SNOW LION NEWSLETTER

Sherab Khandro and the Tara Project
by Linda Goldenstein

“To bring profound and lasting blessings to all who encounter this work.”

This is the wish for Sedona artist Sherab Khandro as she embarks on a new series of twenty-one paintings intended for international museum exhibition entitled the Tara Project. This exciting endeavor is the catalyst for a documentary by film maker Karen Aileen Williams. Dan Gordon of the Zaki Gordon Film Institute is producing this film.

Sherab Khandro is an American artist and a Tibetan Buddhist nun (Ani) known for her stunning images from two very diverse yet remarkably compatible artistic expressions: post- impressionistic pointillism and the sacred Buddhist art of Tibet. She has formally studied with Lama Sonam Tsering, Master Sculptor & Painter in Tibetan Traditional Art at Tashi Choling, OR. Sherab has chosen the vibrantly rich textures of pointillism in the style of Seurat to bring expression to the sacred in a new western modality. The mindful and detailed technique of pointillism is well suited to the sacred art as each dot is imbued with prayer, as an offering to the Buddha to bring an end of suffering to the world.

The Tara of the Bodhichitta is the first of the five Red Taras within the complete set of twenty-one, all female deities, that will be painted by Ani Khandro. Bodhichitta is the pure, altruistic intention to live ones life to be of benefit to others. This is the motivation that is cultivated before one begins any activity - most importantly those activities that contribute to our spiritual growth or that of others. “I have chosen to begin this series with the Tara of the Bodhichitta, as this aspiration is the embodiment of our wish for this project: to bring profound and lasting blessings to all who encounter this work”.

Each Tara holds a lotus flower in her left hand; in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism each flower holds a different sacred object. The flower in this Tara image will hold a conch shell, which in Buddhism, the conch shell represents the fearless proclamation of the truth of the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha).

Taking ordination in 1990, Sherab Khandro is part of a lineage that has remained unbroken from Tibet since 1650, the Nyingma School in the Palyul tradition. In Tibet there are six great mother monasteries that uphold the doctrine of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, one of the four major schools in Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingmas are often referred to as the Ancient ones. One of these six monasteries is the glorious and powerful Palyul first established in the 17th century, an unbroken lineage that flourishes still today.

Sherab Khandro was directed on this path of creating the art of the sacred by her teacher Jetsunma Ahkon Lamo. She is a pioneer in the Western Buddhist art movement and has risen to be a highly collected painter and sculptor. Ani Khandro is the Spiritual Arts Director for the Kunzang Palyul Choling Stupa and Temple building project in Sedona. She has completed such work on Stupa and Temple projects in Maryland. A Stupa is a sacred form of architecture that represents the heart of enlightenment.

Sherab Khandro is one of the Artists in Residency at Goldenstein Art, where enthusiasts can watch the Tara images as they are brought to life and see other works by Sherab Khandro. Goldenstein Art is located in the Old Market Place,1370 West Hwy 89A, Ste. 13A, Sedona.

You may reach them by phone at 928-204-1765 and email goldenstein@sedona.net , for additional information and to be kept abreast of the Tara Project.