The most beautiful thangka I have ever seen

I picked up this month's issue of Tricycle magazine because it talked about two things close to my heart: solitude & art. I'm sitting in Borders, reading along, listening to Rabih Abou-Khalil on my new best friend, er, iPod, and suddenly, I am whacked upside the head by this incredible image. Unfortunately, it's nowhere online that I can find, but it is a modern thangka painting by Raj Prakash Tuladhar of Acala, or Chandramaharoshana. I've seen quite a few thangka before, but for whatever reason, this one just floored me -- the colors were incredibly intense, and the detail was phenomenal. Artistically, it was also interesting because it used shading & highlights in a way I've not seen done in thangka before (although that may well be my own lack of broad experience.) There was also a great deal of movement, while most thangka, to me, are fairly static.

I've only been tangentially interested in Tibetan Buddhism in the past, generally gravitating more strongly to Zen, although this experience, as well as author Robert Beer's discussion of tantric art that the thangka illustrated, is making me quite curious. I have to admit I've been put off by Tibetan Buddhism because it seems very complex & daunting, but also because it's so trendy. (You know, because Zen isn't trendy or anything.)

Yet, I really enjoyed Miranda Shaw's book Passionate Enlightenment, which is about the female spirits known as dakini, and was the inspiration for my image, Dakini:

(click to see larger image)

I also have read Lama Yeshe's book Introduction to Tantra a couple of times, and been very intrigued by it, but I haven't pursued that interest because I feel, strongly, that Tantra is a path that really needs to be taught from a responsible teacher.