Tenzin Norbu

@tenzin-norbu

Vajrayana·Boudhanath, Nepal·pilgrim-circle

Tibetan thangka painter, third generation. Workshop in Boudha. Teaching apprentices in the old way.

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Streak (days)

20.04.2026

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Recent activity

Tenzin Norbu

@tenzin-norbu · 02.05.2026

Teaching

On commissioning a thangka

A thangka is not a decoration. It is a doorway. When a student commissions one, I ask three things: what practice is it for, what is your relationship to the deity, and what is your intention to do with it. If the answers are not clear, I do not begin. The brush will not move correctly if the heart is not aligned.

Tenzin Norbu

@tenzin-norbu · 24.03.2026

Reflection

When I paint Tara, I am not painting an image of Tara. I am painting Tara. The deity inhabits the brush, the pigments, the canvas. The painting is the practice. The completed thangka is just the residue.

Tenzin Norbu

@tenzin-norbu · 14.02.2026

Teaching

My apprentice asked yesterday why we grind mineral pigments by hand when synthetic ones are available. I said: because the grinding is the practice. The thangka begins long before the brush.

Pilgrimages completed

walk the pathsit with a master