Michael Saso
Asian Art and Religion
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- Twitter posts are not allowed in China, I came out to macao to send this, back to Beijing tomorrow, home to LA Sep. 20
- (Michael R Saso) Going to China tomorrow, to restore Daoist Mijue 秘诀 manuals, then visit and compare Dongba (Bonpo) practices.
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Hi Michael,
Is this Kesar Epic related to the Japanese Bon Dance origin? I recall the story bon dance came from a buddah who went to save his mother from hell.
aloha
Shelli
yes, good thinking, Shelli, Keaar does want to save his mother from hell, and is assisted in doing this by the 7 Ghrala generals who help him rescue her. The form of the dog seen in the Tangkha is supposed to be a re-incarnation of his mother. Thank you for this comment.
The Japanese Bon dance, and the Chinese 7th month 15th day “floating of lanterns” are also related to this pious legend. Just as the monk Mulan went down into hell to free his mother by meritorious offerings and chant invoking Amida for salvation, so the Chinese custom is to offer a banquet of food, and the Japanese a colorful folk dance, as well as floating lanterns that summon the souls out of “purgatory” and see them off to Pure Land heaven. It is also interesting that the Tibetan Bardo attempts to lead the soul through all the “9″ or “49″ stages of hell, by overcoming the terrifying visions that occur along the way. The Daoist funeral or post mortuary ritual does this too, leading the soul through the 9 stages of Budduist conceived hell’s punishments. A Tantric Buddhist temple in Dawu, the Goluk area of Quinghai/Amdo, north Tibet, has a beautiful temple that pictures this process, I shall try to post it soon.
It is even more interesting that Five Thunder/Vajra ritual by-passes this fearfjul process, as does the invoking of Vara Dhara, Medicine Buddha, and the eastern heavens (thunder and lightning) in Dzogchen, instead of the Pure Land Bardo images than most people ae forced to go through after death. I eplained this earlier in the huge 8 ft by 12 ft tangkha painting, from the Dzogchen tradition.
Dear Father Saso:
You may recall that several years ago we purchased at a Saint Angel’s live auction a beautiful silk Tangkha.
We think it dates from about 1960 and was donated by you for the auction. We would like to re-donate this art to Saint Angela. We would appreciate very much if you could recall the Tanngkha and send us some info on current value. It is about 29″ x 39″ with a blue border; the main feature is a seated buddha. we believe you acquired the art on one of your visits to Nepal or Tibet. We need info to describe the art for the auction. It is now professionally framed.
We hope you are well.
Jim and Maureen Brill
How nice to hear from you, your generous to S Angela’s auction is deeply appreciated I am sure. Please if possible send me a jpg photo copy of it, so I can identify each part of it accurately. Use my regular e-mail address, michael_saso@yahoo.com also, I would be glad to donate some of the Ni Feng Hmong-Yao art to them as well, and hope to come to visit next week some time, will phone the S Angela office to set yp a good time to visit.
Dear Michael:
We hope all is well with you. Hopefully you received the two additional photos of our Tangkha.
If Again, if you visit the Monterey area please contact us.
Regards,
Jim and Maureen Brill