Message from skroop

[Anonymous]

After visiting several museums showing Buddhist art, there were several things at the Norton Simon that were rare by comparison to some of the other museums that I have had the chance to visit. I generally visit the Norton Simon about once a year as well, and they still have much of the Tibetan Buddhist work still on display. First off, something a bit more rare in comparison to other museums is that the museum did not just have the traditional Buddhist statues on display, which they did have several, but they also had some incredible textiles that were on display as well.

Now something really intriguing and very obvious from the exhibit was the presence of many teachers or gurus in the artwork shown at the museum. The teacher and student relationship in the artwork was a much more common theme than what mediums were being used. Most museums have exhibits showing mostly work in metal, wood, and clay. However, the Norton Simon also incorporated several paintings, textiles, and colorful pottery as well.

Something that Tibetan Buddhism also stresses is the teacher-student relationship, which was very evident in the collections the museum has had on display in the past. I did not really know that this idea was one of the key elements in this form of Buddhism called Vajrayana Buddhism. I was always under the impression that this form of Buddhism was more about mediation as opposed to the guru-student relationship. This theme was very evident in many of the pieces of the collection including a really elaborate textile piece showing the guru-teacher in mediation with students on each side.

I would highly recommend visiting the museum to see what is currently on display as it is very unique to many of the collections at other museums.
edited by slemburg on 5/4/2015