Thönmi Sambhota Thangka

Thönmi Sambhota Thangka description

This is a traditional thangka* painting, which was especially commissioned by Tashi Mannox on the rarely depicted great calligrapher and scholar Thönmi Sambhota.

Sambhota is reputed to be a historical figure responsible for developing the foundation of the Tibetan writing systems in the seventh century A.D, which form the basis of the Tibetan language today. See below for the History of the Tibetan Writing System.

In this thangka, Thönmi Sambhota is shown as the main figure wearing traditional attire of a Tibetan layperson, though wears a white turban in reference to his many years spent in Northern India studying chiefly Sanskrit with Brahmins and Pandits.

              

He holds in his lap a tablet inscribed with a rendition of a Mani mantra, oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ, which was presented to Dharmaraja King Songtsen Gampo as the first sample he created of the Tibetan Uchen script. The original writing of this mantra was carved on a rock in Rigsum Gompo temple in central Tibet, which was unfortunately destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

On a table before Sambhota are laid out calligraphy implements such as ink and bamboo pens, cut from the bamboo grove behind him. Tibetan manuscripts also sit before and behind referring to Sambhota’s scholarly achievements and the Tibetan grammar and punctuation he composed.

Emanating from Sambhota on rainbow beams are two golden disks marked with the letter Aa ཨ the last letter of the Tibetan alphabet, which is also considered the essence and expression of the entire alphabet in one.  On the left is Aa ཨ in the classical Uchen script and on the right is the same letter Aa ཨ in the Umed class of scripts. These represent the two main groups of script styles he created and still in use to the present day.

The thangka painter Sahil Bhopal entrusted Tashi to personally add the two principle letters Aa ཨ to the golden disks, as well as the Mani mantra within the thangka.

To Sambhota’s below right is a student in practice of calligraphy. While above is a scene of nature, more typical of the Karma Gadri style of thangka painting, with trees and a cascading waterfall bringing prosperity. 
In the far distance are five mountains of Manjushri, the deity of learning, or can also represent the five Wisdom Buddha families.

 In the sky above is Sakymuni Buddha, who crowns Thönmi Sambhota representing his Buddhist belonging, and motivation to benefit all.

 - Painted by Sahil Bhopal of Flying Whale Art studio, India

*Tibetan thangka painting is one of the great arts of Asia. A particular stylistic development of painting in natural mineral media, normally on cloth which is mounted in a brocade frame, designed to role up as a portable scroll.

Thangkas are typically rich in iconography of their religious content that communicate the highest Buddhist ideals, often as a visual aid to be meditated upon or to depict historical figures and spiritual events. For a Tibetan Buddhist, thangkas are considered inspirational sacred paintings in their physical support to a practitioner as an embodiment of enlightenment.

- Tashi Mannox

History of the Tibetan Writing System 

It was during the seventh century reign of Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo, and under his direction, that the first iteration of what would become the modern day Tibetan written language came into existence. Prior to this Tibetans had used Mayig, a comparatively rudimentary system. But Songtsen Gampo was faced with the task of translating the wealth of existing Buddhist Sanskrit texts into Tibetan, and needed a coherent writing system with sufficiently rich symbolism. He turned to minister and great scholar, Thönmi Sambhota, who along with sixteen other wise ministers travelled to India to study Sanskrit. Only Sambhota would return suitably qualified. His journey had proved fruitful, however, and a new Tibetan writing system, based loosely on Indic Sanskrit was established. It is worth noting that the Tibetan spoken language remained the same; only written language was renovated. Sambhota had conceived an alphabet and standardised writing conventions, including grammar and punctuation, and would later also produce the first iteration of both the Uchen and Umed forms.

Different script styles developed over the next several hundred years. In the early ninth century the Tibetan script underwent another transformation and ‘Old Tibetan’ was standardised to ‘Classical Tibetan’. One thousand years passed, yet Tibetan calligraphy persevered, steadily evolving towards its contemporary form. By the nineteenth century the models of Uchen and Umed, the two main Tibetan script styles, had ossified and bore the exact proportions still in use today.

Tibetan Calligraphy & Tibetan Buddhism

From the offset, then, a notable bond existed between the Tibetan writing system and Buddhism – its creation being motivated primarily by a need to conserve and decipher Sanskrit Buddhist manuscripts. To limit calligraphy and Tibetan Buddhism (and by association Tibetan culture’s) connection to simply a functional conception, however, does not do justice to their relationship. The two are largely inseparable and have remained so to the present day. Tibetan Buddhism is considered a ‘live’ tradition, comprised of many lineages in which a master will impress the totality of a line’s knowledge on a disciple. The lineage is also considered fluid, as the disciple then realises the wisdom of these teachings through meditation. Clearly, the academic and meditative aspects of Tibetan Buddhism are closely linked. Calligraphy’s role in this relationship as a key by which existing Buddhist teachings are unlocked compounds its status. Developing a written language certainly also had administrational benefits for the empire, with its use in legal and historical documents.

