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RELATED TIBETAN SCRIPTS

Geomantic dream flag

May the glorious Dharm a flourish

Tibetan Calligraphy artist: www.tashimannox.com

ARTIST OF CONTEMPORARY TIBET AN CALLIGRAPHY AND ICONOGRAPHY

Photo: James Wainwright

The 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, is well known for his visions and prophesies, one such divine manifestation is commonly known as the 'Kagyu flag' and more famously called the 'dream flag', in reference to the fact that the banner appeared to him in a dream. He named the banner 'namkhyen gyaldar' meaning "Victorious Flag of Buddhas Wisdom. Imparting the details of his vision to his close disciples, His Holiness Karmapa went on to proclaim:

Wherever this banner is flown the Dharma will flourish.

Since the birth of the flag, there has evolved a few different versions of the Karmamap's dream flag, most of these versions seem to have strayed from the flags' original legacy; as perhaps its new creators simply did not know and appreciate the profundity of its sacred geomantic construction. This blog post is to explain and re-introduce the original proportionate construction and meaning behind the banner. There is also a true version of the dream flag that can be freely taken and reproduced for your own purposes, found at the bottom of this post.

inkessential United Kingdom T ashi is an Englishm an who started on his path in the arts and m editation at the tender age of 11. Shortly after he finished his form al art degree training, he becam e a Buddhist m onk in the Tibetan Karm a Kagyu order. For the next 17 years he studied under a Tibetan m aster of arts called Sherab Palden Beru, apprenticing in the elaborate art of tem ple decoration and Tibetan calligraphy. In his finishing years as a m onk, T ashi studied under a m aster of the rare ancient Sanskrit form s, nam ely Lantsa and W artu in Dharam sala. Since the beginning of the Millennium ,T ashi has been actively creative in Tibetan calligraphy and iconography, established as an internationally known artist. This blog is to share knowledge on Tibetan related scripts, upholding the integrity of their ancient heritage, through a concern in conservation and preservation and to com m unicate Dharm a; is very m uch at the heart of T ashi's work as an artist. View m y com plete profile
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Here shows the flag in respect of the correct colours and construction.

This flag shows the incorrect construction and shades of colour.

During the early 90's Tashi was asked to reproduce the Dream flag by the Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland, who's intention was to donate the flag to Karma Kagyu Buddhist establishments around the world, in order to replicate the flag correctly, in respect of its original design. Tashi was privileged to have first-hand authentication of the original banner design to him from two different sources: One such original design of the banner hangs framed on a wall of a The seat monastery of H E Jamgon Khontrul Rinpoche in Pullahari, above Boudha, Kathmandu. Tashi was sent to investigate the flag with instructions to take notes so to replicate the flag correctly to the right design and dimensions. The other reference of the flag, was personally explained to Tashi by H E Situ Rinpoche. As Situ Rinpoche was witness to the original creation of the flag while together with his Guru H.H. the 16th Karmapa.

Geom antic dreamflag Natural Law Quality of sound. The Sun and The Moon. Hom age to Manjushri
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The proportionate construction of the dream flag.

Art (38) calligraphy (41) Dharma (27)

Event (6) exhibition (10) Mantra (9) prints (11) Sanskrit (8) scripts (9) Sharjah Calligraphy Biennial (5) syllable (6) symbolism (23)

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Costum er satisfaction Many of the below tattoo designs and sim ilar are available as highresolution down-loads that can be printed and ta...
The sketch above is by the hand of Situ Rinpoche, (note his signature bottom right) who made the drawing especially for Tashi, explaining the geomantic arrangement of how the two waves are approached and swirl together from all four directions: two sides, top and bottom. It is also important to noted that in this drawing; the over-all dimensions of the flag was dependent on the dimension of the piece of paper to hand at the time. Never-the-less, the same proportionate construction of the waves should not be altered from their horizontal axis when applied to a more standard 2:1 flag proportion, as shown in the image below. Situ Rinpoche explained further that the center point of the two waves/swirls should be at the same horizontal plain, contained within the rectangular construction box (as he indicated in his drawing above), this 'construction box' should be placed squarely at the center of the flag and not on a sloping angle, (as many other versions of the dream flag are reproduced)

