00:00:32.190 --> 00:00:35.760
- Everything in our life in Bhutan

00:00:35.760 --> 00:00:39.240
reflects on the Buddhist
teachings of compassion

00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:40.410
and impermanence.

00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:53.280
And as for myself, it was
only through the compassion

00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:57.000
and love of others that I was able to see

00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:59.335
the true significance of thangka.

00:01:47.430 --> 00:01:51.270
- It's used in the temples, on the altars,

00:01:51.270 --> 00:01:52.770
and also in houses.

00:01:53.670 --> 00:01:58.140
When people display
thangka, it's not to show

00:01:58.140 --> 00:01:59.490
or anything like that,

00:01:59.490 --> 00:02:02.095
but to receive blessings from the thangka.

00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:21.450
- Like all Bhutanese, I
like to collect thangka.

00:02:21.450 --> 00:02:23.910
I like to view thangka. It tells a story.

00:02:23.910 --> 00:02:27.743
It tells us about a past where we've
come from. It gives you focus and
it can fulfill you spiritually.

00:02:41.100 --> 00:02:44.340
And so when an old thangka is lost,

00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:46.500
especially if it is a sacred art,

00:02:47.820 --> 00:02:52.440
especially if it is identified
as a sacred treasure,

00:02:52.440 --> 00:02:55.140
it is a deep loss, not just

00:02:55.140 --> 00:02:57.900
for the owner but for the entire nation.

00:03:06.745 --> 00:03:09.435
- Buddhas come emanating in terms

00:03:09.435 --> 00:03:11.680
of bodily forms like humans,

00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.780
and they come in divine forms like Gods,

00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:18.550
but they also come in ordinary forms.

00:03:21.730 --> 00:03:24.220
So even thangkas are
supposed to be emanations

00:03:24.220 --> 00:03:26.890
of the Buddha's compassion
and loving kindness.

00:03:26.890 --> 00:03:29.680
It's not only something
that we use for meditation,

00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:31.720
but it's also a living example

00:03:31.720 --> 00:03:34.180
of the Buddha nature that's within us.

00:03:40.175 --> 00:03:43.405
Thangka originally functioned
as portable altars.

00:03:48.525 --> 00:03:51.345
Bhutan's terrain is
extremely tough and remote,

00:03:51.345 --> 00:03:54.220
and this makes it very
difficult for many Bhutanese

00:03:54.220 --> 00:03:55.600
to travel to monasteries.

00:04:03.190 --> 00:04:07.690
Thangka really came to life with
the traveling monks in Tibet

00:04:07.690 --> 00:04:10.900
because it allowed them
to practice visualizations

00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:12.280
of Buddhist deities

00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:15.100
and lamas, as well as
bestow the blessings

00:04:15.100 --> 00:04:17.800
to the populace while
they traverse the rugged

00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:19.030
Himalayan mountains.

00:04:20.200 --> 00:04:21.520
This is Chenrezig

00:04:21.520 --> 00:04:22.630
Buddha of compassion.

00:04:32.110 --> 00:04:36.010
- It's part of you and part
of who you are as a Bhutanese.

00:04:36.010 --> 00:04:37.810
So I think in that way, I hope

00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:41.355
the next generation will
understand it like that

00:04:41.355 --> 00:04:43.930
and not some, you know, just,

00:04:43.930 --> 00:04:45.905
just a painting that they pass by.

00:04:45.905 --> 00:04:46.738
- So

00:05:07.870 --> 00:05:11.126
- Chenrezig being the collective
emanation of all the Buddhas,

00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:14.830
he's supposed to have a thousand arms.

00:05:14.830 --> 00:05:16.390
Each hand is have an eye so

00:05:16.390 --> 00:05:19.720
that he would see all the
suffering of all sentient beings.

00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:24.720
And so Avalokiteśvara is supposed to
have the skillful means

00:05:24.850 --> 00:05:28.210
and the wisdom to help all
of us out of suffering.

00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:34.240
- Sometimes people find
enlightenment in reading books.

00:05:36.130 --> 00:05:38.410
In this case people find enlightenment

00:05:39.310 --> 00:05:40.750
and understanding in thangka

00:05:41.650 --> 00:05:44.800
- At the highest level,
a thangka can be more than

00:05:47.710 --> 00:05:50.710
something to refer to for meditation

00:05:50.710 --> 00:05:54.820
or an altar that we're
bringing around with us.

00:05:54.820 --> 00:05:59.330
It can be something that is actually

00:05:59.330 --> 00:06:03.800
alive and imbued with life and realization

00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:06.200
and the power that goes with it.

00:06:06.200 --> 00:06:07.940
It's not only a constant reminder,

00:06:07.940 --> 00:06:11.990
but it's, it's like having
an illuminated path that

00:06:11.990 --> 00:06:13.370
you can just keep walking down.

00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:14.370
You know.

00:06:25.355 --> 00:06:27.620
Guru Rinpoche came to Bhutan
in the eighth century.

00:06:29.690 --> 00:06:33.470
Remember what Guru Rinpoche was doing?
Oh good, he was doing like this, right?

00:06:33.470 --> 00:06:35.660
And then what happened from
dorji? What was happening?

00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:38.570
The power was coming out, right?

00:06:38.570 --> 00:06:41.570
And then it was what
happened to all the demons

00:06:41.570 --> 00:06:42.740
and all the scary things?

00:06:43.580 --> 00:06:44.690
They all disappeared, right?

00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:49.460
He subjugated the local demons

00:06:49.460 --> 00:06:52.220
and made the land suitable for Buddhism.

00:06:52.220 --> 00:06:54.170
He blessed many places in Bhutan

00:06:54.170 --> 00:06:56.870
and even rode on the back of a tigress,

00:06:56.870 --> 00:06:59.900
meditating at the famous
site of Taktsang Monastery.

00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:06.590
For Bhutanese,

00:07:06.590 --> 00:07:10.640
he's the second Buddha.
Remember?

00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:13.460
So what happened to Guru
Rinpoche? You know where he
flew? He flew to Zangdok Palri.

00:07:13.460 --> 00:07:14.725
This is Zangdok Palri, this is,

00:07:18.305 --> 00:07:20.185
do you think we'll get there?

00:07:20.185 --> 00:07:21.018
No. No. Why not?

00:07:22.143 --> 00:07:25.179
Because I'm too scared of the snake

00:07:25.179 --> 00:07:26.834
Ha. But you told me no Guru
Rinpoche is always with you.

00:07:30.242 --> 00:07:32.312
Heart! So if he's in your heart,

00:07:32.312 --> 00:07:33.625
then you don't need to be scared, right?

00:07:33.625 --> 00:07:35.240
Why is he killing, why
is he killing the snake?

00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:37.250
That's not the snake.

00:07:37.250 --> 00:07:42.250
That's like intestines. Guru Rinpoche

00:07:42.350 --> 00:07:44.930
is very much a real person,

00:07:44.930 --> 00:07:48.260
yet he's also a physical manifestation

00:07:48.260 --> 00:07:51.590
of our own Buddha nature
of our true potential

00:07:51.590 --> 00:07:55.130
and selves that we seek in
all forms of spirituality.

00:07:56.990 --> 00:07:59.300
He is what we hope to become.

00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:02.390
And in some ways what we
already have within us,

00:08:02.390 --> 00:08:03.890
yet we don't realize it yet.

00:08:12.020 --> 00:08:14.810
The teachings also help
my kids to stay grounded

00:08:14.810 --> 00:08:16.760
and understand life's struggles.