-Luke Purdye

Reflective qualities.

A new rendition of "The Heart of Emptiness"
Tashi Mannox November 2012.

The Heart Sutra and its mantra, nick named the Gaté mantra, is a continued inspiration for a number of Tashi's art pieces over the years. Recently Tashi was commissioned to create two new calligraphy pieces based on earlier artworks he had created. This following post tells something of the techniques used to create these masterpieces and the challenge in capturing their subtle qualities photographically in order to replicate as giclée prints.

In reference to the above image "The Heart of Emptiness". The central 'empty space of natural paper' is created by the Gaté mantra: "om gaté gaté para gaté para sam gaté bodhi swaha" encircling anti-clockwise, though to read the mantra from a stationary point (starting at the bottom) the mantra/paper would turn clockwise. The tails of the letters extend out into the darkness of space, whereas the vowel signs that sit above the letters are unavoidably left within the empty white space.

Across the whole of the black background is painted in another layer of black ink an extract from the Heart Sutra.

"The Heart of Emptiness" is available as a limited edition print, please follow this link.

To arrange a length of calligraphy in a complete circle has a number of stages and difficulties. First is to choose the size of the letters which is determined by the width of the brush (the proportionate relation between the size of the brush or pen nib is explained in an earlier post here)

To begin with there is a fair amount of estimated guess work to fathom the right size length of text to fit in complete circle harmoniously within the limited size of the paper.

In the case of creating a circular Gaté mantra, three attempts were made that are shown as a collection of studies  below. 

These four studies on about A2 size water-colour paper can be viewed as individual art pieces here.

Only once the right size lettering is found to complete the right size circle of text; can this be applied with held breath to the actual artwork, such as "The Heart of Emptiness".

Another art piece inspired by the Heart Sutra shown below is called "None Attainment"that highlights one of the aspects taught through the Heart Sutra that expresses 'no concept' of anything that has 'gone beyond'.

The artwork depicts the words 'no attainment' in white lettering that appears to shine out over the black background where hidden is the title of the Heart Sutra as well as its mantra.

A new rendition of "None Attainment"
Tashi Mannox November 2012

Both pieces; "The Heart of Emptiness" and "None Attainment" belong to Tashi's 'Black on Black' series that explores the coined technique of painting black calligraphy on black background, the effect of which gives a mysterious half hidden calligraphy that can be picked out because of the reflective quality of the ink.

Such reflective qualities are problematic to photograph because only one of the reflective moods can be captured at any one time dependent on how the image is lit. 

The below examples shows two very different ways in which the black on black calligraphy and background is exposed. In other light condition the background lettering can seen to disappear altogether.

On the left side image the photograph has picked up the lettering as black with the background more reflective and a lighter tone.

On the right side the lettering is reflecting lighter the black background completely inverted to the image on the left.

When reproduced as prints, that is totally reliant on the quality of the photograph, the subtle reflective quality that reveals its self when viewing the original art work, is somewhat limited in the print productions, never-the-less they still stand as strong printed artworks in their own right.

Foul Mud, Pure Lotus.

This triptych depicts a lotus flower in stages of bud to bloom to seedpod, representing the passing of time ‘past, present and future’.

In Eastern iconography, the lotus flower is symbolic of purity and is considered an analogy of transformation as one tames ones own negative emotions that fuels a positive change. As the more rich and foul the composting matter at the bottom of a pond, the more it nourishes the most glorious of flowers, that stand proud and pristine above the water surface, un-splashed by the (Samsaric) bustle of pond life.

Chinese ink, gesso and silver leaf on mounted board, Tashi Mannox 2002.

Illuminated Insights

During the world famous Hay Festival of literature and the arts situated below the majestic Black mountain's of the Brecon Beacon National Park. In celebration of the opening of the Richard Booth’s cinema, premieres an exhibition of contemporary Tibetan Calligraphy by Tashi Mannox.

The exhibition called ‘illuminated insights’ spans the last decade of Tashi’s calligraphy masterpieces, that shows a selection of his works including the large and rarely exhibited iconographic ‘Soulhouette’ pieces. Others shown are the more traditional calligraphy artworks that illuminate the wisdoms of Tibetan Buddhist themes, such as ‘The Four Contemplation’ series, as well as small insightful gems that Tashi has brushed in the various Tibetan script styles to delight the eye and stimulate the mind.

