece has been removed from the wooden frame. Now only the very finest finishing touches remain to be added, such as compacting the gold and giving Mount Kailash its silver mantle.

K. Lama regarded his already half-finished thangka proudly

The Mount Kailash Thangka, including the black margin (which can also facilitate the fastening of a traditional brocade frame), is now complete. Only the background gold must be compacted in the places where it is later intended to exhibit a sheen.

Here we see an old ballpoint pen casing into which a specially cut agate has been fitted. The back of this semi-precious stone is slightly concave and can be used to compact gold over extensive areas of the Thangka, while the blunt point is used to lineally compact gold, thus creating a shiny effect.

In this way, through partial compaction of the gold or refraining from compaction, nearly three-dimensional effects can be achieved. The glorious sheen of gold artistically treated in this way richly rewards the beholder or meditator with a Thangka possessed of an extraordinarily aesthetic aura.

Thangka Making Video

Read More . . .

About the Four Harmonious Friends :

âAt the beginning of the Foundation Service Seminar, we were reminded of the stories of âThe Four Harmonious Friendsâ and how each one of us is responsible for leading the other into virtue; how each one of us is at a different level yet needing each other to actualize even the smallest of tasks; how each one of us must cherish others more than oneself; and how each one of us should be willing to ask for help, to receive help and to offer help,â Helen Patrin, coordinator for FPMT Australia, wrote in Mandala January-March 2014. âWhat we learned from these stories is that actualizing the vast vision of both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche rests on our ability to internalize these ideas and to offer our service to FPMT in accordance with them. We are all but a small part of the ever growing FPMT mandala, and we can achieve so much more when we are working together harmoniously.â
In this spirit, Mandala shares these stories excerpted from A Practical Guide of Skillful Means, the training manual used at the seminar:

The Story of the Four Harmonious Brothers :

In former times in the jungles near Varanasi, a pheasant, a rabbit, a monkey, and an elephant lived in friendship and harmony. The four brothers declared that although their minds were harmonious, it was sad that in the world there was so little respect held by the young for the old. They decided to show respect for each other, according to the tradition of Dharma.

Having made this determination the four animals set out to make offerings and pay homage. The younger showed respect for the older by carrying the older on his back. Standing on each othersâ backs in this way, the pheasant, rabbit, monkey and elephant reached the first limb of the nyÃ¤n dro da (banyan tree).

The pheasant taught the others how to follow the moral conduct of not taking lives, not taking what was not given, not speaking deceptive words, not committing sexual misconduct, and not taking intoxicants. Then each animal led similar types of animals to themselves on the path of morality. Happiness and comfort increased greatly in the world.

At that time, the king, his ministers, and the general population had the proud belief that the good times were due to their own merit. In order to determine who was responsible for the peaceful times they gathered together and asked a hermit to tell them the cause of their happiness. Through his clairvoyance the hermit explained that the countriesâ wealth was not due to the power of any of the people but to the merits of the four animals in the forest who were keeping the five precepts of moral conduct and leading the other animals on that path. He advised them that they, too, should behave like these animals.

Following this advice most of the people in that region began to keep the five precepts, and as a result, after they died, they were reborn in the deva realm.

It is said in the Vinaya teaching DÃ¼lwa rlung and the discourse Do de nÃ¤ kyang rlung that the pheasant was an incarnation of the qualified destroyer gone beyond Shakyamuni Buddha and the others were disciples â the rabbit was Nyi gyÃ¤ (Shariputra), the monkey was PÃ¤l na kyÃ¤ (Maudgalyana) and the elephant was Kungawa (Ananda).

It is also said that wherever a picture of the four brothers is displayed, the 10 virtues will increase and the minds of all will become harmonious. There will be respect for elders and auspicious events will occur.

As told by Venerable Ribur Rinpoche :

At first, there was just the bird, and the tree was just a little sprout. The bird could scratch around on the ground and find little bits of plant to eat. The bird was unable to fly, so the bird could only eat what it could find near to the ground. As the tree grew, it became difficult for the bird to get enough food to eat.

Then, the rabbit came. The rabbit would eat what was on the ground and would lift the bird up on his back so that the bird could reach the growing tree. In this way, they both had enough to eat. However, as the tree continued to grow, it started to become too high for the bird, even on the back of the rabbit.

Then, the monkey came. The monkey could climb up into the tree and drop the fruit from the tree onto the ground for the rabbit and the bird. However, it was difficult to get to the fruit at the very top of the tree.

Then, the elephant came. With the elephant, if all the animals helped each other, they could reach the fruit at the top of the tree; and, in this way, there was plenty for all of them to eat.

The reason the four animals worked so harmoniously together and the reason they were successful is that none of them was primarily concerned with getting enough food for themselves. Each of them was concerned with trying to help the others to get what they needed. Rather than being dominated by selfish concern, they were dominated by cherishing others.

Also, the reason they were successful is that they were willing to ask for help and to receive help. In this way, the bird is considered the hero of the story. The bird was the most fragile and needed the most help.

Because the bird was willing to ask for help and because the others were happy to help the bird, everything worked out very nicely.

In Tibet, in letters of advice to families who were going through some difficult times with each other, the Four Friends were often used as an example of how the family needs to stay together and help each other. Each member is very different and brings different strengths and different weaknesses, but if they work together, they can accomplish things they could never accomplish without working together.

This story is a story of interdependence. It is a story explaining how there is no place for self-cherishing, but rather we need each other and we need to help each other. The worst thing is self-cherishing. This is a story about working harmoniously.

(At our centers, we have pheasants, rabbits, monkeys, and elephants â very different kinds of people with different talents and different needs. If we only focus on the shortcomings, we might not recognize how they are able to contribute to the greater good of the center. But if we are creative, we can find a way for everybody to contribute, and in the end, everybody can partake of the fruits of bodhichitta!)

You may also want to read the related articles :

Videos of Thangka Making Process | Making Process Of Tibetan Thangka | What is a Thangka | Thangka Brocading Option

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