00:08:31.130 --> 00:08:33.805
It really helps how to
deal with the failure

00:08:33.805 --> 00:08:35.180
and the disappointments

00:08:35.180 --> 00:08:38.990
and the obstacles that come
in the realities of life.

00:08:48.050 --> 00:08:49.430
But times are changing

00:08:49.430 --> 00:08:51.470
and things are moving faster in Bhutan,

00:08:52.610 --> 00:08:54.590
the meditative spaces where I used

00:08:54.590 --> 00:08:58.590
to tell these bedtime
stories to my kids seem

00:08:58.590 --> 00:09:00.000
to get shorter by the day.

00:09:03.090 --> 00:09:07.530
The same phenomenon can be seen
in many Bhutanese households

00:09:07.530 --> 00:09:09.395
where the daily storytelling

00:09:09.395 --> 00:09:13.380
of spiritual teachers have
been replaced by video games

00:09:13.380 --> 00:09:15.600
and a torrent of information

00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:17.880
through television and the internet.

00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.690
- I always feel that
Bhutan is probably one

00:09:27.690 --> 00:09:31.470
of the last places on earth
where there is silence.

00:09:37.140 --> 00:09:41.370
So we're beginning to fill up
a lot of our silent spaces,

00:09:41.370 --> 00:09:46.200
our meditative spaces with
imagery, with sound, with film,

00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:48.030
with a lot of information.

00:09:48.900 --> 00:09:51.540
I think the screen has come in between

00:09:51.540 --> 00:09:54.030
and a lot of our stories that used

00:09:54.030 --> 00:09:56.315
to be passed on from from grandparents

00:09:56.315 --> 00:09:59.700
to children are now being intercepted

00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:02.370
by global stories told through a screen.

00:10:03.930 --> 00:10:06.660
The screen is a very new

00:10:06.660 --> 00:10:08.445
but powerful invasion into our homes.

00:10:17.435 --> 00:10:21.325
- Well, with progress comes a lot of pain

00:10:23.025 --> 00:10:25.805
and, and one of them is

00:10:28.445 --> 00:10:32.255
less understanding of spiritual
paintings like thangkas.

00:11:07.565 --> 00:11:10.710
- Traditionally, when
we have an old thangka,

00:11:10.710 --> 00:11:13.560
it was usually left aside

00:11:13.560 --> 00:11:14.393
and a new thangka was
painted to replace it.

00:11:19.135 --> 00:11:22.451
In Bhutan, there are still very differing

00:11:22.451 --> 00:11:23.851
views about thangkas.

00:11:23.851 --> 00:11:27.075
Some say that even though an old thangka

00:11:27.075 --> 00:11:30.708
is badly damaged, it is still very sacred,

00:11:30.708 --> 00:11:34.224
and rather than creating 20 new ones,

00:11:34.224 --> 00:11:39.132
it is better to fix one old thangka.

00:11:41.670 --> 00:11:43.380
Every year it's decreasing.

00:11:43.380 --> 00:11:47.700
Student number are decreasing.

00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:49.470
There were 400 students

00:11:50.400 --> 00:11:54.310
and now it's only 340 students.

00:11:57.100 --> 00:11:59.650
Because our new generation,

00:11:59.650 --> 00:12:02.620
they're not interested in
our traditional culture,

00:12:10.690 --> 00:12:11.985
painting and sculpture.

00:12:11.985 --> 00:12:12.985
We have to do six years

00:12:15.745 --> 00:12:16.865
- To
- Be a master.

00:12:16.865 --> 00:12:18.365
We have to do six years course

00:12:20.823 --> 00:12:23.935
Within five days

00:12:23.935 --> 00:12:26.260
we'll finish a complete painting.

00:12:26.260 --> 00:12:29.320
But if you do sincerely, it takes only,

00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:32.320
it takes about week.

00:12:36.610 --> 00:12:39.700
Some they selected by government
and some they do their own.

00:12:45.250 --> 00:12:47.140
So this is, this is my last option.

00:12:48.880 --> 00:12:53.880
I studied up to class 10,
so I didn't qualify, so I

00:12:54.040 --> 00:12:55.570
come here to do this painting.

00:12:57.370 --> 00:13:00.250
Fighting is the main case in our country.

00:13:00.250 --> 00:13:02.740
I have stopped fighting fist
fighting, only fist fighting.

00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:07.740
It's our tradition yeah, I'm trying to

00:13:08.025 --> 00:13:10.450
become a painter because
it gives me a hope

00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:13.540
because I believe in God.

00:13:20.890 --> 00:13:24.700
Some they do like olden type

00:13:24.700 --> 00:13:26.685
and some they do it more.

00:13:26.685 --> 00:13:28.720
I think it depends upon the painter.

00:13:29.590 --> 00:13:32.885
It's almost, I think it's
almost same, only the way we,

00:13:34.105 --> 00:13:36.075
the way we make this quality.

00:13:36.075 --> 00:13:40.445
And there some difference
only, but mostly it's all same.

00:13:52.060 --> 00:13:53.380
- If you see the old thangka

00:13:54.880 --> 00:13:58.960
and you see the present thangka,
you can tell right away that

00:13:59.860 --> 00:14:03.310
the present thangkas are not
as good as what they were

00:14:03.310 --> 00:14:07.120
before, a typical
example, all the thangkas

00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.670
that you see now are all flat.

00:14:09.670 --> 00:14:12.100
They all face you when you look at them.

00:14:13.090 --> 00:14:16.150
The old thangkas, you'd have some
monks looking up like that.

00:14:16.150 --> 00:14:18.070
There some are looking down

00:14:18.070 --> 00:14:20.890
and you have their facial expressions.

00:14:20.890 --> 00:14:22.600
Now you don't see that anymore.

00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:27.550
Even the way Buddha or the
deities, there's no spirit in it.

00:14:28.690 --> 00:14:31.450
It's becoming like a mechanical thing.

00:14:31.450 --> 00:14:34.125
And that's the process.

00:14:34.125 --> 00:14:37.630
When you copy all the
time, one thangka to another,

00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:42.160
eventually there there'll
be a loss on something.

00:14:42.160 --> 00:14:46.540
So what I want to do is to
bring that back, the lively,

00:14:46.540 --> 00:14:50.765
the dimension, the depth
of what thangka used to be.

00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:57.830
I studied painting conservation in Japan.

00:14:57.830 --> 00:15:00.530
And the technique that we use is very,

00:15:00.530 --> 00:15:04.460
very conservative compared
to Western techniques.

00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:06.620
I don't only restore Thangkas by the way.

00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:10.430
I restore Chinese, Japanese,
and Korean paintings.

00:15:10.430 --> 00:15:11.660
And thangka is just one of them.

00:15:41.210 --> 00:15:43.970
The first time I've been to Bhutan was

00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:46.610
with my Japanese father and mother.

00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:50.360
When we got there, there
was a table full of thangkas,

00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:51.980
badly damaged and,

00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:55.040
and they set it up in the
last minute to show me

00:15:55.040 --> 00:15:56.960
what it was they had.

00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.200
And they were, some of them
were pretty badly damaged.

00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:03.440
He asked me how much

00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.860
and how long it'll take
to, to do the paintings.

00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:09.980
And I told him, oh, this
is gonna take a long time.

00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:13.280
And it's so, it cost a
lot of money to do it.

00:16:13.280 --> 00:16:16.400
So when I was on my flight back to Tokyo,

00:16:16.400 --> 00:16:19.820
I was thinking about the
thangka that I saw and,

00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:23.630
what I could do to, to repair it.

