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.

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.

Creating the Mani mantra

The Mani mantra is featured in this five minute video, that demonstrates the calligraphic order in a brushed Uchen script, Tashi also gives a short explanation of the purifying nature of each of the six syllables:

oṃ ma ṇi pad me hūṃ 

Created on 5th December 2011
Chinese ink on block water-colour paper 46x61 cm.
© Tashi Mannox

♬

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.

Obstacle Clearance

'Homage to Mahakala' the face of the Great Black one, Tashi Mannox 2007

On the last day of the Tibetan year prayers are offered to the wrathful Dharma protector called Mahakala 'the Great Black One'. This is traditionally an all day sadhana སྒྲུབ་ཐབས practice to clear away obstacles of the old year to clear the way for a peace and progress in the Dharma. It is a cathartic and effective way to let go of negativity and purify body speech and mind of the new year ahead.

The yearly Mahakala practice culminates with a ceremonial 'cham' dance to symbolically chase out and repel the demons of the old year, called the black hat dance. The main character of the dance is usually performed by a high Lama who is particularly attained in  the visualization of the sadhana, who's role is given the title dorje lopon. 

The Mahakala dance has its origins from a time in historical Tibet when an anti-Dharma King was shot with an arrow from a bow concealed in the long pointed sleeves of the gown worn by the dancers of his court. This has since become symbolic of the victory over the inner and outer obstacles one may encounter on a spiritual path.  A similar costume is worn today together with an apron depicting the face of Mahakala, the protector of the Dharma.

A young Gyaltsab Rinpoche wearing the black hat dance costume at Rumtek
monastery in Sikkim. Photography by Peter Mannox.

With the dust of the old year symbolically clean away, it is traditional for a more practical spring clean of the household in Tibet, which with the celebrations of the new year 'losar' and on this day only, the servants of the house would be allowed to swop cloths and roles with the masters, in a party atmosphere of joy and a refreshing shake-up of conformity.

The Tibetan New Year of 2011 bounds in with the Female Iron Hare or Rabbit, which is said to be a particularly joyful and prosperous year ahead.

May goodness increase.

Karmapa

ཀ་

The badge of Tsurphu monastery,
the original seat of the Karmapas
in Tibet, founded in 1189 by the
Fist Karmapa Dusum Chenpa.

ཀརྨ་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད།

Ka ཀ་ is the first letter of the Tibetan alphabet and the first letter of the name Karmapa ཀརྨ་པ།

But more notably; the latter ka also refers to speech, that is of the aural transmission of the Dharma though the Kagyu lineage known as the 'Golden Rosary' as one bead in a string leads to another, so are the teachings and practices passed on down through  an unbroken lineage to the present day.

The Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje is the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage and the 17th in the line of Karmapa's 

The 16th and 17th Karmapas.

The above photo shows an astonishing resemblance between the 16th and 17th Karmapa of a similar age, not only in photo composition but also in location on grass next to a tent in the grounds of his seat monastery called Tsurphu in central Tibet. 

It was quite by accident that these two photographs found there way together after a life-time had passed between one incarnation to another.  

The 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje '1924 - 1981'

A a seldom seen and delightful photography of the 16th Karmapa, was taken by Tashi's father Peter Mannox, who documented many other of the Kagyu lineage holders during the 1970's at Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, India.

The 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, born '1985 -

The present Karmapa now resides in Northern India at his temporary camp at the Gyuto monastery in Dharamsala.

Karmapa-chenno mantra, Dru-tsa script, Tashi Mannox 2022

As the central figure to the Kagyu linage, the mantra to ask for blessing of the Karmapa is pronounced karmapa chénno which translates as 'Karmapa here me/take heed'.

To the left is an impression of one of the Karmapa's seals, signed by the 16th Karmapa, 

the hand-writing above the seal translates as

'Karma Kagyu Dharma institution'

༄། ཀརྨ་བཀའ་མརྒྱུདཆོས་སྡེ།

At the center of the seal design is the letters 'karmapa'.

A similar seal design to the above, perhaps a copy, clearly shows the letters 'karmapa' carved into the stone seal.

The script style is the father to the Horyig seal script called Phags-pa.

In both seal designs, the Phags-pa letters sit on an open lotus, radiating aura lines, above the letters are three 'jewels' representing the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, either side of which are the sun and moon.  

At The top of this post is a badge of Tolung Tsuphu Monastery, there is an interesting little story to the creation of this badge of an international collaboration. 

Once upon a time... In June 1996 Tashi visited Tsurphu monastery along with Akong Rinpoche and his brother Lama Yeshe Losal, to meet the young 17th Karmapa. This was a particularly special occasion,  as for Lama Yeshe and Tashi, it was the first time they had seen the Karmapa since his previous incarnation.

