Dharma Realms: Buddhist Art Across Asia

ACCOMPANYING BOOK: Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia

Realms of the Dharma (LACMA book)

There's a hardcover book, released July 1, 2025, by Editors Tushara Bindu Gude and Stephen Little and a foreword by Michael Govan. It has 5 out of 5 stars with one (1) rating.

It is a remarkable selection of pan-Asian Buddhist art, showcasing the history and diversity of Buddhist schools with examples across sculptures, textiles, reliquaries, manuscripts, and more.

• Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia (2025 LACMA exhibit)

Buddhist Tibet (LACMA)

Published with LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), this gloriously illustrated celebration of Buddhist art addresses the development of Buddhism and its visual language over a period of nearly 2,000 years, as the Teaching (Dharma) traveled across Asia and was embraced by diverse cultures.

Realms of the Dharma brings together more than 200 works of Buddhist art from India, mainland and island Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, Central Asia, and East Asia.

Buddhist Japan (LACMA)

The book is divided into seven chapters, beginning with an introduction to Buddhism and Buddhist art, followed by chapters on South Asia, Southeast Asia, Nepal and Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan.

The artworks, all from the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), offer a broad perspective on the birth of Buddhism in South Asia and its spread throughout the Asian continent over centuries.

The Buddha's tooth relic (srarira) in China

The artworks include a stunning and diverse range of Buddhas, stupas and reliquaries, religious manuscripts, paintings, and sculptures depicting various Buddhist deities, portraits of Buddhist masters, and other ritual objects.

The remarkably successful expansion of Buddhism was in part due to the ability of its principles to be adapted to and assimilated within a range of preexisting belief systems [usually some form of shamanism, animism, or some form of spirit appeasement].

Gorgeously illustrated with over 250 color reproductions of these exemplary artworks and religious objects, this book celebrates that achievement. More

Flowers: California super bloom (photos)

Gina Pollack in LAist News, March 12, 2019; Crystal Q., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Influencers in LA photograph wildflowers this weekend

Despite some initial doubt, the super bloom is back. That means everyone in Los Angeles is driving approximately two hours to enjoy the natural beauty that surrounds us all snap the perfect pic for Instagram. There's nothing quite like the crisp spring air, rolling hills, and epic views of at least ten influencer photoshoots to achieve true inner peace. And in case anyone didn't know, wildflowers also make a perfect natural backdrop for [meditation], so don't forget your [mindfulness, which means radical acceptance and awareness of what is]. More

• LAist: awesome events happening in SoCal 
• PHOTOS: Travelerography on Instagram
• The Blush Journal in Lake Elsinore, CA

Swarm of Butterflies

• Butterflies Swarming in Southern California (NBC) From the Inland Empire to the beach to the valley: If you've been outside, chances are you've seen swarms of butterflies... 
• "So magical": 1 billion butterflies flutter into... (CBS) The Southland is experiencing a rare sighting this week: about 1 billion butterflies swarming the skies during... 
• A swarm of a "billion" painted lady butterflies is migrating through... (lataco.com) A massive swarm of at least 1 billion butterflies is traveling across L.A. and neighboring counties at a breathtaking speed of almost 20 MPH... 
• Southern California sees swarms of painted lady butterflies... (foxnews.com) The butterflies are currently on their migration route from wintering ... namely Oregon and Washington, the LA Times reported. 
• Eyewitness This: 1 billion butterflies swarm SoCal...

AfterBurn: Free Burning Man event (9/22)

Thomas (20s/30s Just Social Club); Ananda M. (DMI), Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Don't look now. There's an orgy going on in that dome. That's Burning Man for ya.

• Venice AFTERBURN: A Free Burning Man Event
• 20s/30s Just Social Club
• Saturday, Sept, 22, 2018, 6:30-10:00 PM
• Windward Plaza, Venice, CA

This is so hot, so very red hot.

Dust off your Burner outfits and come get a little weird at the Venice AFTERBURN Saturday in Venice Beach. This is an official Regional Burning Man event.

So if you couldn't make it to Black Rock last week, here's a chance to taste the Burning Man ethos. Hang out and celebrate art and community with big scale installations, interactive art, music, performances, mutant vehicles, and everything else that's big about Burning Man, Venice Beach, Los Angeles. FREE!

Everyone's invited, y'all!

Everyone's invited, Burner or not. Self-expression is embraced as well as radical inclusion in an effort to extend the Burning Man spirit and culture beyond the playa and back to the "default world."

PLAN: Meet, hang out, walk around, watch the sun set behind the ocean, and look at cool stuff. Hey, it's (sort of) Burning Man -- so there's no super rigid schedule here. Afterward, if people wish, we might...or just hang out on the beach. Location and to RSVP

• What? Art Cars, Art Installations, Performance Art, Hooping, Music, Poi, Weird Stuff

Land of Snow: Buddhist art of the Himalayas

Dhr. Seven and CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Norton Simon Museum of Art

The world-famous Norton Simon Museum of [Buddhist] Art, Pasadena, California

The road to the top of the world, be it K2 or Everest, is the path-of-practice (RTI/WQ)

   

In the Land of Snow: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas

Buddhist Goddess, 1450 Nepal (NS)

This is the Norton Simon's first large-scale exhibition of Himalayan Buddhist art.