00:16:24.830 --> 00:16:25.940
And that was the start.

00:17:06.080 --> 00:17:07.730
It's in Hawaii. It happened in Hawaii.

00:17:07.730 --> 00:17:10.730
So, but most of the fun things
that we do happened in Hawaii,

00:17:10.730 --> 00:17:13.550
because they're in the
foreign country and,

00:17:13.550 --> 00:17:17.090
and it sometimes have
a different connotation

00:17:17.090 --> 00:17:19.160
of having it there and happening here.

00:17:32.780 --> 00:17:36.950
One of the things they really
liked to do was to eat pizza.

00:17:36.950 --> 00:17:39.440
And some of them really
could eat whole box of

00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:43.610
Costco pizza in Hawaii because
they never had it before.

00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:49.980
Learning how to surf,
falling off the board.

00:22:59.285 --> 00:23:01.570
- We've known Eddie for quite some time.

00:23:01.570 --> 00:23:03.400
He's like a family friend.

00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:07.000
So he, he was asking,
he was telling me, oh,

00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.070
you know a lot about
this historical stuff.

00:23:09.070 --> 00:23:11.980
Maybe you want to join and
you know, help restore things.

00:23:11.980 --> 00:23:13.930
So I had a chat with my family

00:23:13.930 --> 00:23:15.340
and they thought it was a good idea.

00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:22.570
This one is called Yin Lajun, some

00:23:22.570 --> 00:23:24.490
of them have like Chinese origins

00:23:24.490 --> 00:23:26.590
and some of them have Indian origins.

00:23:26.590 --> 00:23:29.595
So this one is supposed
to be of Chinese origin

00:23:29.595 --> 00:23:31.810
and you understand that
from the background

00:23:31.810 --> 00:23:34.570
that they have the mountains they use

00:23:34.570 --> 00:23:36.670
and as well as the cypress tree.

00:23:36.670 --> 00:23:39.975
And of course they have depictions
of deities who take care

00:23:39.975 --> 00:23:41.710
of the earth and things like that.

00:23:41.710 --> 00:23:45.590
So he's offering the wish
fulfilling jewel from earth.

00:23:47.990 --> 00:23:50.450
I dunno, I can't imagine
having this artwork being lost.

00:23:52.220 --> 00:23:56.125
For example, if we use the
monarchy, this is his majesty

00:23:56.125 --> 00:23:58.220
for King and her majesty,

00:23:58.220 --> 00:24:00.350
Royal grandmother's favorite collection,

00:24:00.350 --> 00:24:01.850
and it's been there since.

00:24:01.850 --> 00:24:04.580
His Majesty First King's
Time it's something

00:24:04.580 --> 00:24:08.210
that is passed on in
family it's something people

00:24:08.210 --> 00:24:10.645
for many generations
have seen, it's something

00:24:10.645 --> 00:24:13.130
that has been blessed
for many generations.

00:24:13.130 --> 00:24:16.525
And for it to be lost
would be like a piece

00:24:16.525 --> 00:24:17.630
of ourselves being lost.

00:24:19.995 --> 00:24:24.290
- Ashi Kesang knows about the culture,

00:24:26.090 --> 00:24:30.260
the religion, and the people of Bhutan.

00:24:31.100 --> 00:24:34.820
And who else better than a princess. Over

00:24:34.820 --> 00:24:37.850
here. Women on this side?

00:24:37.850 --> 00:24:39.170
- Yes, he's a foreigner.

00:24:39.170 --> 00:24:40.970
Yes, he's not Bhutanese,

00:24:40.970 --> 00:24:44.930
but you know, he loves the
artwork as much as we do.

00:24:44.930 --> 00:24:47.300
And I think even a little bit moreso.

00:24:48.890 --> 00:24:50.875
- If you look sideways, also, you can see

00:24:50.875 --> 00:24:53.095
where there's a lot of nikawa.

00:24:53.095 --> 00:24:56.395
You can see the reflection like here.

00:24:57.470 --> 00:24:59.150
Okay, so you have to look sideways.

00:25:00.080 --> 00:25:04.190
You can see where it
has washed up in here.

00:25:04.190 --> 00:25:05.930
So you can see the dark spots,

00:25:12.470 --> 00:25:14.630
- The type of art conservation techniques

00:25:14.630 --> 00:25:18.800
that Eddie specializes in did
not exist in Bhutan before.

00:25:22.040 --> 00:25:24.475
The first step to restore thangka is

00:25:24.475 --> 00:25:27.470
to isolate any flaking paint

00:25:28.370 --> 00:25:31.700
by reapplying this
animal skin glue coating.

00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:40.670
This helps to ensure that
the pigment isn't washed away

00:25:40.670 --> 00:25:42.200
during the cleaning process.

00:25:48.530 --> 00:25:53.390
The thangka is placed on top
of a clean cotton sheet

00:25:53.390 --> 00:25:54.830
and it's sprayed with water

00:25:57.410 --> 00:25:58.940
with each spray the dirt and the

00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:02.210
soot gets sucked through
to the back of this thangka

00:26:02.210 --> 00:26:03.860
and onto this white sheet.

00:26:07.610 --> 00:26:10.220
- As you notice the dirt start
coming out from the backside.

00:26:11.390 --> 00:26:16.010
See, have here, a cat, a pavilion.

00:26:16.010 --> 00:26:17.930
You can see it here right now.

00:26:17.930 --> 00:26:19.790
A while ago you couldn't see it.

00:26:19.790 --> 00:26:22.070
The writings are more vivid right now.

00:26:24.830 --> 00:26:26.540
We see all this, the lotus leaves,

00:26:26.540 --> 00:26:29.000
how beautiful they are halfway

00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:31.135
- Over the paper, okay?

00:26:37.795 --> 00:26:40.610
- Inpainting is usually where the monks

00:26:40.610 --> 00:26:42.950
and I have the most disagreement.

00:26:44.100 --> 00:26:45.750
This is the longest part

00:26:45.750 --> 00:26:49.140
because we have to be careful
not to paint too much.

00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:53.610
So it's a slow process that
is assessed almost daily

00:26:53.610 --> 00:26:54.630
as a group.

00:26:59.460 --> 00:27:02.370
Depending on how damaged the thangka is

00:27:02.370 --> 00:27:07.080
inpainting can take anywhere
from six months to a year.

00:27:12.120 --> 00:27:16.380
Finally, we reuse the
old silk if it is stable.

00:27:16.380 --> 00:27:18.395
However, if it is beyond repair,

00:27:18.395 --> 00:27:23.370
then we usually use a newly
hand sewn silk joining

00:27:23.370 --> 00:27:24.690
the thangka to the backing.

00:27:25.620 --> 00:27:28.500
This takes about four days to one week

00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:31.440
to stitch a full thangka,
depending on the size

00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:33.210
and the type of silk that we work with,

00:28:14.715 --> 00:28:17.745
it's quite a lifetime worth of work

00:28:17.745 --> 00:28:21.125
for the conservation center
here and the Bhutanese people.

00:28:26.700 --> 00:28:30.540
- The workshop basically
was a commitment of mine.

00:28:31.740 --> 00:28:34.345
I believe that if you're
going to do something,

00:28:34.345 --> 00:28:37.320
you do it right, you do it properly,

00:28:37.320 --> 00:28:39.390
or you don't do it at all.

00:28:39.390 --> 00:28:42.660
So it's, I decided to do it properly

00:28:42.660 --> 00:28:45.120
and committed myself to teaching

00:28:45.120 --> 00:28:48.605
and training them for 10 years.

