Page 18 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Tantra Buddhost Art

Introduction: By the Collector
I have been asked to write a few words to serve as a preface
and as an explanation of the ‘raison d’etre’ of the Nyingjei
Lam Collection or, to put it simply, to explain what it was that
first prompted a Roman Catholic of Irish-American origin who
has spent most of his life living among the Chinese to begin
collecting ‘Tibetan Buddhist and related art’.
As those familiar with the Tibetan language know,‘Nyingjei Lam’
means ‘the Path of Compassion’ or ‘the Compassionate Path’.
Looking back over forty years ago to when I began to form the
Nyingjei Lam Collection, I realise that it was a combination of
things that drew me towards Tibetan Buddhist and related art.
The first and perhaps the most compelling of these was the
compassionate smiles that radiated from the faces of many of
the statues of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, saints and lamas that
I saw. To me, these were not foolish, empty smiles, but rather
smiles that reflected an inner freedom, peace and joy, while
also bringing peace and joy to the hearts and minds of their
beholders.
In my childhood I had seen such smiles of ecstasy on the faces
of the statues and paintings of Jesus, our Blessed Lady, the
angels and the saints and I had learnt that the central message
of Christianity is love, an unselfish, all-encompassing love, an
unconditional giving of oneself to God and one’s fellow-beings
that appears foolish to many, but which in reality brings a
freedom, joy and wealth of spirit that no material objects could
possibly bring. Prompted by the smiles on the faces of the
Tibetan Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, saints and lamas, I read all that
I could about Buddhism and especially Tibetan Buddhism. Soon
I discovered that just as in Christianity, in Buddhism the source,
the starting point, the path to true freedom and happiness is
love, in this case a love called ‘compassion’ which is defined
as an active striving to free all beings, including ourselves,
from suffering. It is this path of compassion that leads to true
happiness and enlightenment. Moreover, as in the case of St
Francis of Assisi, in Buddhism this love or compassion is to be
directed not only towards our fellow human beings, but also
to every sentient being, no matter how small or insignificant it
might appear.
Perhaps the second thing which drew me towards Tibetan
Buddhist and related art was an ever-increasing interest in the
Tibetan people themselves and a sympathy with their history,
culture and way of life, which in many ways reminded me of my
ancestors, the Irish. For both peoples, religion permeates daily
life and brings a strength, joy and solace known only to those who
truly share their faith. Both are also a gregarious people, much
given to storytelling, singing and dancing, and a drop or two of
spirits from time to time. Both, too, are heirs and heiresses of a
brilliant culture, with a vast literature and music of its own. For
the majority of the Irish, unfortunately, much was lost when the
language of their ancestors ceased to be their language of daily
communication. Let us hope that Tibetan culture and language
continues to be preserved and respected.
16 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比
Perhaps as a normal extension or outgrowth of my own religious
beliefs as well as my deep respect for the Buddhist notion of
active compassion, I have over the past thirty years broadened
the initial purpose of my forming the Nyingjei Lam Collection
to encompass such practical charitable work as paying the
educational expenses of needy boys and girls in Hong Kong,
China, India, Nepal, etc., building school wings, houses, toilets,
paying medical expenses for the needy, providing care for the
aged, etc. As these charitable works have grown in volume and
scope, I have found it increasingly difficult to fulfil my obligations
to the recipients and it is for this reason that I have asked
Sotheby’s Hong Kong to help me sell a part of the Nyingjei Lam
Collection of Buddhist Art.
Over the years, many people have helped in the formation of the
Nyingjei Lam Collection and in the exhibitions that have been
held at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and the Rubin Museum,
New York since 1999. I should especially like to thank Anna Maria
Rossi, a truly warm-hearted and remarkable woman without
whose generous and unselfish efforts the loaning of the Nyingjei
Lam Collection to the Ashmolean and Rubin Museums would
never have been possible. I should also like to thank Fabio Rossi
for his many efforts on behalf of the Nyingjei Lam Collection and
David Weldon and Jane Casey Singer for choosing the items
which were exhibited and for writing such a wonderful catalogue
to accompany the exhibition.
I am also extremely grateful to Dr Andrew Topsfield of the
Ashmolean Museum for his great help and encouragement and
I regard it as a singular honour that the Nyingjei Lam Collection
was exhibited at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, one of the
most ancient and venerable universities in Christendom. I am
also greatly appreciative of the care dedicated to the collection
by Jeff Watt especially and the other world-renowned curators
of the Rubin Museum, New York, where the collection has been
housed since 2005.
I should also like to thank the many Tibetans who have extended
their friendship to me and have helped me in many ways over
the years. I should especially like to thank my Tibetan teacher,
Sonam Palden, and the late Lithang Phulu, my mentor in all
things pertaining to Tibet and Tibetan art for their invaluable
advice and help.
I should also like to take this opportunity to offer a special word of
thanks to Dr Pratapaditya Pal, who, through his many scholarly
yet very readable works on Tibetan and related Buddhist art,
was my earliest and foremost teacher and who has done more
than any living person to make Tibetan and all of Himalayan art
known to the modern world.
Finally, I sincerely hope that those who come to view these
objects from the Nyingjei Lam Collection will not regard them
as mere metal, wooden or stone artifacts, but will rather see in
each a tangible manifestation of the religious spirit of the Tibetan
people and of the quality that they most cherish, compassion.