9" x 11" Print on Linen

Donated by Laura Santi, the original, Portland artist.

Avalokiteshvara, also known as Chenrezig, is a Bodhisattva - a being who compassionately aids the suffering of the world.  He is the guardian of Tibet and her people.  He has many forms, but here is represented with 1,000 arms giving him the ability to aid countless beings at once.  Each hand has an eye that looks compassionately at the world.  

His mantra is "Om Mani Padme Hum", which can be seen painted everywhere in Tibet.  He holds to his heart the wish-fulfilling gem, Bodhicitta - letting go of self and cherishing others. 

About Laura Santi - the original artist:

Laura Santi is a painter of Tibetan Buddhist deity thankgas, living and working in Portland, Oregon, USA.  She uses gouache, mineral paints and gold on cotton canvases prepared in the traditional way using animal hide and chalk.  Her goals are to follow the traditional aspects of this style of painting, but to contemporize it so that it has a vibrancy and potency that can touch not only a Buddhist practitioner, but also others completely unfamiliar with this sort of art.