00:28:52.435 --> 00:28:55.045
Okay, you do it. I'll watch, I'll

00:29:12.865 --> 00:29:15.960
not just this brush for
the, this is expensive brush

00:29:20.490 --> 00:29:22.650
short stroke is making two large strokes.

00:30:34.745 --> 00:30:37.585
- Ah,
- Like this.

00:30:37.585 --> 00:30:38.685
- And don't hold the paper.

00:31:11.265 --> 00:31:15.805
- He is a very light, like,
it's not too much dark

00:31:15.805 --> 00:31:17.805
and not too much ing very.

00:31:21.465 --> 00:31:22.465
So this,

00:31:50.545 --> 00:31:53.800
- The painting is there, we
have to make, and the colors

00:31:53.800 --> 00:31:55.270
- Over, I no touched to here.

00:31:55.270 --> 00:31:57.790
- So no, it doesn't matter
if you touch it or not,

00:31:57.790 --> 00:32:01.990
but you have to understand we work

00:32:01.990 --> 00:32:03.850
as a team, okay?

00:32:03.850 --> 00:32:07.270
Discussion is good, discussion
is good. We always work.

00:32:07.270 --> 00:32:12.105
You me, Tashi Sangay,

00:32:12.105 --> 00:32:14.260
everybody works as a team, okay?

00:32:14.260 --> 00:32:16.360
We, we are not blaming anybody,

00:32:16.360 --> 00:32:18.460
but as a team, we must have

00:32:19.330 --> 00:32:23.380
a standard operational procedure

00:32:23.380 --> 00:32:26.560
that we do not over paint.

00:32:26.560 --> 00:32:30.220
We do, we stop when we stop.

00:32:31.690 --> 00:32:33.670
So we have to have a system.

00:32:34.930 --> 00:32:39.100
So nothing like this happens.
Nothing like that happens.

00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:45.165
I mean, it, it looks
beautiful. Yeah, beautiful.

00:32:45.165 --> 00:32:49.195
It's beautiful, but
it's like we painted it.

00:32:49.195 --> 00:32:53.075
This one is a new one. Yeah,
it's like we painted it.

00:32:53.075 --> 00:32:57.800
This one is a new, the
technique that we use is very,

00:32:57.800 --> 00:33:01.280
very conservative compared
to Western techniques.

00:33:01.280 --> 00:33:04.765
If you look at oil
paintings restored in Europe

00:33:04.765 --> 00:33:08.030
and in America, you don't
see any of the damages

00:33:09.230 --> 00:33:11.090
on the oil painting.

00:33:11.090 --> 00:33:13.310
They cover it with paint.

00:33:13.310 --> 00:33:16.070
And in Japan, that is a no-no,

00:33:16.070 --> 00:33:20.150
because as a conservator,
you are not the artist.

00:33:20.150 --> 00:33:24.710
So what we do is we just
tone down the missing colors.

00:33:24.710 --> 00:33:28.250
But in every culture, in every
country, in every society,

00:33:28.250 --> 00:33:31.580
there's always a certain
standard for them.

00:33:31.580 --> 00:33:35.450
I did that standard, the
Japanese standard for

00:33:35.450 --> 00:33:37.640
a few paintings, a few thangkas

00:33:37.640 --> 00:33:40.790
before we started the full restoration.

00:33:40.790 --> 00:33:43.225
And a lot of the people weren't happy

00:33:43.225 --> 00:33:46.025
because it was, it looks the same.

00:33:46.025 --> 00:33:48.920
The the damages was there,
it was just toned down.

00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:51.860
So I had to adjust to what

00:33:53.330 --> 00:33:57.860
they want, not what I
want, not what the western,

00:33:57.860 --> 00:34:01.070
I'm not here to dictate
what my beliefs are.

00:34:01.070 --> 00:34:05.240
So when they tell me I
want this painting nice,

00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:08.030
and so people can look
at it and venerate it

00:34:08.030 --> 00:34:11.300
and think of it, then
I do it what they want.

00:34:12.710 --> 00:34:16.460
My audience are the Bhutanese
people, the Buddhist monks

00:34:16.460 --> 00:34:17.990
and the Buddhist practitioners.

00:34:18.890 --> 00:34:23.660
And, and that's the bottom line.

00:34:23.660 --> 00:34:25.205
Whatever they want, I will do.

00:34:30.230 --> 00:34:34.435
- In western conservation,
we have these ideals

00:34:34.435 --> 00:34:36.770
and these standards that are sometimes

00:34:38.360 --> 00:34:40.310
not respectful of those things.

00:34:40.310 --> 00:34:43.225
They want things to be
in a perfect environment

00:34:43.225 --> 00:34:45.830
and we want them to be
in flat storage forever.

00:34:45.830 --> 00:34:49.280
And we want them to, you know, remain

00:34:50.540 --> 00:34:53.990
perfect and untouched for,
you know, hundreds of years.

00:34:53.990 --> 00:34:55.855
But these are living art objects

00:34:55.855 --> 00:34:57.440
and they need to be used here in Bhutan.

00:35:12.995 --> 00:35:17.150
- When I do my own practice,
my favorite part is

00:35:17.150 --> 00:35:18.565
what we call the Guru Yoga.

00:35:23.180 --> 00:35:27.890
And for me personally, I find
it very difficult, is the part

00:35:27.890 --> 00:35:29.810
of the visualization.

00:35:33.320 --> 00:35:36.320
The visualization starts off with

00:35:36.320 --> 00:35:40.500
imagining Guru Rinpoche in front of you

00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:43.200
in a lotus or a cloud above you.

00:35:43.200 --> 00:35:46.140
And he's radiant and smiling.

00:35:48.210 --> 00:35:51.630
We begin by visualizing a white Om

00:35:51.630 --> 00:35:56.370
that emanates from guru's
forehead into my own forehead.

00:35:56.370 --> 00:35:59.940
Purifying all the bodily
defilements accumulated

00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:00.990
over many lives.

00:36:10.410 --> 00:36:13.290
We then imagine a red,
ah, in Guru Rinpoche's

00:36:13.290 --> 00:36:17.550
throat, emanating
into our own clearing all the

00:36:17.550 --> 00:36:20.640
negative and hurtful
words I've ever uttered.

00:36:29.220 --> 00:36:34.080
Finally, a blue hum
emerges from guru's heart

00:36:34.080 --> 00:36:36.510
that enters into my own

00:36:36.510 --> 00:36:38.730
dissolving all the negative mental

00:36:38.730 --> 00:36:40.650
projections of my own mind.

00:36:41.910 --> 00:36:44.760
Lastly, which is my favorite part,

00:36:45.780 --> 00:36:50.780
guru transforms into this
brilliant rainbow body light.

00:36:50.970 --> 00:36:54.180
And all the deities and the lamas

00:36:54.180 --> 00:36:56.105
and my own spiritual teacher

00:36:56.105 --> 00:36:59.730
that surround him dissolve
into the guru's heart.

00:37:02.160 --> 00:37:05.550
The guru then dissolves into my own heart.

00:37:05.550 --> 00:37:08.400
Where upon I'm transformed into this

00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:10.440
brilliant rainbow light.

00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:12.630
And I dissolve into space.

00:37:14.490 --> 00:37:17.850
I remain in the state of luminous clarity,

00:37:17.850 --> 00:37:22.850
leaving everything just as
it is in this very moment

00:37:23.520 --> 00:37:24.780
that we call the present

00:37:33.985 --> 00:37:34.985
Painting a thangka

00:37:34.985 --> 00:37:36.450
is not like just painting it,

00:37:37.380 --> 00:37:39.030
it's a spiritual thing.

