what an inspiring night!

hi there, i am so inspired by this western lady, textile artist Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo who stayed in dharamsala for 8 years to learn fabric thangka. i think painting a thangka is one of those impossible things to accomplish, wait till you see this. its amazing. its applique. every little thing is traced, cut and then assembled and sew on silk. it looks more difficult to me than painting! she is the only woman in the west who can do this.

''the world is going to continue to confront us in ways to make us doubt our own possibilities and doubt ourselves and thats the greatest danger in spiritual practise. we need to have great confidence and great determination. then its the greatest gifts we can give the world.'' - Prema Dasara, (founder of the Mandala Dance of 21 Praises of Tara)

oh thank you! this is my inspiration. i remembered looking at tenzin's thangka of the 21 taras, i just find it so impossible to believe that such minute details can be acheived. i wish i took a photo! maybe this trip, if i have the chance, i will. when my teacher said you can also do it, all i have in my head are doubts.

you know this trip, i met so many such dedicated foreigners (from everywhere) who are in nepal or dharamsala learning about the tibetan culture, religion or the language. oh i feel tibet belongs to the world. i remember i asked victoria (the girl in the photo above) what had made her come all the way from brazil to nepal to learn tibetan art. she told me she is a buddhist for 3 years and studied fine arts in college but she always felt something for thangka. and its her dream to be in the tsering art school. finally she made it here. (she arrived 2 weeks before me). she told me she will stay 3 mths and then she will go back to brazil to earn some money, work as a waitress or something and then she will be back again. what striked me most is the last sentence of our conversation, she said 'life is just so simple'.

oh i feel so inspired!

btw, this is my tibetan name. my teacher, yangzom gave it to me. one day at the corridor during tea break, we were chatting. and the afternoon sun was shining ever so brightly. i think i told her i want a tibetan name, and she almost immediately said 'i give you. 'yoser lhamo'. yoser (also spelt 'oser' or 'woeser') means shine. you like the sun, always smiling like shining. and lhamo means goddess becos you pretty. your hair so long like goddess.' aw...... i love my teacher. she is so sweet. therefore my tibetan name is SHINING GODDESS. actually thats how i feel when i am there, everyday i wake up feeling joy in my heart knowing i am going to school and surrounded by friends. in hk i already have joy in my heart but when i am there, its like normal joy x100, oozing out from every cell in my body! i dun need to have a lot of money or to have things that the society conditioned you to achieve. oh but i need to be near nature and do simple things like learning to paint a thangka. things that will never get me anywhere in the society. but these things would probably give me a lot in life. a life that is not defined or dictated by the standards of any society. there is no mould to fit into.

one more inspiration! another western female thangka artist, carmen mensink, based in amsterdam. check out her beautiful mandala painting.
if you are interested, you might like to find out more about her works here.

oh i think kyurii may start selling more nepalese stuff like the 'om' earrings or tibetan turquoise and coral necklaces, and some spiritual necessities (prayer flags and incense maybe? hahaha...) and maybe thangkas in the far far future. hm... i think leekeng and i should start to work out a modern-yogini-spiritual line of clothing and products for our shining goddesses customers. hahaha!