Serenity
Enshrined: Tibetan Master Artist
TINLEY CHOJOR
by Ross Rice
..how much of your “self” do you put into your
work? Tinley seemed bemused as this sort of thing kept coming
up, but I was just trying to determine how much of the artist’s
soul is revealed through the technique. I finally asked if
this was an inappropriate question to ask of a devout Buddhist,
and he smiled, replying (loosely translated) that what he
was doing was really more of a spiritual practice, a devotional
gesture rather than a personal artistic expression. The painting
wasn’t something he was “creating” as much
as “being”—his dharmic mission in this world.
Though there’s been no shortage of projects for him
over the last twenty years, including the Tibet House in New
York City, the Albany KTC, and the Kagyu Thubten Choling in
Wappingers Falls, as well as the home of noted American Buddhist
Robert Thurman (father of actress Uma), just “being”
has been a little more problematic as of late. Tinley was
diagnosed with stomach cancer three years ago, and almost
died. The radical surgery—removing his entire stomach—has
a five percent recovery rate, so things were pretty touch-and-go
for awhile. The separation from family made it even harder
for Tinley; one son, who works at the Potala, was denied a
visa to visit his ailing father. (His other son has been missing
since 1988, another casualty of resistance to Chinese rule.
Of his three daughters two still live in Tibet, but one made
it to the U.S. in 1995, presently living in San Francisco
and is following in the family trade, painting like her father.)
Tinley seems to have physically recovered from the surgery
very well indeed, saying he could now “eat anything!”
Spiritually, however, this was clearly a tough time for him,
and the indifference politics can show toward important family
situations never more apparent.
CONTINUE...
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