00:37:40.170 --> 00:37:42.630
You devote yourself to
the painting of the thangka.

00:37:42.630 --> 00:37:45.690
So during those days,
that was the, that was it.

00:37:45.690 --> 00:37:47.340
So that's why you don't have thangka

00:37:47.340 --> 00:37:48.810
with artists signing their names.

00:37:50.550 --> 00:37:52.200
Your skill comes into action.

00:37:53.220 --> 00:37:55.350
Your every essence, your fingertips.

00:37:55.350 --> 00:38:00.000
When you touch something,
your brush has to be one.

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.490
When you know, the left hand knows

00:38:02.490 --> 00:38:04.170
what your right hand is doing.

00:38:04.170 --> 00:38:05.490
So everything is synchronized.

00:38:05.490 --> 00:38:07.530
So you have to concentrate on your work

00:38:11.340 --> 00:38:13.620
when you do restoration, my mind is blank.

00:38:14.760 --> 00:38:16.590
I just concentrate on the painting.

00:38:20.850 --> 00:38:24.060
We live in a fast world
now. Everything's so fast.

00:38:24.060 --> 00:38:28.230
Fast cars fast, everything
fast, internet, fast telephone,

00:38:28.230 --> 00:38:30.000
it'll get faster and faster.

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:33.510
And people are multitasking
more often than they should.

00:38:34.770 --> 00:38:38.650
That's thing I like to come to
Bhutan. I learn how to stop,

00:38:45.275 --> 00:38:46.108
stop and think,

00:38:55.465 --> 00:38:57.070
stop and listen.

00:39:05.560 --> 00:39:07.990
Stop and enjoy what is there.

00:39:17.110 --> 00:39:19.605
That's what Bhutan gives me.
That's why I come here often.

00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:43.900
- Spinning on every prayer
wheel is the sacred six syllable

00:39:43.900 --> 00:39:48.900
mantra, which is prayer to
the Buddha of compassion

00:39:49.330 --> 00:39:53.290
Avalokiteśvara to reach down

00:39:53.290 --> 00:39:55.810
and to help suffering sentient beings.

00:40:00.160 --> 00:40:03.645
We believe that spinning a
wheel alone exceeds the number

00:40:03.645 --> 00:40:06.520
of prayers that one can
say in a single lifetime.

00:40:13.780 --> 00:40:18.391
Every year you will find local
Bhutanese, families, friends,

00:40:18.391 --> 00:40:22.100
individuals and monks
putting up these prayer

00:40:22.100 --> 00:40:23.566
flags in mountains

00:40:23.566 --> 00:40:25.480
and passes in hopes

00:40:25.480 --> 00:40:28.690
that these sacred words
are carried on the wind

00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:31.300
down the valleys

00:40:31.300 --> 00:40:34.360
and across the universe
to benefit all beings.

00:40:48.070 --> 00:40:48.903
- Do you need brush?

00:40:56.350 --> 00:40:57.280
we don't have any more brush?

00:40:58.835 --> 00:41:00.310
That was the main hurdle.

00:41:00.310 --> 00:41:02.770
Financial responsibilities

00:41:02.770 --> 00:41:05.110
because I, I have to make sure

00:41:05.110 --> 00:41:06.400
that they have the right tools

00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:10.090
because I believe that if
you work with good materials

00:41:10.090 --> 00:41:12.790
and good, good tools, you do a good work.

00:41:14.590 --> 00:41:15.610
We don't have any more brush?

00:41:16.810 --> 00:41:19.425
If you work with lousy
materials, with lousy tools

00:41:19.425 --> 00:41:23.020
and lousy equipment, your work is lousy.

00:41:23.020 --> 00:41:25.000
He needs brush. Yeah, this one we have,

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:26.920
we have, we still do no more.

00:41:26.920 --> 00:41:29.253
We just bought in Hong Kong,

00:41:31.150 --> 00:41:32.320
Oh, there are so many problems

00:41:32.320 --> 00:41:35.180
because, there's,
there's a lot of things

00:41:35.180 --> 00:41:36.200
that you can't find here.

00:41:38.210 --> 00:41:42.500
The materials I use,
most of the silk I use

00:41:42.500 --> 00:41:44.930
and the materials I use come from Japan.

00:41:44.930 --> 00:41:49.930
All the more mineral
pigments and, and and silk

00:41:50.330 --> 00:41:52.520
and paper, brush paint,

00:41:52.520 --> 00:41:54.530
everything comes from
Japan and they cost a lot.

00:41:56.000 --> 00:41:58.850
I don't wanna say that.
I don't wanna say my,

00:41:58.850 --> 00:42:00.350
the money comes from my pocket.

00:42:00.350 --> 00:42:03.440
No. I can say I beg, steal, and borrow.

00:42:06.380 --> 00:42:08.240
Basically the how it's finance is that

00:42:09.350 --> 00:42:11.660
the restoration work I do

00:42:11.660 --> 00:42:15.320
in my studio in America funds the program.

00:42:20.545 --> 00:42:23.240
It takes a lot of money to do it,

00:42:23.240 --> 00:42:27.230
but it's, it's, it's ok, it's manageable.

00:42:34.700 --> 00:42:37.190
- Now, currently what we do
is these are all the works

00:42:37.190 --> 00:42:41.240
that we have in the studio
are actually from monasteries

00:42:41.240 --> 00:42:43.640
and songs within the country.

00:42:43.640 --> 00:42:46.130
So all the work that we're
doing is actually for free

00:42:46.130 --> 00:42:48.590
because they are part of
the central monastic body.

00:42:48.590 --> 00:42:51.500
They do get a monthly wage

00:42:51.500 --> 00:42:55.460
or sorts that will cover
their daily needs, like such

00:42:55.460 --> 00:42:57.770
as food and clothing and things like that.

00:42:57.770 --> 00:43:01.340
But apart from that, they
do not get anything extra

00:43:01.340 --> 00:43:03.050
for the work that they do here.

00:43:03.050 --> 00:43:04.220
It's a very minimal fee

00:43:04.220 --> 00:43:06.800
that just covers the necessary costs.

00:43:06.800 --> 00:43:09.260
So they do have difficulties

00:43:09.260 --> 00:43:12.200
with accommodation and things like that.

00:43:12.200 --> 00:43:15.890
So like currently we have two monks from,

00:43:16.760 --> 00:43:21.590
not from Thimphu but from
other districts like Tashi.

00:43:21.590 --> 00:43:23.365
He's actually from Wangdue Phodrang

00:43:23.365 --> 00:43:26.270
and
we have another monk from Paro.

00:43:26.270 --> 00:43:29.030
And of course Lebe Sangay is from Trongsa.

00:43:29.030 --> 00:43:30.920
And when they come
here, they don't have an

00:43:30.920 --> 00:43:32.480
actual residence to stay.

00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:34.580
So they usually stay with their families,

00:43:39.170 --> 00:43:42.020
but Tashi and Tenzin from
Paro and Wangdue Phodrang

00:43:42.020 --> 00:43:45.320
and they're staying in
the rented apartment here,

00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:48.410
which is obviously more than their income.

00:43:48.410 --> 00:43:53.120
So her Majesty, the royal
grandmother has kindly is paying

00:43:53.120 --> 00:43:56.510
for their rent and they're
really grateful for that.

00:43:56.510 --> 00:43:58.820
And they're able to stay
here and do the work.

00:43:58.820 --> 00:44:00.905
Right now they're just
working on the bare minimum.

