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Buddhist Butter Sculptures
Aim to Tame El Niño at Oglethorpe University Museum
Atlanta - From April 5 through May 6, monks from Drepung
Loseling Monastery will create a set of five Tibetan butter
sculptures calling for the "Taming of El Niño" at Oglethorpe
University Museum (OUM) in conjunction with the special return
limited engagement of "The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Featuring
Personal Sacred Objects of the Dalai Lama" opening to the public
Sunday, April 5.
The sacred artistic traditions of Ancient Tibet found expression
in a large number of mediums. A medium little known in the West is
the tradition of butter sculpture, in which the monk artists work
with dyed butters. These sculptures were created in the temples and
monasteries during the annual sacred festivals, as well as whenever
any special healing was required. Traditionally, butter sculptures
would be created for a specific purpose and then "offered," that is
burned in fire, for the accomplishment of that purpose.
The butter sculptures to be created at OUM are images of the
"Five Buddha Families," symbolic of healing five aspects on outer,
inner and secret levels. On the outer level, the five represent the
four directions, plus the center, as well as the five elements of
water, earth, fire, air and space. On the inner level, the five
images represent the stabilization of the five root mental states of
love and compassion, self-worth, appreciative engagement, enthusiasm
and the sense of harmony, balance and wellness. In addition, the
images also represent the inner level transformation of the five
root delusions into wisdom—anger and hatred transformed into
mirror-like wisdom; pride and arrogance transformed into the wisdom
of the equal value of all things; desire and attachment transformed
into all-distinguishing awareness; jealousy and envy transformed
into all-accomplishing action; and apathy and laziness transformed
into the wisdom of the completeness of being. On the secret level,
the images represent the integration of the chakra centers of the
body.
"The monks will be offering this butter sculpture to bring about
auspicious environmental conditions for the region," said Glen H
Mullin, exhibition curator.
The Museum’s exhibition will feature 30 personal items belonging
to the Dalai Lama. Items on display will include tangka scroll
paintings, a mantra rosary, a silver vase with auspicious designs
and an offering vessel among others. Other items are on loan from
the surviving archives of Drepung Loseling Monastery in India, where
Tibetan monks fled during the 1959 Chinese invasion. Most of the
items in this latter collection date from the 11th to the 15th
centuries -- the time of Drepung’s founding.
The traveling exhibition featuring objects never before seen in
the Western world is sponsored by The Loseling Institute (the North
American Seat of Drepung Loseling Monastery), Richard Gere
Productions, Oglethorpe University Museum and Swissair. A full-color
exhibition catalog, published by Longstreet Press, is available
through Oglethorpe University Museum Gift Shop.
The exhibition will run from Sunday, April 5 through Sunday, June
7, 1998 in honor of the Atlanta visit of the Dalai Lama in May. For
further information about concerts or exhibitions, or to schedule a
docent tour, call 404-364-8555.
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