My meeting with Sakya Trizin was postponed until tomorrow morning because of the lengthy preparations for the seven day Vajra Nairatmya ritual at Sakya Center, Rajpur. That however didn't postpone my lecture this afternoon. It was strange to be lecturing to over 120 monks in a place that I used to call home. I have lectured to monks before but not that many. Their ages ranged from kids to adults. I had to vary the lecture so as to include everybody equally as the targeted audience.
The first image above is of Avalokliteshvara belonging to the RMA. The second image below is from a set of nine paintings sometimes thought to have been originally created or commissioned by Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne. The painting is in a Chinese style although almost any painting associated with Situ Panchen is incorrectly said to be in a Karma Gadri style. There are many reasons for this, too many to discuss at this time. This second painting is a recent Tibetan copy of an older painting located at a monastery in Eastern Tibet. The only other known painting (photographed) like this is in the Rubin Museum of Art (see first image). Don and I purchased it specifically for the Situ Panchen exhibition which is currently showing. It will be interesting to carefully compare the two images.
The lower painting is of the 5th Khamtrul Rinpoche and done in a Cho Tashi style from Khampa Gar in Eastern Tibet. (Cho Tashi was a famous Drugpa Kagyu artist from the 17th/18th century). The colours are rich, thick, applied heavily and the composition makes full use of the entire canvas unlike the paintings from Palpung that are called Karma Gadri style.
The top image is looking across at the back of Sakya Center in Rajpur. The photo is taken from the road that leads to the Sakya Nunnery in the Dekyiling community. It is not more than an hour walk from Rajpur and 10 minute drive. The image in the middle is of the new Ngor Tantric College built in Manduwalla under the supervision of Luding Khen Rinpoche. And the bottom image is of the famous Drigung Songtsen Library. Tenzin D. and I visited the library when we were in India in 2005. I will not have an opportunity to visit this time, nor will I be able to visit Sakya College and Khenpo Gyatso, Gongkar Chode, Sa-Magon Puruwalla, and a host of other sites. It would take at least a month in Dehradun with a serious schedule prepared to be able to see most of the sites. For the Sakya alone there are twelve or thirteen monasteries, colleges and retreat centres in the Dehradun area. The Hindu holy places of Rishikesh and Haradwar are also a short drive down the road. On Wednesday the Dalai Lama flew into the local airport and then spent the day in Haradwar with a famous Indian Sadhu. He then flew back to Dharamsala in the afternoon. One of my hosts had to be at the airport to officially welcome the Dalai Lama and give a formal greeting representing the Lingtsang community.
