The Traditional Implemented; Transcending boundaries
( 2014; mixed media, colored sand, oil on denim jeans; 71,4” x 109” / 181 x 277 cm)
Centered is a mandala of compassion, but in the middle sits Amitayus instead of Avaloketeshvara. Amitayus (Tse-pameh in Tibetan) is considered the samboghakaya form of Amitabha and reflects infinite life. Since 2011 the Dalai Lama, as a reincarnation form of Avaloketeshera, shares his responsibilities. He carried on being the Spiritual leader of his people in the world, but he stopped his governmental-political duties trying to deepen the authority of the movement’s democratic government, which is based in Dharamsala, by a chosen prime minister. It has to benefit the Tibetans in the long run.
A constructed mandala is a celestial residence of a meditation deity and every aspect of it has a deep meaning. The doorways on all four directions represent the Four Immeasurable Thoughts: love, compassion, joy and equanimity. The mandala also represents the universe, which is dependent on the exact ratio of the four elements (fire, water, earth and air). E.g. too much fire burns, too less makes it cold and the right amount makes growing and flowering possible. This is both taught in Buddhism as well as in the western science education.
We, human beings, do not understand everything in our world. The clouds present us a veil behind which many ‘secrets’ are hidden. In fact, they are not tangible with our senses, but they may reveal through meditation and development of a higher Buddhist nature. An optimal society as the mythical Shambala (a fourth dimension?) is therefore also represented in this mandala.