 |
|
As seen in The Nepali Times!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
|
PROCEEDS BENEFIT SHERPA FAMILIES AND MONKS What is this? The Christmas Thangka© is a small "thank you" gift for donors to this tax-deductable project. The Christmas Thangka© is a Buddhistic exegesis of the Santa Claus myth. Thangkas are not for sale, they are available for a suggested tax-deductible donation of $200; this money will have an enormous impact on Sherpa and Tibetan families connected to Zatrul Rinpoche's gompa in Parphing, Nepal, and donors will have one of the more oddball Christmas gifts ever. Many of the beneficiaries of this project rely on tourism which collapsed after the devastating earthquakes in 2015. Obviously, The Christmas Thangka is for people who celebrate Christmas, this project is the Sherpa Buddhist take on it. The Christmas Thangka is a Buddhist art project in three parts: the thangka; the text and you. Please read the text, which you can download below. The text serves as the "peycha" for the artwork, like an owner's manual, instructing the viewer on how to use the thangka. This is not a decoration, it's a tool to identify with altruism. About the Artist Hugh R. (HR) Downs has lived in Nepal, on and off for 12 years since 1969. Downs spent two years as an apprentice to the Sherpa hermit monk painter Ngawong Lekshit, or Auleshi. His book, Rhythms of a Himalayan Village, Harper & Row, San Francisco 1980 and reprinted in 1996 by Book Faith India, contains a photo essay on this unusual yogi-painter. After years of employing traditional painting techniques, computers opened an entirely new way to imagine and record the extramundane as an extension of photography. DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE ESSAY HERE REDI (Renewable Energy Development International) is the fiscal sponsor in the United States for The Christmas Thangka project. The suggested donation of $200 is fully deductible from federal income tax under 501(c)3 laws. Checks may be made out to: REDI and mailed to 1135 W. 5th Ave., Eugene OR 97402 USA Or you may donate $200 here via PayPal. Please BE SURE to click on "share your address with REDI" so we can ship your thangka to you. For more information or for any questions: hr@mabian.biz Travel to Nepal, India or Tibet with Samye Travels! My photography sites mabian.biz |
