Help Keep Tibet’s Tradition of Sacred Art and Architecture Alive

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When you walk into the Lerab Ling temple, the first thing you see is the
huge Buddha statue, surrounded by a myriad of smaller statues. You see
paintings on cloth, sculptures on pillars, beautifully gilded shrines, intricate
ornamental borders, silkscreen murals and mantras on wallpaper; sacred
symbols and objects abound everywhere you look.

The Authentic Lineage

The art and architecture of the Lerab Ling temple are authentic expressions
of the centuries-old indivisibility of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan culture.
Each object is rich in symbolic meaning, an expression of the profound wisdom
tradition of the Buddhist teachings of Tibet.

The temple in Lerab Ling, with its sacred architecture and art, thriving community
of monastic and lay practitioners, and authoritative Buddhist study programmes,
is one of the most authentic centres of Tibetan Buddhism to be found in West today.
If Tibetan Buddhism is going to take root in the West, centres such as this need to
continue to be supported and acknowledged.

Statues of Buddhist deities and saints

Each statue in the temple is a true work of art, designed and crafted by skilled
Buddhist artisans from India, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand. The statues are
transported to Lerab Ling where a small team of well-trained and highly specialized
Western artists take over the exacting task of completing each piece. The statues are
either painted in fine detail or expertly gilded, and can take months or even years to
complete. The same team also produces the Buddha statues and sacred art objects
that adorn Rigpa centres around the world.

Consecration

In keeping with tradition, all these sacred images have been consecrated by great
Tibetan Buddhist masters like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness
Sakya Trinzin and Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, as well as many of the other
great teachers who have visited Lerab Ling.

Equally vital to the continuing authenticity of the Lerab Ling temple is the
daily practice and prayers of the community of monastic and lay practitioners,
made in the presence of the images. The great oral lineage of teacher-to-student
education is also perpetuated in the temple’s sacred environment. This is precisely
how the 2,500-year wisdom lineage of Buddhism has been propagated in the past
and survives to the present day.

Please help to keep Tibet’s tradition of sacred art and
architecture alive in Lerab Ling by making a donation.

There are three ways you can support the Sacred Art and Architecture:

By making a donation to the whole, or part of a sacred image;
By sponsoring individual items in part or fully from the catagories below;
By sponsoring the team of artists working on the sacred images

Thank you so much for your generosity!

Donation to the whole project
Allocated according to Sogyal Rinpoche's priorities