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The
Motivation for this activity:
A message from Lama
Rangbar
During my
years as a practitioner, my love of art work as a means of
communication and blessing has never declined. Art
works play a large role in the pantheon of skillful means (Upaya)
in terms of inspiring practitioners towards practice,
excellence and harmony. Many works done with proper
motivation and consecration radiate blessings far into the
future past the short time we ourselves are on the planet.
Today's
hustle and bustle world has robbed most Lamas and
practitioners of the time to be able to keep many ancient
art traditions alive. Many items that were commonly used in
practice have become more or less extinct and whereas the
texts clearly call for their skillful inclusion and use in
various practices and ceremonies, the practitioners of
today, particularly Ngakpas, find themselves making broad
substitutions for their omission. Although there is
certainly no harm in accomplishing the expeditious, I felt a
personal calling to try to revive many of these art
traditions so that they increase rather than fall into
memories of the past.
The items
we are talking about are not common place practice items
which are available in several good stores. For these
common items, We suggest practitioners try sources such as
Dharmaware;
www.dharmaware.com,
Sharchen Imports or for prayer flags;
www.radiantheart.com
or many other such suppliers which offer such items.
The below
unique ritual items have sometimes been inspired by my own
meanderings or at the requests of other Lamas and
practitioners for their use. Since I have lived in
Nepal for 16 years, I have had the advantage of being
able to enjoin craftsmen and all kinds of workers to take up
specific designs and walk them through the processes
referred to in source texts. I always try to maintain
the original required ingredients, proportions and processes
whenever possible. Most of the items made start with
the desire to offer something of symbolic meaning to Lamas
but word tends to spread and requests come. I enjoy
this work as a hobby that I feel adds something to the
efforts of everyone who has their hearts set on preserving
the precious Holy Dharma with all its attributes and means
for generations to come.
What can be Done:
Ritual Implements: There
are many things which can be made. Generally, we try
to focus on works that once made, will set a "template" for
similar works that can be adopted in common practice
situations or ceremonies. On this page you will see a
list of some items we have accomplished. If you
require an item that does not appear below, feel free to
communicate with us about your need. We may not be
able to do everything you are dreaming of, but we will try
to serve as best as we can.
Ritual Substances are not
normally for sale and are made in quantities since the
process and effort for making a small amount is the same as
for a larger amount. Since there is no such tradition
for these ingredients to be bought or sold, we will endeavor
to make them available to serious practitioners on a
sponsorship basis. We will collect contributions for
production of these substances and compounds and start the
process once adequate funds have been achieved to support
the production processes. Your contribution is welcome
and please be patient with the processes which often take
considerable time.
Thangkas are made
available due to specific demand of Tersar and general
Nyingma practitioners since they are difficult to obtain yet
are often important for practice.
How to Commission Works
Practitioners can either
send their requests directly to us by email with as much of
a detailed description as possible, what it is needed for
(if it is unclear from knowing the item itself), any text
related with the item may also helpful. The processes
and ingredients to make the items on these pages are already
known as they have been made at least once or twice already.
If you are not a Buddhist
practitioner and are requesting these items simply for their
art or curio value, please consider that it is not our
intention to make things for such purposes so please
respect our intentions in this matter.
When
relating to the commissioning process, remember that this
activity is not a business even though you may have found
out about it on the internet. Although there is
certainly a charge to make these unique works possible, all
proceeds go to the processes and substances to make the
items along with an offering to either Ngadra Labrang or
Dechen Mingyurling Dharma centers.
The
production of these items is a custom process and things can
take a long time to accomplish. Sometimes items take
only a month to complete while other items can take even
over a year. For some items the collection
of ingredients can take place over several countries,
research is often required and even experimentation
with materials. We will give you some idea how long
this production process will take before you confirm
commissioning of work.
Not all
price ranges are listed along with all the photos as things
can be commissioned in different sizes, with different
attributes and with differing characteristics.
Practitioners are welcome to write to get an estimate of the
custom item they wish to commission.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION OR TO EXPRESS INTEREST IN COMMISSIONING WORKS
PLEASE CONTACT:
Sangngaktsogyal@ngakpasociety.org |