It will bring together exceptional Indian [Ladakhi, Sikkim, HP], Nepalese, and Tibetan Buddhist sculptures along with significant thangka (wall hanging "flat field") paintings from throughout the Himalayan region from the Museum's permanent collection and generous loans.

Himalayas (MickeySuman/flickr)

One monumental thangka, which measures over 20 feet in height, depicts the "Buddha of the Future," Maitreya, flanked by the 8th [NOTE: We are currently at the 14th] Dalai Lama, Jamphel Gyatso, and his tutor, Yongtsin Yeshe Gyaltsen. This is only the second time this extraordinary painting has been on view at the Museum.

The exhibit runs from March 28-August 25, 2014, but three related events begin tomorrow (see below).

Himalayan Maitreya, the Buddha-to-come, Diskit, Ladakh, India (PaPa_KiLo/flickr.com)

 
1. MANDALA MAKING (Family Art Night)

Bhavacakra (thangka-mandala)

Date: Friday, April 11, 2014, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm

Mandalas are cosmic diagrams that help us understand how the universe is organized. Create a mandala of your world with yourself at the center, surrounded by the people and things that are important to you. Meets in Entrance Gallery (FREE with admission), designed for families with children ages 4–10. No reservations needed

• 2. TOUR: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas
• Date: Saturday, April 12, 2014, 1:00 pm-2:00 pm
  

Maitreya thangka, Tibet 1793 (NS)

Join a Norton Simon Museum educator for a one-hour tour of the exhibition "In the Land of Snow: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas." Meets in Entrance Gallery (FREE with admission). 

3. LECTURE: Enter the Mandala: Cosmic Centers and Mental Maps in Himalayan Buddhism, Saturday, April 19, 2014
Jeff Durham (Asian Art Museum of San Francisco) Mandalas are geometric maps of Vajrayana Buddhist visionary worlds. Appearing in both painting and sculpture, mandalas typically consist of nested squares and circles. These geometric forms define the center of the cosmos... 3:00-5:00 pm

Dunhuang: Buddhist Art at Silk Road Gateway

Wisdom Quarterly; Holland Cotter, New York Times (8-15-13); China360online.org

Reproduction of a 6th-century pillar at the Mogao Caves (Perry Hu/China Institute Gallery)

 

The China Institute routinely packs a wealth of art and information way out of proportion to its two tiny galleries.

At present they hold a distillation of one of China’s greatest Buddhist art sites: the Mogao Caves (pictured left) near the far western oasis city of Dunhuang.

According to legend, the caves originated some 2,000 years ago with a miracle: a wandering Buddhist monk camped by a desert cliff heard voices encouraging him to stay. He chiseled a shelter out of the rock and hunkered down. Other monks joined him; a community gathered.

More caves were excavated, some as spaces for [veneration], and these were adorned with frescoes and painted clay sculptures. As Dunhuang became a commercial hub on the Silk Road, the caves, numbering in the hundreds, became a pilgrimage destination. They remained one for centuries until trade routes shifted, traffic stopped, and Mogao was forgotten. 

 

European explorers rediscovered the place in the 19th and early 20th centuries and pillaged it, carrying off thousands of manuscripts and paintings stored in the so-called Library Cave.

At the end of the 20th century, the caves began to attract tourism, which posed major threats to the art. To save it, the group of archaeologists on site and conservators known as the Dunhuang Academy, is building an elaborate visitor center nearby, which will serve as a museum and offer a surrogate cave experience as access to the real caves becomes restricted.

The China Institute show -- organized by Fan Jinshi, director of the Dunhuang Academy, with Willow Weilan Hai Chang, director of the China Institute Gallery -- gives a sense of what that experience might be like. More

• China Institute Gallery
• THE YEAR OF DUNHUANG
• 125 East 65th Street,
• Manhattan, New York
• Through October 6, 2013 

Free Art in Los Angeles today (P.S.T.)

PacificStandardTime.org FREE ADMISSION

WestHollywoodBookFair.org (Oct. 2, 2011)

The Great Wall of Los Angeles (NEWS)

Wisdom Quarterly
(kpfk.org)

Los Angeles versus WAR

LA Vs. WAR will mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a massive group art exhibition and event taking place in Downtown Los Angeles in a multi-media exhibition chronicling the creative responses to the current military conflicts in the Middle East/North Africa/Central Asia, The Global War on Terror, the Drug Wars, and other wars...

In the Land of the Smiling Buddha
One of the most mysterious and most beautiful states of India, Arunachal Pradesh is a paradise for those who love solitude and spiritual bliss. Above, a kingdom of grey, below, a carpet of white and orange poppies. A serpentine road passes by, combing through that carpet. Destination: Naamgye Lhatse, Tawang monastery.