Akong Rinpoche, Karmapa and Tsering Tashi.

One particular day Akong Rinpoche together with Tashi organized an audience with the Karmapa. The main purpose of this meeting was to take measurements so that Tashi could make robes for the Karmapa at a later date. 

Much of the day was spent in the Karmapa's private quarters where games where played with much enjoyment and laughter.

It was decided to offer Karmapa an embroidered badge, which He liked as something to give to every one of the monks in the monastery representing Tsurphu.

Drawing by Karmapa and Tashi.

As in the Photo, all three huddled around Karmapa's seat table to plot out how the badge should look. Above is a rough sketch that was made by Tashi at the time under the instructions from both Karmapa and Akong, additional marks were added by Karmapa, such as the curls at the top as he explained the decorated surround of the Dharma wheel and swirls to the scroll. Below He added the moon and the sun and even wrote moon and sun next to them. The design session ended with how to draw a star.

Fresh in mind and sketch in hand, Tashi returned to Scotland where he requested Sherab Palden Beru a master of Tibetan art, to create a design based on Karmapa's instruction. The design at the top of this post was created by one of Sherabs students under his direction.

Tashi then contacted some Buddhist friends, Tony and Rose, he had met earlier in that year, who happened to run a badge making business in Australia called 'Badger Makes Badges'. The artwork was sent to them around the globe and being devoted to Karmapa, hundreds of beautifully embroider badges where returned to Scotland and offered to Karmapa by Akong Rinpoche on his next returning visit to Tibet.

THE END

❖

Another Karmapa related post on the Karmapa's dream flag can be followed here.

Unchanging well being,

གཡུང་དྲུང་པ་ཏྲ།

The interlocking swastika pattern is called Sayagata in 
Japanese, meaning "gossamer figured-cloth pattern".

The Swastika is estimated to be a 3,000 year old symbol that is important to most of the worlds cultures for its sacred symbolism. A powerful image that in recent history; has been corrupted by a more unfortunate Nazis association.

The word 'swastika' is Sanskrit pronounced 'svastika'. Some of the earliest examples of the 卍 symbol can be found in India.
Below shows the convoluted swastika pattern as part of the elaborate stone carving on the Dharmekh Stupa in Sarnath near Varanasi.
Such patterns are probably the origin of the Sayagata design, as shown above, which as a pattern on cloth, furniture, and architectural decoration, is widely reproduced across Tibet, Mongolia, China and Japan, in fact just about everywhere across the far East.

A detail of stone carving on the Sarnath stupa.

The stupa at Sarnath is built on the spot where the Buddha gave his first teaching after attaining enlightenment, known as the dear park, located North-East of Varanasi. 

The first construction of the stupa was during the reign of Emperor Ashoka (2nd century B.C.). It was later rebuilt to its present form in the early 6th century. 
In more recent times  a stone tablet was discovered in the center of the stupa with the word Dhamekha, this can be translated as Dharma Chakra, meaning "turning the wheel of the Dharma." which coincides with the records of Buddha's first sermon, when he "set the wheel of Dharma into motion."

A phoenix design by Sherab Palden Beru, adapted for Tibetan Table panels
by Tashi Mannox, note a different variation of
the convoluted swastika pattern in blue: གཡུང་དྲུང་པ་ཏྲ།

For Tibetans the swastika is used by both Buddhists and the pre-Buddhist religion called Bön, the symbol is generally differentiated by the direction that the swastika turns. The Buddhist version turns with the arms pointing clockwise ࿗ where as the Bön swastika spins anti-clockwise ࿘

Here is an example of a 'heading' character of a Bön script called Zhang Zhung or smar-chen སྨར་ཆེན་ in Tibetan, the swastika used as part of the character is turning anti-clockwise.

More of the Zhang Zhung script spells out 'yung drung'  གཡུང་དྲུང་  in Tibetan, Which is the word used for swastika and translates as "rest unshakably" or "unchanging well-being" 

© Tashi Mannox 2011

Above is a calligraphy art piece by Tashi using the words g.young drung གཡུང་དྲུང་ to form the shape of a swastika. In India, Tibet, China and Japan, the swastika is considered a symbol of good luck. 

Sarnath stupa carving from the 6th century.

A detail from stone carvings found on the site of the Acropolis 

The famous Parthenon Παρθενων has stood proud at the Acropolis in Athens for the past 2,500 years. Like many ancient Greek architectural embellishments, the swastika σβάστικα is popular as a decorative theme. The Above carved detail is perhaps from the Roman occupation of the Parthenon, which demonstrates the favored use of the swastika as design feature.

Contemporary swastika design by Myoshka

The personal water tiger seal of Tashi Mannox
is repeated and turned to form a swastika like design.

࿗