Main entry:

Leidy, Denise Patry.

Title & Author:

Mandala : the architecture of enlightenment / Denise Patry Leidy and Robert A.F. Thurman.

Publication:

New York : Asia Society Galleries : Tibet House ; Boston : Shambhala, ©1997.

Description:

175 pages : illustrations (some color), map ; 26 cm

Notes:
"Published in conjunction with the exhibition ... co-organized by the Asia Society Galleries and Tibet House, Asia Society Galleries, New York, September 24, 1997-January 4, 1998"--Title page verso
Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Asia Society Galleries, New York, Sept. 24, 1997-Jan. 4, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (page 171) and index.
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

Summary:

"Mandala" is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning "sacred circle that protects the soul." It also refers to the sacred cosmograms that serve as core symbols of all cultures. Westerners have been fascinated for centuries about the mandalas of the Hindu-Buddhist cultures of Asia, most often painted geometric diagrams of great beauty and sophistication, that draw the viewer into a realm of balance, harmony, and calm. But such diagrams are actually architectural blueprints of the purified realm of bliss that we can only realize through enlightenment. They represent three-dimensional spaces of personal and communal exaltation, palaces for the regal confidence of love, compassion, and universal satisfaction of self and other. Understanding their role in anchoring the world-picture of a culture or a person provides a new insight into the "mandalas" of our own culture, the national space anchored by the Washington monument and its environs, or the personal cosmological space anchored by the models of the solar system, the DNA double-helix molecule, and the atom. This exquisite book, created by the teamwork of an art historian and a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, clears away the veils of confusion and mystification, and reveals the artistic history and meditational function of the sacred mandalas that have graced the Asian civilizations for thousands of years from Mumbai to Japan. It is richly illustrated by color photographs of examples of mandalas from India, Tibet, China, and Japan from the ground-breaking exhibition presented by Tibet House U.S. in collaboration with the Asia Society and the Berkeley Museum of Fine Arts.

ISBN:

1570622973 (pbk.)
9781570622977 (pbk.)
0878480889 (hard)
9780878480883 (hard)
0500280185
9780500280188
096701154X
9780967011547

Subject:

Mandala in art Exhibitions.
Buddhist art Exhibitions.
Hindu art Exhibitions.
Mandala dans l'art Expositions.
Art bouddhique Expositions.
Art hindou Expositions.
20.51 Buddhist art.
Buddhist art
Hindu art
Mandala in art
Boeddhistische kunst.
Mandala.
Mandala (Buddhism) Exhibitions.
Buddhist art and symbolism Exhibitions.
Art, Asian Exhibitions
Mandalas.

Form/genre:

Exhibition catalogs.
exhibition catalogs.
Exhibition catalogues (form)
Catalogues d'exposition.

Added entries:

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

Holdings:

Location: Library main 193143
Call No.: ID N8193.3.M3; ID:97-B4200
Status: Available