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His Holiness the Dalai Lama
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World of Your Senses
The World of Your Senses Exhibition shares parallel perspectives from Buddhism and western science on sensory perception. From the Buddhist perspective, sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, are perceived by five consciousnesses, and the sixth consciousness is the mind. The original concept was envisioned by a dedicated and curiosity-filled group of thirty Tibetan Buddhist monks, living in India. The making of the exhibit was supported through a unique collaboration between the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives (LTWA), The Sager Family Foundation's Science for Monks Program, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The exhibit is a hand-painted fifteen-panel show on canvas in the traditional Tibetan thangka painting style, and woven into panels. It deals with the five senses, the Tibetan and Western scientific perspectives. The World of Your Senses Exhibition is the result of many years of work growing out of directives from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his long history engaging Western scientist in dialogue.
Making the Exhibit
Designing the Exhibit
Work on the exhibition began in December of 2009 at Drepung Monastery in South India, during a 2-week meeting of the Sager Science Leadership Institute. Working with museum professionals from the Smithsonian the monks established elements of the exhibition design and through working with staff from the Exploratorium made hands-on activities to accompany the panels. In May 2010, during the next meeting of the Sager Institute, the monks again worked with staff from both the Exploratorium and Smithsonian to finalize the layout and develop the imagery for the exhibit panels.
The Tibetan "thangka style" of painting in this exhibit draws upon the tradition of medical text paintings from 17th century Tibet used to instruct traditional healers in the science of Tibetan medicine-similar to the purpose of botanical or scientific illustrations in-use by Western educators and scientists both historically and today. The western science illustrations are modeled on popular depictions of the senses in science text books that 21st century monks became familiar with during the course of their studies with Western educator scientists.
Painting & Tailoring
The final designs were then interpreted and hand-painted by thangka painters at LTWA, led by master painter Jampa Choedak. Mr. Choedak also meticulously painted paintings of the sense deities-"devas"- which have never before been painted in such a large scale, and normally play a supporting role, relegated to the background of a traditional thangka devotional painting. The master tailor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Phuntsok Tsering, led the framing and sewing of the completed paintings.
Tour
Dharamshala April 23-30, 2011
10-day showing of the exhibit in Dharamsahla India, at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.
Delhi November 19-23, 2011 (Opening)
His Holinesses the XIV Dalai Lama inaugurated the exhibit on November 19, 2010 at the Open Palm Court in the India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India. Nearly, 1000 scientists, Tibetan scholars, and local delhites attended the exhibition over the five days in Delhi. The opening of the exhibition in New Delhi corresponded with the Mind and Life conference also taking place in the India Habitat Center. The exhibition in New Delhi was hosted by The Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
