After fleeing his native Tibet, Lama Tsondru Sangpo (pictured) is “planting the Buddha seed” in New Haven with a display of sacred paintings.
New Haveners gathered at the New Haven Lawn Club on Friday to view sacred thangka paintings by Lama Tsondru, a world-renowned thangka master and member of the city’s small Tibetan community. The darkened basement gallery space was crowded with people on Friday evening admiring the colorful spotlit paintings adorning the walls.
A thangka is a type of sacred Tibetan painting that depicts, in vibrant color and exquisite detail, different deities in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The paintings can take months to finish, and hang as scrolls surrounded by ornately woven silk brocade. When they are completed, thangkas are more than simply decoration; they are also a form of visual prayer for all who view them.
The thangkas on display at the New Haven Lawn Club are the work of Lama Tsundru Sangpo, a Tibetan refugee and the resident teacher at the Thupten Ling Dharma Center in New Haven.
“He’s very very, important. I mean, really important,” said Jim Vicevich, who described himself as a good friend of the Lama. “He’ll never tell you that because he’s too humble. But he’s very important.”
Sarah Jacoby, a post-doc teaching Tibetan studies at Colombia University said that Lama Tsondru has studied with some of the foremost masters of Tibetan Buddhism, including meditation master Dujum Rinpoche (now deceased) and Chatral Sangay Darje Rinpoche, the aged patriarch of the Nyingma school, one of the four main sects of Tibetan Buddhism. Jacoby further explained that Lama Tsondru has had paintings commissioned by the Dalai Lama himself.
“I’ve looked at this art all over Tibet and I’ve never met a thangka painter as good as Lama Tsondru,” said Jacoby.
She explained the spiritual significance of the art. “They’re beautiful, but it’s a kind of beauty that’s used for the practical purpose of meditation.” Thangkas are made to help Buddhist meditation practitioners to visualize all of the aspects of a deity, every part of the intricate images has a symbolic purpose.
“Just to see a thangka fills one with inconcievable merit,” said Lama Rebkong (pictured), a New Haven native and assistant teacher at the Thupten Ling Dharma Center. Lama Rebkong said that through meditation on the deity depicted in a thangka, the meditator can attain some of the qualities of that deity.
In this way, each painting is meant to move the viewer towards spiritual awakening. Lama Tsondru underscored this intention when he was asked to address the room.
Standing on the stairwell steps and speaking in halting English, the lama said, “My main motivation is to benefit all people who see these precious thangkas.” He said that anyone who sees the thangkas is “planted with the Buddha seed, although they may have no idea.”
Refugee Lama
“I am a refugee,” said Lama Tsondru with a smile, when asked about how he came to live in New Haven. He explained that he had left Tibet in 1959 and then lived in India for many years, where he started a thangka-painting school for impoverished boys. He moved to New Haven several years ago at the request of a group of local Buddhist practitioners.
Now he spends part of the year in New Haven and part of the year in Darjeeling, India, where his school is. “I have to share my time to two sides,” he said, holding up two fingers: India and New Haven.
Lama Tsondru’s wife and three children (pictured) were also at the opening. The Lama has two daughters in college and one son, Sangye Bhutia, in sixth grade at Nathan Hale. Sangye and one of his sisters were both wearing “Free Tibet“ t‑shirts.
Asked about Lama Tsondru’s response to the current situation between China and Tibet, Lama Rebkong said, “Of course everyone is concerned, but the Rinpoche [Lama Tsondru] follows the advice of the Dalai Lama, who suggests no outward protest.” Lama Rebkong added that Lama Tsondru has been doing extra prayers for the people involved in the conflict, and for everybody.
Lama Tsondru’s thangkas will be on display at the New Haven Lawn Club until May 25th.