Lovely Thangkas for Sale to Benefit Aviary

A thangka is a Tibetan Buddhist scroll painting, popular among traveling monks because they can be easily rolled up and transported.  A thangka consists of a beautiful piece of brocade on which is mounted a picture of a meditational deity, mandala, or historic Buddhist figure.  It has a silk covering to protect it when traveling.  We are offering four thangkas for sale, proceeds from which will benefit the Garuda Aviary.  There are 4 thangkas:  White Tara, Shakyamuni Buddha, Medicine Buddha, and Padmasambava.  The large ones are 50 inches long by 28 inches wide (the scroll itself is 36 inches wide).  The Medicine Buddha thangka is smaller:  40 inches long by 28 inches wide.

White Tara is a female deity of compassion, born from a tear drop of the great Compassionate Buddha Avolitesvara when he saw the great suffering of this world.  Considered the mother of all Buddhas, she protects all beings while they are crossing the ocean of existence.  The practice of White Tara is designed to  heal and prolong life.  She is pictured seated, her right hand in a boon conferring posture, her left hand in teaching gesture holding the stem of the lotus.

Shakyamuni Buddha is the historical Buddha, born 2500 years ago in Lumbini, in western Nepal.  Known as Siddhartha Gautama, a great prince, he renounced the luxury of his royal heritage in order to seek and attain enlightenment.  The Buddha Shakyamuni, at the moment of enlightenment, invoked the earth as witness, as indicated by the fingers of his right hand, which spread downward in the “earth-touching gesture.”  He taught on the impermanence of all things, the nature of karma, the value of virtue, the nature of compassion, and the attitudes and actions that support the path to enlightenment.  He showed all men and women the path of awakening to transcend suffering.

The Medicine Buddha represents a Buddha’s ability to express himself as a healing medicine for the benefit of ailing beings.  He is shown in characteristic blue color, holding a bowl of nectar in his left hand and a branch of myrobalan, a medicinal plant, in his right.  Meditating on the Medicine Buddha can bring healing for those who are sick in body or in mind.

Padmasambahava, the Lotus Born, is the embodiment of active wisdom and compassion.  Also known as Guru Rinpoche (“Precious Guru”), he was a renowned tantric master from Northern India who brought Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century.  He subdued the hostile spirits obstructing the spread of Buddhism and converted them into powerful protectors of the Buddhist teachings, the Dharma.  He is the principal founder of the first school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Nyingma.  According to tradition, Guru Rinpoche flew to the Og-Min Heaven and met the Adi Buddha, from whom he received the main doctrine of the Nyingma School, the Dzogchen teachings or Great Perfection.  He was received by a dakini who gave him a Body Initiation, proving that his body was the result of three holy incarnations:  Buddha Shakyamuni, Buddha Amitabha, and The great Bodhisattva Avalokitshevara. 

The Medicine Buddha thangka is offered at $495; the other three are $595 each.  All proceeds go to the care, feeding, housing, and vet care of the birds of the Garuda Aviary.