'Male Soulhouette' Chinese ink on a scroll of heavy water-colour paper, 114 cm x 206 cm Tashi Mannox 2002.

Punctuation treasures

“Terma Motif “ 

'The indivisible unity of means and wisdom'

Chinese ink and mineral paint on Bhutanese  tsasho bark fiber paper, soaked in vermilion orange Japanese ink.  
35x52cm. ⓒ Tashi Mannox 2022.

The above art piece features a sign; made up of two small circles and a crescent moon shape ༔ is known in Tibetan as a Ter-tseg གཏེར་ཚེག་ When used as a punctuation mark at the end of a line of text or mantra, this tells us that the origin of the mantra or manuscript is a spiritual treasure called a Terma གཏེར་མ་ hidden by Guru Rinpoche or Yeshe Tsogyal for the benefit of future generations. 

A Terton is a title given to a spiritually realized person of the Guru Rinpoche linage who has the ability to discover or reveal Terma.

According to the vision of Terton Taksham Nuden Dorje, it is said the two circles symbolize means ཐབས་ and Knowledge/wisdom ཤེས་རབ་ and the crescent moon between them represents their indivisible unity ཟུང་དུ་འཇུག་པ། Although the Ter-tseg as a punctuation mark can also be written as only two ཿ circles without the crescent moon, such as Terma manuscripts from Mindrol Ling.

In the case of a Tibetan manuscript that is not a Terma, the ending of each line of text or mantra is a single vertical stroke called a shad ཤད་ = ། 

The Ter-tseg sign can also be called namche རྣམ་བཅད་ However, identical in appearance, it plays a different role in Tibetan scriptures. The namche has its origins in Sanskrit as two dots and can usually be found suffixed to singular syllables, such as the Sanskrit syllable hrīḥ ह्रीः Which in the Tibetan phonetics is written ཧྲཱིཿ 

In Sanskrit the two small circles called a visarga, has the effect on the root syllable of changing the pronunciation with a light out breath, that has been somewhat lost in the Tibetan pronunciation.

An example of the uses of both Ter-tseg and namche within the Tibetan written language is with the mantra of Guru Rinpoche, as shown below. Two circles are present with the second syllable of the mantra ཨཿ which originates from Sanskrit. The Mantra is then finished with a ter-tseg ༔ announcing that the mantra is of Terma in origin.

ཨོཾ་ཨཿཧཱུྂ་བཛྲ་གུ་རུ་པདྨ་སིདྡྷི་ཧཱུྂ༔

With thanks to the knowledgeable Jayarava for contributing to this short post.

rest unshakably.....

"Rest Unshakably" Chinese ink and silver leaf on mount board.
50x51 cm Tashi Mannox 2008.

The translation for swastika in Tibetan is "unchanging well-being" or "rest unshakably" a popular emblem in Tibetan iconography used to mark stability as well as a symbol of good luck.

An art piece previously not published as part of Tashi's Black on Black series, This particular piece is created using the words yungdrung གཡུང་དྲུང་ repeated four times to arrange as a mandala of unchanging well-being. These Tibetan letters gilded in silver leaf to give an etched effect standing proud on the blackened textured board, as the below image details demonstrate.

Detail showing the artists seals and date.

In the bottom right corner accompanying two of the artists personal seals are the words "the mandala of unchanging well-being" ༄། གཡུང་དྲུང་འཁྱིལ་བ། that is only caught in certain light or angle that painting is viewed.
The artists signature appears untypical and lavish across the bottom width of the canvas size, painted in a free brushed expression that is actually a remanent from an earlier discarded art piece, re-used to an attractive effect and multi layering and texture to the over-all piece. Other words that translate as "the great gesture" "Mahamudra" are hidden and pushed to the background by the illuminated silver lettering.

During the 17 years of being a monk, Tashi Mannox spent four in a cloistered retreat, The photo below was taken in 1988 at the begining of the retreat, that shows Tashi seated in his 'meditation box'. This limited  space of about a meter square doubled as his bed, as it is required to sleep up-right to maximize time spent in meditation during the retreat. Chalked below the box was a swastika as protection and a symbol of stability and well-being. As Tashi commented "though it took some months of getting used to, the meditation box became a place to 'rest unshakably' with only one's mind as a distraction".

࿗

To read more about the symbology and relevance of the swastika, there is an earlier post on the subject here.

Laughing in the face of.......

Tashi as a monk on the roof of the Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet, 1996.

An explanation of the five skull paintings series called

Laughing in the Face of Death,  

To live and die without regret.      