The tattoo process and com pleted works. Many of the below tattoo designs and sim ilar are available as high-resolution down-loads that can be printed and taken to your tattooist a... The Mani Mantra The Mani m antra of Avalokitevara arranged on a lotus Mandala. Each of the letters are placed on each petal starting at the bottom The Eightfold Path The Four Noble T ruths 'The Four Noble T ruths' in High Uchen script deriving from the 15th-16th century, central Tibet. ... Vajrapani Am odern take on the Vajrapani m antra arranged in a 5 pointed star. T ashi Mannox 2008 . The Vajra, sym bolic power of a ... The Sun and The Moon. A seal design for the Stupa project of Sam ye Ling . As all Stupas , the very top above the 12 levels to enlightenm ent is the Sun and Tibetan script styles
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The possible reason for the misinterpretation of the wave alignment placed on a sloping axis in other corrupted versions of the flag, could have been confused with to the angular division between the two colours of yellow on the bottom side and blue on the top. This division runs from bottom left up to top right corners, as if aspiring from earth to heaven. It seems that such profundity of design could have easily been overseen, if not fully understood while creating the banner and lead to the misrepresentation of the dream flag. The correct proportionate lined construction of the banner is shown more precisely on the diagram below. This is has also been designed to fit with the international standard 2:1 flag proportion.

m o...

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The geom antic proportionate construction of the dreamflag, as drawn by T ashi Mannox fromthe instruction of Situ Rinpoche, 1993. Moreover, Situ Rinpoche explained the colours of the flag to be a bright sky blue and should not be too dark, the yellow should be earth like, not Lemon yellow and compliment the sky blue in tonal brightness, as the far below colour image shows.

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To demonstrate the correct balance of tone, the flag colours in the image directly below, have been converted to black and white. As you can see there is little difference between the tones, which indicates a similar balanced in brightness within the colours. The contrast that catches the eye is more in the colour rather than with the tone, as the particular blue and yellow used is far apart in the colour spectrum and complimentary.

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The tonal balance of the Dreamflag.

The meaning behind the dream flag.

"Victory Banner of Buddha Wisdom The elements of the flag's geomancy and colours are symbolic of the relative and absolute truth. Relatively the colours blue and yellow represent the sky and the earth, the waves symbolize the Buddha Dharma. On the absolute level the colours represent the union of emptiness and clarity, the true nature of mind. The intertwining waves symbolizes the union of compassion and emptiness, which is the essence of all phenomena.

Karm apa official website North Fife blog Visible Mantra blog Contem porary world calligraphy Garuda T rading T ashi Mannox official website T ashi Mannox on-line store Tibetan script tattoo designs

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The Karm apa's official Nam khyen Gyaldar DreamFlag.

Please feel free to take this above image for your own use and publish it in keeping with the Karmapa's wishes: that wherever this flag graces, Dharma will flourish. To purchase a Dream flag:
Large size flags of 1 x 2 meters - 26"x 80" inches are available from the on-line Samye Ling

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shop, made with durable nylon flag material with the relevant fitting tags for a flagpole.

May goodness increase !

Posted by inkessential at 22:32

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Labels: Dharm a, Dreamflag, Karm apa, sym bolism

6 comments:
Anonymous 23 March 2011 14:56 Thank Y ou. Much Appreciated. I can see the differance and i believe it does m atter. Reply Jnaseh 7 April 2011 01:49 Do you know a reputable place to purchase a Karm apa Dreamflag? Recom m endations? Thanks! jnaseh_surendar@yahoo.com Reply svetla 7 April 2011 13:15 KARMAPA CHENNO!!!! Reply santiago 5 June 2011 14:53 Very interesting thank you! Reply Anonymous 18 Septem ber 2011 15:04 The geom antic version definitely gives a kind of shock to the m ind that the incorrect versions do not. Thank you! Reply budasdeagua 15 January 2012 15:52 I amvery happy to have found your Blog in internet. As a Dharm a follower , I consider your art part of Buddha's teachings. May the light em brace you always. Gassho, Sensei Paul Quintero www .budasdeagua.wordpress.com
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