Compassionate Peace Mandala Workshop

This weekend I attended a Compassionate Peace Mandala painting workshop, led by Lama Prema Tenzin.  It was a lovely, deepening experience in the process of creating mandalas.  Lama Prema is a national treasure from Bhutan, where he has been studying the creation of mandala's since the age of 6 years old.  He is a master Mandala  and Thangka painter, as well as sand mandala's, stuppa's  and prayer wheels.  I was honored to be a participant in this day long experience.  

Lama Prema Tenzin in standing in front of one of the thangka's that he has painted.


Here is a photo of his students in Bhutan learning the process of  thangka painting.
Here other students  are painting a large mandala.
This is the painting of the Compassionate Peace Mandala that we created smaller, condensed versions of in the workshop.  It took him three months to paint this mandala.  The colors are exquisite. All the symbols are very specific as well as the colors and placement of the symbols. 
Here is the beginning of my mandala in pencil
After the whole structure of the mandal was complete we went over it in fine line black pen.
The painting not quite complete.
Here is the  completed mandala. that I did.   The process was very slow, and deeply moving.  Having the structure already prescribed, made the experience mindless, and the day moved both quickly and slowly, as each person was lost in the process of moving from outer to inner, inner to outer and then painting each shape in a prescribed manner step by step.   I truely loved the experience and opportunity.  I hope to study with him again as he offers another workshop in another mandala later in the fall.  This has inspired me to go back to the mandala I started at the summer solstice and complete it.  What a lovely, experience and an honor to be with his energy and way of sharing.