                                          

During 2006 into 2007 Tashi Mannox focused on creating a set of five iconographic masterpieces that are steeped in Tibetan Buddhist wisdoms. Each piece took two to three months of meticulous application, using modern and traditional techniques of Thanka painting.  

In Tibetan iconography the skull is symbolic of impermanence, as Tibetans in general have a more positive attitude to death because of their Buddhist faith, the skull is often depicted as if laughing. Tashi's five skull paintings show happy almost manic grinning skulls, each of these expresses a different emotion, from a wrathful to a more peaceful expression.

The series of paintings migrate from one to the next through different mood stages, symbolizing the transition from death to re-birth, known as the bardo in Tibetan that translated as ‘between stage’.

Each of the different moods can also be depicted as the transformation of the five ‘mind poisons’ into the ‘five wisdoms’, associated with the Five ‘Buddha families’.

This is a popular Tibetan Buddhist theme, that Tashi has illuminated to his own interpretation, draws from his training in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and iconography.

Tashi explains:

“A Buddhist practitioner, a Yogi or Yogini, strives to live without harming others and themselves, up to the point of death without any regrets, knowing that they have led a full and meaningful life, and thus able to look into the face of death confidently, laughing without fear. 

For such a practitioner the time of death is a great opportunity.  

But because generally as a non-practitioner we do not know ourselves, we are ignorant, and fear death, the ultimate unknown”.

Tashi’s intention is that for the viewer of the five paintings, there can be much to contemplate. From standing back and comparing each of the skulls with each other, perhaps noting their subtle change in facial expression, different use of colour and pattern, to moving up close to peer into their void like eternally dark eyes.

“Looking into the faces of the skulls in the series is somewhat like looking at oneself, a suggestion of ones inner self and emotions, rather like looking into a mirror of the soul: it may not be an entirely comfortable experience, but there is a familiarity, which is honest and beautiful at the same time”. 

This brings up the point of the general Western attitude to death and emotions, which is somewhat morbid, hidden and generally swept under the carpet. Facing images of death maybe somewhat challenging, but with courage of heart, one can laugh in the face of death and the emotional trappings, overcoming ones fears and transforming a negative into a positive.

The five painting are displayed in a specific order as numbered and explained below:

1. ‘Laughing in the face of Anger’

The first of the five skull series is black in colour, angry and more wrathful.

The mood of this piece is one of loss, which hovers ghostly in space. The remedy is to tame hatred, converting to loving-kindness is the first of the five wisdoms.

2. ‘Laughing in the face of Attachment’

Next is red in colour, of passion and attachment, avarice is all consuming like a fire that burns up with devastating destruction. The antidote of grasping is generosity, a great wisdom to practice.

3. ‘Laughing in the face of Pride’

Golden yellow is the colour of riches of the earth and the adornment of the self. The mood of this piece is pride, elaborate and princely. Pride converts to humility and respect as a wisdom.

4. ‘Laughing in the face of Jealousy’

Green is the colour of energy and envy. This deluded and sneaky jealous emotion can be transformed into seeing all as the same, the wisdom of equanimity.

5. ‘Laughing in the face of Stupidity’

Lastly, blue is emptiness. Through taming one’s mind, one has the clear insight to find liberation from these emotions of ignorance. This is the freedom of wisdom, as vast and limitless as the blue sky. This symbolizes the bud of potential, to bloom with fruition, full and glorious.

The middle three skulls are crowned with the Sun and Moon motif, symbolising Wisdom and Compassion, the emblem of balance and harmony.

-      Tibetan Calligraphy artist Tashi Mannox.

Prints:

The "laughing in the face of Death" series is now available as excellent quality limited edition prints.

The reproductions are premium-quality giclée printed, on mould-made papers (the finest and oldest paper-making technique) of 310-315 g/m². The papers; Velin and Aquarelle 100% rag, are of museum conservation standard, ensures stability and UV colorfast ink longevity of more than 120 years.

Each image is carefully colour matched and in sharpness to the original artwork. The prints are hand signed with the edition number and stamped with the artists’ personal ‘water tiger’ seal.

Where gold and silver leaf have been used on originally artworks, the prints are carefully hand gilded to produce an authentic real gold and silver finish, otherwise not achieved to such a bright luster by printed reproduction alone.

Please note that not all of the smaller sized prints are possible to gild due to their petit finesse.

Prints can be ordered in a choice of three sizes, individually or as the set of five:

1. Large size prints of approximately 67x50 cm, this is near to the actual size of the original artworks.

2. Half size at 50x36.5 cm

3. Smaller size of approximately 40x29.7 cm. 

For prices and orders please follow the link here.