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The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs
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About The Encyclopedia Of Tibetan Symbols And Motifs
Product Description For artists, designers, and all with an interest in Buddhist and Tibetan art, this is the first exhaustive reference to the seemingly infinite variety of symbols found throughout Tibetan art in line drawings, paintings, and ritual objects. Hundreds of the author's line drawings depict all the major Tibetan symbols and motifs—landscapes, deities, animals, plants, gurus, mudras (ritual hand gestures), dragons, and other mythic creatures—ranging from complex mythological scenes to small, simple ornaments. Amazon.com Review Tibetan Buddhism has one of the most complex iconographies of any religion. Robert Beer, the artist who brought to life the saints of Tibetan Buddhism in Buddhist Masters of Enchantment, has now brought the myriad symbols of Tibetan Buddhist art to life. Not exactly arranged like an encyclopedia, this book is more like a tour of the categories of Tibetan Buddhist symbols, beginning with Landscape Elements (rocks, clouds, rainbows, etc.); moving on to such areas as Flowers and Trees, Cosmology, and Mudras (hand gestures); and ending with Geometric Borders. Exquisitely detailed line drawings (using fine-pointed traditional brushes) are grouped on full-size plates, each of which the author tells us took between 50 and 200 hours to draw. The eight years that went into this book are revealed not only in the drawings but also in the text that is equally detailed in its descriptions of the religious significance of the symbols as well as their sources and development in Tibetan art. Beer's encyclopedic knowledge has not come from book learning, but from 30 years of doing Tibetan art and learning firsthand from Tibetan masters. After glimpsing just of few of these plates, you'll be calling Beer a master too. --Brian Bruya From Library Journal Through 12 thematically organized chapters of text (accompanied by black-and-white line drawings), BeerAa British artist who's studied Tibetan thangka painting for 30 yearsAsets out to "cover the whole spectrum of Tibetan Buddhist symbols and attributes." Given the dearth of English-language works on the topic, libraries serving sophisticated interests in Tibetan Buddhism or Eastern art may want to add this work to their circulating collections. Its value as a reference title, however, is severely limited on several counts. First, Beer lacks credentials both in terms of traditional Western scholarship and Buddhist lineage of transmission. Additionally, the book contains no index or glossary; cross references are scarce; and terms unique to Tibetan Buddhism (like "concealed treasure" traditions) are not defined in the text.AJames R. Kuhlman, Univ. of North Carolina Lib., Asheville Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review "Worth our attention, whatever religion or background, because it gives us an artistic and contemplative mechanism to join inner and outer worlds. This will not come automatically, but only when we approach the book with the desire to refine both our analytical powers and our creative vision. This is a book to live in, for anyone who sees the connection between art and human potential."— Parabola "The first detailed work to appear in English examining the extraordinarily vast and symbolically rich iconography in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. . . . A beautiful book."— Watkins Review About the Author Robert Beer has studied and practiced Tibetan thangka painting for thirty years, including five years of study with master artists Jampa of Dharamsala and Khamtrül Rinpoche of Tashijong. Beer is one of the first Westerners to become actively involved in this art form. Over the last two decades he has concentrated on an extensive series of iconographical drawings depicting the major deities, lineage holders, and symbols that occur in the spectrum of Tibetan art.
