Searching for the Heart of Sacred Space is about Landscape, Buddhism and Awakening spoken in the same breath exploring ways of being in sacred landscapes, foundations for designing the contemplative garden.
The books three parts candidly reveal Winters path of transformation. His environmental activities and spiritual awakening lead to his design of a Tibetan Buddhist meditation centre, one of the first in North America. Fueled by his Cornell University mentor, and guidance from H. H. the Dalai Lama and Zasep Tulku Rinpoche, he questions, What is the truth of design? How deep would I go to draw inspiration? How deeply am I willing to know myself in order to design sacred landscape?
His search for the answers to those questions draws us into the astounding history connecting Bodh Gaya in India to Kyotos Zen gardens, through Mount Kailas, to Pretapuri in Western Tibet, one of Buddhisms twenty-four sacred tantric sites. Charged with spiritual agreement between pilgrims and deities, landscape is revealed through three layers of discourse external, internal and secret as the physical manifestation of Buddhist ideals.
As landscape architect and Buddhist, Winters personally speaks with these provocative landscapes and the historical characters who previously addressed their mysteries, supported with extensive textual references. Discovering layers of subtlety enhanced with sketches in Searching for the Heart of Sacred Space, you may never look at landscape the same way again.
Searching for The Heart of Sacred Space: Landscape, Buddhism and Awakening, Dennis Winters, The Sumeru Press, paperback, 2014, 288 pages, $35.00
Dennis A. Winters has sought stimulation in diverse places and ways of living while residing in Helsinki to study architecture and urban design, he found the riches of being in the woods; in Ithaca, New York, he discovered a spiritual home while intimately documenting the natural environment; in Kathmandu to study the Himalayan mountain system, he made acquaintance with Tibetan Buddhism; and in Kyoto to study Japanese gardens, leading to research in Western Tibet, he found profound meaning in designed sacred landscapes.
He has given talks on his gardens and research on designed sacred landscapes to academic symposia, public forums and garden clubs including UNESCO Natural Sacred Sites Symposium, Japan Society, Forum for Architecture, Culture and Spirituality, American Society of Landscape Architects, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, University of Cincinnati Making Sacred Places Conference, Spirit of Sustainability Symposium, Toronto Design Exchange, University of Toronto, Ryerson University, and H. H. the Dalai Lama.
He has been able to marry personal interests with professional work. He became a Buddhist practitioner after receiving Kalachakra Initiation from H.H. the Dalai Lama in 1981. He teaches Buddhist practice and meditation at Gaden Choling Mahayana Buddhist Meditation Centre, where he was president 1987-90.
A landscape architect with degrees in landscape architecture (M.L.A., Cornell University) and architecture (B.Arch., University of Florida), urban design studies at Teknillinen Korkeakoulu in Finland, and professional work in environmental analysis and regional land use planning, he designs, builds and writes about gardens for meditation and sacred landscape through his Toronto studio, Tales of the Earth.
Table of Contents iii
List of Figures v
Preface and Acknowledgements xiii
Spellings and Pronunciation xvi
INTRODUCTION 1
- Sculptures Made of Clay 11
- The Classical Indian Technique 12
- Sculptural Techniques in the Western Himalayas 17
- Early Clay Sculpture in Central Tibet 18
- Abodes of the Buddhas 21
THE EARLIEST WEST TIBETAN MONUMENTS 25
- The Three Major Foundations 29
- Tabo 33
- Entry Hall 35
- Cella 35
- Assembly Hall 44
- Ropa 57
- Minor Early Foundations 63
- Tiak 64
- Poo 66
- Charang Foundation 67
- Johling 68
- Two Successive Artistic Traditions 69
12TH CENTURY WEST TIBETAN MONUMENTS 75
- Nako 77
- Translator�s Temple 79
- Upper Temple 84
- Lalung 89
- Vairocana Chapel 90
- Serkhang 92
- Gumrang 105
- Dunkar 111
- Diverging Traditions 117
THE ALCHI GROUP OF MONUMENTS 123
- Alchi 125
- Dukhang 126
- Sumtseg 135
- Manjusri Temple 146
- Mangyu 153
- Vairocana Temple 154
- Four-armed Maitreya Chapel 162
- Two-armed Maitreya Chapel 164
- Four Image Ch�rten 169
- Sumda Chung 173
- Assembly Hall 175
- The Two Bodhisattva Chapels 185
- A Unique Tradition 189
- Buddhas Compared 195
ICONOGRAPHY 199
- Buddha 200
- Bodhisattva 207
- Goddess 212
- Protectors 216
- Compositions 217
- Iconographic Programmes 219
STYLE AND COMPOSITION 223
- Early Western Himalayan Painting Styles 225
- Stylistic Relationship of Sculpture and Painting 227
- Sculptural Styles 232
ORNAMENTATION AND FRAMES 237
- Dressing a mandala sculpture 237
- Special Ornaments 242
- Throne Constructions and Frames 247
- Lotus Scroll 255
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE 259
- Mounting 260
- Armature 263
- Binding Material and Cord 265
- Clay 265
- Modelling 268
- Applied Decoration 268
- Painting 273
- Proportions of the Tabo mandala sculptures 275
- Successive Buddhas 281
- Guge 283
- Kinnaur 286
- Ladakh 290
APPENDICES 293
Notes 303
Bibliography 321
Glossary 337
Indices 341
General Index 341
Index of Sanskrit Terms 355
Index of Tibetan Terms 357
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