The Art of Awakening: A User's Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Art and Practice [Paperback]

A presentation on the Tibetan Buddhist path to enlightenment, through the lens of an artist's eye and experience.

The sacred arts play an essential, intrinsic role in Tibetan Buddhist practice. Here, one of the great practitioners and master artists of our time presents a guide to the Tibetan Buddhist path, from preliminary practices through enlightenment, from the artist's perspective. With profound wisdom, he shows how visual representations of the sacred in paintings, sculptures, mandalas, and stupas can be an essential support to practice throughout the path. This work, based on the author's landmark Tibetan text, The Path to Liberation, includes basic Buddhist teachings and practices, clearly pointing out the relevance of these for both the sacred artist and the practitioner, along with an overview of the history and iconography of Buddhist art.“The Art of Awakeningis the one book that every student of Tibetan art, aspiring tangka painter, and Vajrayana practitioner really should have. Vast in its scope and authenticity, this definitive work by master artist Konchog Lhadrepa and his student Charlotte Davis is a phenomenal repository of knowledge on all aspects of Tibetan art and its practice. This is the book I always hoped to write but never did, and instead can learn so much from it. For this is a masterwork of the purest Dharma, which I pray will be translated into many different languages.”—Robert Beer, author and illustrator ofThe Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs

“The Art of Awakeningis a comprehensive guide for those wishing to learn about the rich tradition of Tibetan tangka painting. In particular, this book is an essential resource for those wishing to know the inside meanings involved in the creation of a tangka painting, and the key elements of dharma practice that are essential for the aspiring tangka painter. In this day and age when the growing commercialilÃo