A graffiti idea, Thai Buddhist temple art (Richard Enticknap/fantasma dorido/flickr)

The Buddha in the Attic (novel by Julie Otsuka)
AUDIO: Otsuka's US history tells the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as “picture brides” nearly a century ago just before Pearl Harbor. They struggle to master a new language and adapt to a new culture raising children who will ultimately reject their heritage and history.

Shaolin! Buddha Stars in a Kung-Fu Flick
Sadistic warlords square off against noble monks in “Shaolin,” Benny Chan’s satisfying kung-fu action-and-redemption film starring Andy Lau. If the movie feels old-school (with new-school production values), consider its pedigree. It’s no wonder: “Shaolin” is a reimagining of the 1982 “Shaolin Temple,” in which Jet Li made his debut. Trailer

The Buddha's hometown relics to be displayed in S.L.
Relics (cremation remains such as fragments of the Buddha's bones) will travel to Sri Lanka next January, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha said here on Saturday. This is the first time in recent history that the relics will travel out of India. All protocol extended to a head of state will be given to the relics.

The Novice: A Story of True Love
A Vietnamese legend is the root of Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh's debut novel. With its gender disguise and message of forgiveness, it may remind readers a bit of Yentl mixed with the Sermon on the Mount [Jewish and Christian themes regularly alluded to by Thay].

The Great Buddhist Stupa at Sarnath, India

Week-long Silent River (Independent) Film Festival

Kashmir politics in disarray and dirtier than Dal Lake
Kashmiris knew about their leaders all along. They knew they played a many-layered game. So when whistleblower website WikiLeaks recently released cables then US ambassador to India David Mulford sent to the US State Dept. in February 2006, the contents did NOT surprise many.

ABC News won't tolerate 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

Indian separatists attacked in Burma (eurasiareview.com)

When a dead language came alive after a century
The first ever international Pali [an exclusively Buddhist language] conference was held in Sri Lanka. It was organized by the Dept. of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the University of Jayawardenapura, a historical event.



Pāḷi: The word Pali itself signifies "line" or "(canonical) text,"a name that seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions, but the line of original text quoted was distinguished from the commentary or vernacular translation that followed it in the manuscript. R.C. Childers translates the word as "series" and states that the language "bears the epithet in consequence of the perfection of its grammatical structure."

NASA hands over ISS research to non-profit CASIS

NASA sets sights on Mars after unmanned Moon shot

China opposes Mexican president's meeting with Dalai lama
BEIJING - China on Saturday expressed strong discontent and opposition to the meeting between Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and the Dalai Lama. "This grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, and damages China-Mexico relations," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu in a press release.
China condemns Mexican president’s meeting with Dalai Lama
(BNO NEWS) The Chinese government on Saturday strongly condemned a meeting between Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying it damaged relations between both countries.

Burning Man Buddhists

Burning Man participants compete in the swimming leg of the annual Black Rock City triathalon at the Burning Man festival near Gerlach, Nevada, on Saturday, 8/30/08. Burning Man is an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert (AP Photo/Brad Horn).

Center Camp is seen from an experimental airplane during the Burning Man festival on Friday, 8/29/08 (AP Photo/Brad Horn).

An aerial view of Black Rock City during the Burning Man festival 8/ 29/08 (AP Photo/Brad Horn).

A camel powered by two men travels across the playa at the Black Rock Desert 8/29/08, during the Burning Man festival (AP Photo/Brad Horn).

A fire dancer performs on Wednesday morning, 8/27/08, on the playa of the Black Rock Desert during the Burning Man festival (AP Photo/Brad Horn).

Dust storm causes some to leave Burning Man early

Martin Griffith (AP)

RENO, Nevada -- A dust storm chased away some participants -- including the Buddha installation -- from the counterculture Burning Man festival before its traditional climax Saturday night on the northern Nevada desert, authorities said. Roger Farschon, incident commander for the federal Bureau of Land Management, said the dust storm on the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles north of Reno began early Saturday afternoon and continued into the evening.

"We are in (a) total whiteout," he wrote by e-mail. "A similar cold front caused a major dust event on Monday. The rest of the event has been relatively dust-free." The annual celebration of radical self-expression was scheduled to climax Saturday night with the torching of its 40-foot signature effigy.

The crowd on Saturday morning reached a record 49,599, up from 47,097 last year, authorities reported.

Farschon said he was unaware of any fatalities or major arrests during the weeklong event leading up to Labor Day. "Overall, the event is going smoothly with no major problems," he wrote. "Medical cases are very consistent with last year with daily patient loads of 0.5 to 0.7% of the population."

The BLM had made six arrests and issued 129 citations to participants through early Saturday morning, many for drug violations. Burning Man, an eclectic art, music and performance festival, began in 1986 at San Francisco's Baker Beach and was moved to the Black Rock Desert in 1990.