00:44:03.560 --> 00:44:05.570
- We have only the permanent monks

00:44:05.570 --> 00:44:06.920
who are stationed here in Thimphu.

00:44:08.185 --> 00:44:09.740
Actually we have 16 of them,

00:44:09.740 --> 00:44:14.270
but they all live in the, in the outskirts

00:44:14.270 --> 00:44:16.220
of throughout the country.

00:44:16.220 --> 00:44:19.760
For many years. They've been
coming here only when I'm here

00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:23.090
and after the, the, the
month I've been here,

00:44:23.090 --> 00:44:24.380
or two months I've been here, they go back

00:44:24.380 --> 00:44:26.390
to their respective monasteries

00:44:26.390 --> 00:44:29.210
and it's a waste of effort teaching them

00:44:29.210 --> 00:44:30.770
and then they go back again.

00:44:30.770 --> 00:44:33.720
So would be nice if they all
could be here in one room.

00:44:34.830 --> 00:44:36.450
And right now we have the studio.

00:44:36.450 --> 00:44:39.990
So our priority is not
building the studio,

00:44:39.990 --> 00:44:42.480
but the place for the monks to live.

00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:44.670
The monasteries right now don't pay

00:44:44.670 --> 00:44:46.740
or the temples that bring their art,

00:44:46.740 --> 00:44:49.170
their thangkas here
don't pay a single cent.

00:44:49.170 --> 00:44:50.670
But eventually that will change.

00:44:52.080 --> 00:44:54.960
We want them to pay minimal amount,

00:44:54.960 --> 00:44:58.410
but that will come into time.

00:44:59.790 --> 00:45:03.600
So our best bet is

00:45:03.600 --> 00:45:06.810
that we restore thangka
from foreign countries

00:45:06.810 --> 00:45:10.950
- Accepting restoration
work for private pieces.

00:45:10.950 --> 00:45:13.770
Yes. Then of course we
charge the materials

00:45:13.770 --> 00:45:17.105
and they will just give their
donation for a good cause

00:45:17.105 --> 00:45:18.150
for the dormitory so

00:45:18.150 --> 00:45:20.850
that the other monks can
come in and do the work.

00:45:20.850 --> 00:45:22.955
- Yes, Eddie, Eddie was
hoping it would work that

00:45:22.955 --> 00:45:23.955
- Way.

00:45:23.955 --> 00:45:25.800
So yes, that would be
a good cause it's big.

00:45:25.800 --> 00:45:27.510
And this one it's the Karmapa.

00:45:27.510 --> 00:45:29.010
What portrait of the Karmapa. How

00:45:29.010 --> 00:45:30.240
- Did you get that piece?

00:45:30.240 --> 00:45:31.765
- Oh, you know, I don't know. My

00:45:31.765 --> 00:45:33.705
- Grandmother has a collection of this.

00:45:33.705 --> 00:45:36.930
And you have the other set? Yes.

00:45:36.930 --> 00:45:38.580
- Huh? Oh my goodness.

00:45:38.580 --> 00:45:43.470
This is the one with the full
mantra script at the back.

00:45:43.470 --> 00:45:46.500
Yes. I see. This is the
most beautiful one I have.

00:45:46.500 --> 00:45:48.480
- We will be able to restore that one

00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:49.480
- For you.

00:45:49.480 --> 00:45:51.630
Really? Yes. Okay. So I I'll
be very excited to see it.

00:45:51.630 --> 00:45:53.250
Yes, I will be. It's in a frame.

00:45:53.250 --> 00:45:57.390
So if a lot of my friends want
to visit the Manila exhibit,

00:45:57.390 --> 00:46:01.560
is it possible for them to show
you what they want restored?

00:46:02.550 --> 00:46:03.720
Yes, of course. That, and maybe it is

00:46:03.720 --> 00:46:06.240
because everybody's, when
I ask them if they want

00:46:06.240 --> 00:46:10.355
to show your, their pieces
to, to you, the princess

00:46:10.355 --> 00:46:11.435
and the whole group,

00:46:11.435 --> 00:46:14.850
they're saying they might
confiscate our goods. Oh no,

00:46:14.850 --> 00:46:16.285
- No, no, they
- Won't.

00:46:16.285 --> 00:46:18.245
I said no. So very young princess,

00:46:19.635 --> 00:46:20.635
- Very old.

00:46:20.635 --> 00:46:23.430
- No, to be able to,
to be able to be a part

00:46:23.430 --> 00:46:25.530
of this is quite an honor.

00:46:25.530 --> 00:46:27.780
You're very lucky. You must
have done something right in

00:46:27.780 --> 00:46:30.900
your life to be amongst these things.

00:46:30.900 --> 00:46:34.440
It's not, it's not a coincidence
to be around these things.

00:46:34.440 --> 00:46:37.530
I want to keep them beautiful.

00:46:37.530 --> 00:46:40.110
So next time people can enjoy them.

00:46:40.110 --> 00:46:43.560
There are no more works like
this. Not for people like you.

00:46:43.560 --> 00:46:44.880
We will never see them.

00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:46.830
Our children's children
will never see them.

00:49:11.105 --> 00:49:14.500
- Existence is the eternal
wheel of life and death.

00:49:14.500 --> 00:49:16.270
Our own desire, hatred

00:49:16.270 --> 00:49:19.750
and ignorance, fuel the
endless cycle of suffering

00:49:19.750 --> 00:49:20.991
that we call samsara.

00:49:20.991 --> 00:49:24.191
The rooster represents
desire, the snake hatred,

00:49:24.191 --> 00:49:29.191
and the pig ignorance. These
three are the poisons of life.

00:49:32.058 --> 00:49:37.050
Because of these three,

00:49:37.050 --> 00:49:41.832
we keep on being reborn
in the cycle of life.

00:49:48.165 --> 00:49:51.100
We wish for happiness and
to be free from samsara.

00:49:52.060 --> 00:49:56.170
Yet suffering is inherent
because impermanence

00:49:56.170 --> 00:49:58.630
or change is the only constant
that we can be sure of

00:50:00.550 --> 00:50:02.440
in this life that we have.

00:50:02.440 --> 00:50:05.410
Everything we do is to
prepare ourselves for death.

00:50:10.360 --> 00:50:12.400
Yet death is far from the end.

00:50:13.900 --> 00:50:17.080
It is an opportunity to be
reborn in a better realm

00:50:20.080 --> 00:50:21.610
or even to become enlightened.

00:50:31.280 --> 00:50:33.770
When you die, you have
no body to ground. You.

00:50:34.640 --> 00:50:38.390
Your soul wanders to a
million places at once.

00:50:38.390 --> 00:50:40.220
You'll see animals and demons.

00:50:51.410 --> 00:50:54.260
Yet if you recognize
them for what they are,

00:50:54.260 --> 00:50:56.090
they lose their fearsome appearance

00:51:12.500 --> 00:51:16.820
and you're able to focus
on the guru, on Guru Rinpoche.

00:51:16.820 --> 00:51:20.270
And you're able to visualize
him as the only refuge

00:51:20.270 --> 00:51:22.220
who will guide you through
the intermediate state.

00:51:27.080 --> 00:51:28.970
In the presence of the Lord of Death.

00:51:28.970 --> 00:51:31.760
He decides where your karma takes you.

00:51:31.760 --> 00:51:33.950
Whether you are born
in the heavenly realms

00:51:33.950 --> 00:51:36.800
as an animal, human,
or in the hell realms.

