Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment

Denise Patry Leidy, Robert A. F. Thurman, Asia Society Galleries, Tibet House (Organization : New York, N.Y.)

ISBN 10: 0500280185 / ISBN 13: 9780500280188

Published by Thames and Hudson, London, 1997

About this Item

175 pages : illustrations (some colour), map ; 26 cm. Abstract:This volume presents the art and philosophy of mandala design in 100 examples, including the Copper Palace of Padmasambhava from Bhutan, a painted and gilded star mandala from Japan and the Kalachakra Father-Mother from Tibet. A history and overview of mandala art is also presented. Contents: Foreword / Vishakha N. Desai and Robert A.F. Thurman Introduction / Denise Patry Leidy and Robert A.F. Thurman Place and Process: Mandala Imagery in the Buddhist Art of Asia / Denise Patry Leidy Catalogue of the Exhibition / Denise Patry Leidy and Robert A.F. Thurman. Space and Sanctity in Buddhist Art. Pure Lands and Other Perfected Worlds. Diversity in Mandalas from Nepal and Tibet. Regional Variations: Mandalas from Southeast and East Asia Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment / Robert A.F. Thurman App. A. Kalachakra Mandalas App. B. Selected Writings.

Seller Inventory # 7BR530

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment
• Publisher: Thames and Hudson, London
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500280185
• ISBN 13: 9780500280188
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art
  • Buddhism
  • Tibet

About this title

Synopsis

The mandala appears in many forms - painted, made of sand, modelled three-dimensionally or constructed completely in the mind of the meditator. This volume presents the art and philosophy of the intriguing design in 100 examples, including the Copper Palace of Padmasambhava from Bhutan, a painted and gilded star mandala from Japan and the Kalachakra Father-Mother from Tibet. In addition, a history and overview of mandala art throughout the Eastern world is presented, chronicling its development, beginning in India and moving to countries as far afield as Japan and Indonesia. An essay by Robert Thurman, Head of Tibet House, comments on uses of the mandala in Buddhist philosophy and mediation, describing esoteric visualizaiton practices intended to perfect the self. The volume is based on an exhibition at The Asia Society Galleries and Tibet House, New York.

About the Author

Robert A. F. Thurman is a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University in New York.