Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Mandala ?
One for Western Tibetans here.
As the mandala is the subjugation or conquest of the arena of arisen dualism, is it culturally appropriate to superimpose foreign iconography over that of European prototypes?
Kris
As the mandala is the subjugation or conquest of the arena of arisen dualism, is it culturally appropriate to superimpose foreign iconography over that of European prototypes?
Kris
0
Comments
Yeah, you're right. Don't worry about it. Just some stuff I'm working through at the moment.:-/
"How can we sing the Lord's song in a new land?"
I think I was looking at this issue in a non-reformist way, insomuch as I define a reformist as someone who sets out some kind of new improved guidelines to replace the old.
Then people may argue about "purity" of teachings etc. if they wish.
If we step back from such considerations and just look at arisen duality - self and other - then the interdependent nature of the environment we inhabit becomes evident.
You were born from your mother and have aged and lead a life surrounded by people, places and events unique to you. This is dependent related, just as it is - the mandala of your 'dualistic' space. You have to interpret what you have in a way which strips away as much conceptual junk as possible.
When we impose some pre-determined formula upon this, it becomes the work of the intellect doing battle with reality.
I don't know if this makes any sense.
I'm not a Tibetan practitioner at all, but I would say yes, it is most definitely appropriate. While Tibetan iconography may have some roots in Bon, the psychological model it expresses is much more in line with the Buddhist teachings than western iconography. Now, perhaps it may be useful for individuals to incorporate their own ingrained symbolical archetypes into a Buddhist structure, but I would not think it would be a great idea to simply supplant western iconography into the teachings. I'm one of those types that believes that traditions should be practiced in as close to their original form as possible, until one gains enough mastery in that tradition to start making assessments as to what can be changed and what fits most closely with the essence of that tradition.
Just my 2 cents
_/\_
I agree, this would be a crass mistake and misguided to say the least.
The Dharma may be beyond culture but it expresses itself within a context.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara
I once visited an exhibition of this art. It was rather interesting to say the least. Executed by Greek sculptors, so there is an historical precedent.
The Dharma can only have a direct and compelling meaning when expressed within a relevant context IMHO.
Make no mistake: there are significant numbers who acquire thangkas of mandalas for their beauty. Of course, one could argue that a full appreciation of the art of the mandala is akin to the meditative but it would be pushing it a bit, I think.
One can make the same observations about Orthodox icons.
That's right Simon. Dharma tourists collect souvenirs, like malas, mantras, thangkas and all sorts of dusty stuff. I've met plenty of them who enthusiastically wave these odds and ends under my nose and tell me that I absolutely 'must-have' them.;)
Our house is cluttered with kids toys. More useful I think, as at least they serve a purpose.:doh:
Palzang
Are these the Western version of prayer wheels? How beneficial to print mantras on them! Or does it only bring benefits if it's done the old way?
However, there are other modern versions of prayer wheels. For example, I've seen people put billions of mantras on DVDs and then put the DVDs inside prayer wheels. I also have a lot of our texts stored on my hard drive as well as an external hard drive I use for backup. Whenever those disks are spinning, they're also functioning as prayer wheels. The possibilities are endless.
Palzang
I've watched gleeful dogs in parks leap into the air and catch them! Dogs, not Dogmas, note......:tonguec:
The modern Bonpo iconography is completely taken from Buddhist iconography that originated in India in the 8th century.
The model of the role up thangka etc is a Tibetan cultural adaptation but the descriptions of the Buddhas and mandala's that they contain come from the tantras that were compiled in India and brought to Tibet.
Any similarity in Bonpo imagery and practice is taken from Indian Buddhist sources.