00:51:37.970 --> 00:51:40.850
From all the forms we are
able to take within samsara,

00:51:40.850 --> 00:51:44.480
this precious human life
is the result of good karma

00:51:44.480 --> 00:51:46.730
of numerous past lives.

00:51:46.730 --> 00:51:48.560
It is a rare opportunity for us

00:51:48.560 --> 00:51:50.870
to awaken from the samsara
dream that we live in

00:52:01.135 --> 00:52:04.190
- When they build the
thangkas and statues.

00:52:04.190 --> 00:52:08.360
After that, it has to have a consecration

00:52:08.360 --> 00:52:09.770
by the very holy Lamas.

00:52:14.000 --> 00:52:18.625
They have to, you know,
visualize the true real Buddhas

00:52:18.625 --> 00:52:22.520
and Bodhisattvas and then
put it all in the statues

00:52:28.490 --> 00:52:29.815
After that the statue

00:52:29.815 --> 00:52:34.280
or the thangkas is like
an real, the Buddhas

00:52:34.280 --> 00:52:36.560
and Bodhisattvas. That's why

00:52:36.560 --> 00:52:39.505
after the consecration, the thangkas

00:52:39.505 --> 00:52:43.430
and the statues has a power to give bless

00:52:43.430 --> 00:52:46.490
give the good wellbeing or such things.

00:52:46.490 --> 00:52:48.410
That's why it's very
important for everybody

00:52:48.410 --> 00:52:50.780
to see the thangkas and the statues.

00:52:52.135 --> 00:52:55.790
- Okay. - But the main meaning
to show the, you know, thangkas

00:52:55.790 --> 00:52:58.640
to other people is to
liberate by seeing this.

00:53:47.010 --> 00:53:48.660
- I know there's always this black

00:53:48.660 --> 00:53:50.855
and white, you know, it's
like either we have it

00:53:50.855 --> 00:53:52.380
or we don't have it, we've lost it.

00:53:52.380 --> 00:53:56.010
But I think it also has to evolve. For me,

00:53:56.010 --> 00:53:57.270
I mean of course we look at it

00:53:57.270 --> 00:53:59.730
and say this is great art,
but it's not just art.

00:53:59.730 --> 00:54:01.500
It's meant to be a tool as well.

00:54:02.340 --> 00:54:04.890
There was a tool that was
appropriate maybe two,

00:54:04.890 --> 00:54:08.100
300 years ago when
there was no cell phone.

00:54:08.100 --> 00:54:11.490
There was a tool for people
to visualize the great masters

00:54:11.490 --> 00:54:13.380
and their teachings and we painted it.

00:54:13.380 --> 00:54:16.020
But perhaps now with the digital world,

00:54:16.020 --> 00:54:17.670
we can actually convey

00:54:17.670 --> 00:54:22.080
that image across the
world through technology.

00:54:24.270 --> 00:54:27.480
So I think, you know, it depends
on what you use, you know,

00:54:27.480 --> 00:54:28.680
is in the hands of the user.

00:54:31.590 --> 00:54:34.650
But I also understand that
in Bhutan we also have a lot

00:54:34.650 --> 00:54:39.120
of young people who can recreate
the same, you know, level

00:54:39.120 --> 00:54:42.930
of beauty in their paintings
and in their skills.

00:54:42.930 --> 00:54:44.795
So they also need outlets.

00:54:44.795 --> 00:54:47.220
So that's why we have a
lot of new monasteries

00:54:47.220 --> 00:54:48.420
and new paintings coming up

00:54:48.420 --> 00:54:50.460
because they can also express themselves.

00:54:52.440 --> 00:54:55.380
So we also need to enable
that kind of practice

00:54:55.380 --> 00:54:58.260
to continue while
appreciating what there is.

00:54:59.340 --> 00:55:01.290
People think, oh, we
shouldn't build anything new,

00:55:01.290 --> 00:55:03.810
we should just conserve
everything that's old.

00:55:03.810 --> 00:55:08.400
But at the same time, you
know, when we try to ensure

00:55:08.400 --> 00:55:11.400
that our art and culture
is alive, then we need

00:55:11.400 --> 00:55:12.780
to create more new space

00:55:12.780 --> 00:55:14.490
to enable the sort of art to appear.

00:55:16.590 --> 00:55:17.940
- People change, time change.

00:55:17.940 --> 00:55:21.605
But I think traditional
thangka paintings should never

00:55:21.605 --> 00:55:26.605
change. With Buddhism,

00:55:27.030 --> 00:55:31.230
I think it has a chance
to grow and live longer

00:55:32.160 --> 00:55:34.110
because of the people in this country.

00:55:37.980 --> 00:55:41.280
It is a great loss when you
lose a very valuable thangka.

00:55:41.280 --> 00:55:46.170
But it's a thing, a spiritual thing.

00:55:46.170 --> 00:55:49.320
So it doesn't really
matter what happens to it,

00:55:49.320 --> 00:55:51.570
but what matters is what is inside you.

00:55:52.440 --> 00:55:56.400
If you can image the thangka
inside you, then that's better.

00:55:57.330 --> 00:56:00.630
So it's individually what you see

00:56:00.630 --> 00:56:02.700
and what you keep is what's important.

00:56:10.375 --> 00:56:13.380
- Restoration is something
that takes a long time

00:56:13.380 --> 00:56:17.790
and it takes a lot of
concentration and dedication

00:56:17.790 --> 00:56:18.810
and perseverance.

00:56:19.650 --> 00:56:21.840
So during the process,

00:56:21.840 --> 00:56:26.290
usually we feel the
deities themselves tend

00:56:26.290 --> 00:56:27.970
to emerge as real people.

00:56:28.840 --> 00:56:30.855
They become a close

00:56:30.855 --> 00:56:34.360
and intimate friend that
holds your hand along the way

00:56:34.360 --> 00:56:35.470
on your spiritual journey.

00:56:36.550 --> 00:56:37.570
And when you are working

00:56:37.570 --> 00:56:41.020
with an exceptionally beautiful
thangka the pictures are

00:56:41.020 --> 00:56:42.430
so detailed.

00:56:42.430 --> 00:56:45.850
It's almost like as though
you are watching a movie

00:56:45.850 --> 00:56:49.390
or sometimes you're
actually in the painting

00:56:49.390 --> 00:56:51.640
and living the life of guru

00:56:52.780 --> 00:56:54.700
with him there.

00:57:03.265 --> 00:57:05.380
And at the end of the process,

00:57:05.380 --> 00:57:07.930
after we've given back the thangka

00:57:07.930 --> 00:57:10.900
and we see it at a festival

00:57:10.900 --> 00:57:14.050
or on a special occasion
that it's unfurled,

00:57:15.160 --> 00:57:17.320
it's like meeting an old friend

00:57:17.320 --> 00:57:20.230
and you get that warm
affectionate feeling.

00:57:21.190 --> 00:57:22.810
I feel it's really comforting

00:57:22.810 --> 00:57:25.030
to have these old thangkas around,

00:58:20.865 --> 00:58:22.085
- Go back to school. Come

00:58:22.085 --> 00:58:23.085
- On.

00:58:23.085 --> 00:58:25.960
It's just one week in a year. Come on,

00:58:25.960 --> 00:58:27.340
- You know what, that's not true.

00:58:28.210 --> 00:58:32.045
- What? - One week a year?
That's not true. Well at least

00:58:32.955 --> 00:58:35.305
we won't lock you down
and ball and chain you!

00:58:35.305 --> 00:58:37.285
- That's not true. One week,

00:58:37.285 --> 00:58:40.600
a week will be like two months a year.

