The Playing For Change inspired traditional Thangka. The art features the ancient chant Om Mani Padme Hum written in Tibetan 108 times. This is considered a very auspicious prayer and number. One designed to help bring enlightenment.

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Size: 10" x 10"

A Thangka painting is not simply a decoration or a creation of beauty, but a medium for expressing Buddhist ideals acting as a portable icon of deities for meditative purposes. These works of art function as models on which we the practitioner can reflect and meditate on how to improve our spiritual well being. For even looking at a Thangka is in itself a good deed. By meditating on such objects, a spiritual practitioner can train the mind and gain an understanding of certain types of awareness that that specific image portrays.

Natural dyes are traditionally used to generate an earthy realism with water-soluble pigments, both mineral and organic, tempered with an herb and glue solution. The entire process demands great mastery over the drawing and perfect understanding of iconometric principles.

Thangka quality and its spiritual significance vary greatly of course and most tourists do not know the difference. Poster colors and watercolors are the norm for the less expensive “tourist-grade” paintings that may be catchy but leave the colors void of any religious significance. The tools of old have been discarded for those of modern design to speed up the painting's completion and reduce costs. The wonderful loving presence of these sacred masterpieces shines through with unparalleled vibrancy, attention to detail, and precision.