Serenity
Enshrined: Tibetan Master Artist
TINLEY CHOJOR
by Ross Rice
We go up the steep and twisty way of Rock City Road. Mount
Guardian on the left, Overlook on the right, to the monastery
of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD), the American seat of
His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu
order, one of the four main lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.
KTD is an important spiritual outpost for the Tibetan Diaspora
as well as Western devotees, with year-round teachings, retreats
and a shrine room that is open to the general public. The
reason we are huffing up this incline today through the (so
far) light snow and fog? To meet the man who painted the place—interior
and exterior—who happens to be the master artist-in-residence,
and has been internationally accorded the very highest acclaim
in the realm of Tibetan architectural art: Tinley Chojor.
We finally reach the cleft between the two mountain groups,
where KTD is nestled. A large monastery building is still
under construction, but the shrine building, with golden cupola,
is finished, sitting next to the large farmhouse that serves
as the main office and bookstore. We knock at the door of
the second cottage down the road, where we are warmly greeted
by Tinley himself, who accepts our small gift (homemade cookies),
and invites us inside, where we make a game attempt at limited
conversation while Tinley’s wife serves tea. No translator
is available at this time, so we smile and gesture a lot before
ruefully giving up, finishing our tea, and getting up to go
see the monastery.
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