Page 44 - Indian, Himalaya and Asian Art Bonhams Setp 2015
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THANGKAS FROM THE COLLECTION
OF LOBSANG P. LHALUNGPA
A letter from His Holiness the 16th Karmapa
praising and encouraging Lhalungpa’s work
Lobsang P. Lhalungpa (1926-2008)
Lobsang P. Lhalungpa was born in Lhasa, Tibet. From 1940 to 1952, Lhalungpha dedicated his life to the promotion and preservation
he was a monk-official in the service of the Tibetan government. of Tibet’s rich spiritual and cultural traditions. In 1948, with George
Brought up in an intensely religious home – the son of a one-time Roerich, he co-authored one of the first books on Tibetan grammar.
State Oracle of Tibet – Lhalungpa took Buddhist teachings from Later, he went on to translate The Life of Milarepa, and was requested
several adepts including a female reincarnate. Having been a star by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa to translate Mahamudra: The
pupil, he was sent to India by the Government of Tibet in 1947 to Moonlight. He also authored Tibet: The Sacred Realm and many
oversee the Tibetan language & Buddhist instruction of the many articles for Buddhist journals, and contributed to the landmark Tibetan
young Tibetans from nobility sent to study at North Point, a well- Art publication, Tibet: Tradition and Change. In his later years, he lived
established Jesuit school in Darjeeling. In 1956, the External Services in New Mexico – where he was nominated a Santa Fe Living Treasure
of All India Radio recruited him to establish the first Tibetan-language before his death in 2008.
program from New Delhi, which he managed until 1971.
Lhalungpa collected his thangkas as part of his lifelong Buddhist
In 1959, Lhalungpha announced His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s practice. A few came from his home in Lhasa before 1947. The rest
exile from Tibet, which inspired the exodus of Tibetan refugees to India. were acquired in India between 1956 and 1971, often as gifts, as part
He then threw himself into relief work. He was one of a three-person of his ongoing work to preserve Tibetan culture.
team to develop the first modern Tibetan language primers for the newly
established schools for Tibetan refugees. Greatly influenced by Mahatma
Gandhi, he authored one of the first books on the Life of Gandhi in Tibetan.
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