Shrine for Tibet

Description

Tibetan Buddhists see the world in two realities, of relative and absolute: the relative world is experienced as either the ordinary world of samsaric suffering or the extraordinary state of universal bliss and fulfillment. Those enlightened understand their essential oneness with the universe and feel the relief of a blissful connection to everything. "A Shrine for Tibet" is a beautifully illustrated celebration of this philosophy through Alice Kandell's incredible collection of art from the 15th Century Ganden Renaissance right through to the 17th Century building of the Potala Palace, and into the 18th and 19th Centuries, where Mongolian and Manchu Qing Buddhist art bloomed in the Tibetan tradition.

Marilyn Rhie teaches Asian art history at Smith College as the Jessie Wells Post Professor of Art and East Asian Studies, and has written extensively on Buddhist art, particularly of China, Tibet and Korea. Robert Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University and heads the Centre for Buddhist Studies. He is also the President of Tibet House US under the patronage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to preserve the endangered civilisation of Tibet. Alice Kandell is in command of the most comprehensive Tibetan art collection in the world, ever since she merged her own with that of Philip Rudko in 1994.

Showing Tibetan art and providing an explanation is important. People will gain a deeper understanding of the Buddha and a way of thinking that is very much based on peace and compassion -- H. H. Dalai Lama Tibetan Buddhism in particular has been well served by pioneer professors like Thurman * New York Times *