00:58:40.600 --> 00:58:42.855
- We'll do all the groundwork.
You, you are the one who

00:58:42.855 --> 00:58:43.855
- Needs to come.

00:58:43.855 --> 00:58:47.740
10 years has gone by as
if it happened yesterday.

00:58:47.740 --> 00:58:50.410
So soon they will take over

00:58:51.250 --> 00:58:53.350
and they will do everything they can do

00:58:53.350 --> 00:58:55.570
to make their lives better too

00:58:57.040 --> 00:58:59.331
and make the thangka live longer.

00:59:01.588 --> 00:59:05.138
Your teachers in this
office are Sonam Tshering.

00:59:05.138 --> 00:59:07.813
I'm sure you're familiar with
him from Tashichho Dzong.

00:59:07.813 --> 00:59:11.329
Lopen Sangay Rinchen from Trongsa.

00:59:11.329 --> 00:59:13.303
Lopen Tenzin from Paro Rinpung Dzong.

00:59:13.303 --> 00:59:15.986
Then we have Lopen Tashi
from Wangduephodrang.

00:59:15.986 --> 00:59:20.961
We hope you will be able to
catch up, in a year's time.

00:59:22.561 --> 00:59:25.486
The things we have here
you're probably familiar with,

00:59:25.486 --> 00:59:30.411
these thangkas are
Bhutan's sacred objects.

00:59:30.411 --> 00:59:32.526
There's a risk of them being stolen

00:59:32.526 --> 00:59:36.226
or being further damaged
if you're not careful.

00:59:36.226 --> 00:59:37.059
We also have cameras.

00:59:37.059 --> 00:59:42.050
There's 1, 2, 3... a total of
5 cameras here and one outside.

00:59:43.225 --> 00:59:45.916
Sometimes Her Majesty the
Royal Grandmother visits.

00:59:45.916 --> 00:59:49.433
Their Majesties, the
kings, may also visit.

00:59:49.433 --> 00:59:53.482
So I expect you all to behave
impeccably and be presentable.

00:59:53.482 --> 00:59:56.264
Thank you for joining us.

00:59:56.264 --> 01:00:00.215
The monks and I hope that your
endeavours are successful.

01:00:00.215 --> 01:00:01.048
Welcome.

01:00:03.748 --> 01:00:06.615
You both are from the painting
department in the dzong?

01:00:06.615 --> 01:00:09.430
So you'll be a little more
familiar with the work.

01:00:09.430 --> 01:00:12.639
You probably don't know anything yet?

01:00:12.639 --> 01:00:15.205
I'll explain the basics,

01:00:15.205 --> 01:00:17.296
but you'll understand the work in time.

01:00:17.296 --> 01:00:22.296
The main thing is removing
the silk and cleaning it.

01:00:22.779 --> 01:00:26.321
The thangkas are in
relatively good condition.

01:00:26.321 --> 01:00:28.103
So we wash it, remove
the dirt and stretch it.

01:00:29.612 --> 01:00:32.662
But you'll see that later on.

01:00:33.794 --> 01:00:38.794
The two of you may know
how to paint new thangkas.

01:00:39.478 --> 01:00:44.378
But the old thangkas
are a little different.

01:00:46.136 --> 01:00:50.252
But it's something you'll
know better with experience.

01:00:57.195 --> 01:00:59.485
It's not impossible so don't worry.

01:00:59.485 --> 01:01:02.068
You just have to have
awareness, that's all.

01:01:02.068 --> 01:01:05.259
Don't worry, it's not impossible.

01:01:10.520 --> 01:01:14.810
- Well, we come to this world
hoping to achieve something

01:01:14.810 --> 01:01:17.630
before we kick the bucket.

01:01:17.630 --> 01:01:22.220
As they would say it
base, we want the center,

01:01:23.420 --> 01:01:25.645
the conservation studio,
to be the worldwide center

01:01:25.645 --> 01:01:27.320
for thangka conservation.

01:01:27.320 --> 01:01:32.180
That's our goal. Devoting
my life 10 years of

01:01:32.180 --> 01:01:35.090
doing this, teaching the
monks telling them what to do

01:01:35.090 --> 01:01:38.600
and how to restore things, it,

01:01:39.680 --> 01:01:41.390
there should be continuity to that.

01:01:46.790 --> 01:01:49.940
- The central monastic
body has been kind enough

01:01:49.940 --> 01:01:54.320
to donate a piece of land
for us that's under an acre.

01:01:54.320 --> 01:01:57.590
So we are hoping to
build dormitories there

01:01:57.590 --> 01:02:01.790
for about 20 months or so
so that they can come over

01:02:01.790 --> 01:02:04.250
and actually do training and train there.

01:02:04.250 --> 01:02:07.010
And we're also hoping
that to build a studio,

01:02:07.010 --> 01:02:09.050
which is not only a conservation center,

01:02:09.050 --> 01:02:11.750
but like a educational
conservation center.

01:02:11.750 --> 01:02:15.530
So it will also teach
people about the importance

01:02:15.530 --> 01:02:18.050
of preservation of one's own
culture and things like that.

01:02:20.905 --> 01:02:24.750
In that way, we are hoping to
generate some kind of income,

01:02:24.750 --> 01:02:27.810
but also since it's going to
be like a educational facility,

01:02:27.810 --> 01:02:29.855
we are hoping that the,
the monks will be able

01:02:29.855 --> 01:02:34.855
to teach people not only in
Bhutan who are non monks,

01:02:35.160 --> 01:02:36.600
but also people from overseas

01:02:36.600 --> 01:02:40.830
who are interested in learning
about our art and culture

01:02:40.830 --> 01:02:43.350
and learning about conservation as well.

01:02:43.350 --> 01:02:45.360
They'll be able to come in

01:02:45.360 --> 01:02:48.000
for a small little like educational fee

01:02:48.000 --> 01:02:50.790
and we might be able to do
some kind of exchange program.

01:02:51.690 --> 01:02:54.360
It'll take some time, but with the support

01:02:54.360 --> 01:02:57.000
and goodwill of everybody
within the country as well as

01:02:57.000 --> 01:02:59.880
outside, we hope that it'll go as planned.

01:03:05.010 --> 01:03:07.650
- It's been a wonderful
experience coming here

01:03:07.650 --> 01:03:09.960
and sharing what I know

01:03:09.960 --> 01:03:13.230
and teaching what I know to the monks,

01:03:13.230 --> 01:03:15.930
the future monk cultivators of Bhutan.

01:03:15.930 --> 01:03:20.640
It's been a blessing. It's,
it has been a lot of ups

01:03:20.640 --> 01:03:23.670
and downs, but in general it was

01:03:24.630 --> 01:03:25.680
a worthwhile journey.

01:03:27.840 --> 01:03:30.575
- Eddie lit the path for conservation

01:03:30.575 --> 01:03:32.760
and restoration in Bhutan.

01:03:32.760 --> 01:03:36.660
And this gave us a new
meaning to an age old

01:03:36.660 --> 01:03:38.760
and ancient cultural heritage.

01:03:39.690 --> 01:03:43.950
The future of the studio now
lays in the hands of the monks

01:03:43.950 --> 01:03:48.480
and myself, but I believe it
most especially lies in the

01:03:48.480 --> 01:03:49.890
hands of the Bhutanese.

01:03:54.025 --> 01:03:59.025
The thangka itself is a visual
entryway into the inner journey

01:03:59.490 --> 01:04:02.550
of our own selves and our path

01:04:02.550 --> 01:04:05.165
and goal are very clear to us now.