Sahaja: Siddhartha’s Intent Announces Buddhist-Inspired Art Show in Bodh Gaya

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Sahaja: Siddhartha’s Intent Announces Buddhist-Inspired Art Show in Bodh Gaya

By Craig C Lewis
October 24, 2023

Poster with a painting by Taiwanese artist Yachi Tseng. Image courtesy of Siddhartha’s Intent

Poster with a painting by Nepalese artist Ngawang Chodak. Image courtesy of Siddhartha’s Intent

Siddhartha’s Intent, founded by the revered Bhutanese lama, filmmaker, and author Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, has announced that the ongoing Dzongsar Monlam and Siddhartha Festival 2023* in Bodh Gaya, northern India, will showcase the Siddhartha Festival Art Show, organized as part of the Siddhartha’s Intent Art Project and running from 25–29 October under the theme “Sahaja” (Skt: spontaneous enlightenment).

“The Siddhartha Festival Art Show features approximately 80 Buddhist-inspired works by 18 international artists,” Siddhartha’s Intent shared with BDG. “Our aspiration is that this be more than a simple exhibition of art, but also an offering to all those present at the seat of Buddha’s enlightenment. May artists and potential artists be inspired to express and share the Dharma through their work, and may all those who view it be further drawn to Buddha’s wisdom.”

*Mother’s Song* by award-winning Mongolian artist Soyolmaa Davakhu. Image courtesy of Siddhartha’s Intent

Siddhartha’s Intent is an international collective of Buddhist groups supporting Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s Buddhadharma activities by organizing teachings and retreats, distributing and archiving recorded teachings, and transcribing and translating manuscripts and practice texts.

“The Siddhartha’s Intent Art Project was born from the aspiration to create a central place for Buddhist artists to be seen and supported, and for art lovers to enjoy and be touched by these artists’ creations,” Siddhartha’s Intent explained. “It is our pleasure to invite you to our first in-person exhibition at the Siddhartha Festival being held at the holy Buddhist site of Bodh Gaya, India, from 24–29 October.”*

Organized by Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro Institute, the Dzongsar Monlam will run from 18–27 October. It was first held in 2006 and has been conducted biennially at the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment: under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. The Siddhartha Festival, which will celebrate the life of the Buddha and his teachings, centers on a two-day program of talks, chants, dance, and more, from 28–29 October.

In addition to the Siddhartha Festival Art Show, the festival will feature appearances from numerous special guests, including: renowned Japanese monk, musician, and composer Kanho Yakushiji of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen Buddhism; Parvathy Baul, a practitioner, performer, and teacher of the Baul tradition from Bengal, India; Dr. Prachi Jariwala, a trained Indian classical dancer; and Lucid Mantra, a producer and multi-instrumentalist based in the northeast Himalayas.

“Since the time of the Buddha, art has always played a significant role for Buddhists, serving as both a medium for expressing religious ideals and for teaching, inspiring, and communicating with practitioners,” Siddhartha’s Intent noted. “The online gallery, which currently features a new artist each month, was created . . . to extend the impact of the works and to lay the groundwork for a cooperative, mutually supportive community. Our community forum provides a dedicated area for artists and art lovers to connect online and exchange ideas.”

*Mahabodhi* by Alicja Zmigrodzka. Image courtesy of Siddhartha’s Intent

Born in Bhutan in 1961, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is the son of Thinley Norbu Rinpoche and was a close student of the Nyingma master Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–91). He is recognized as the third incarnation of the 19th century Tibetan terton Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892), founder of the Khyentse lineage, and the immediate incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö (1893–1959).

In addition to Siddhartha’s Intent, Rinpoche’s projects include: Khyentse Foundation, established in 2001 to promote the Buddha’s teaching and support all traditions of Buddhist study and practice; 84000, a non-profit global initiative to translate the words of the Buddha and make them available to all; Lotus Outreach, which directs a range of projects to ensure the education, health, and safety of vulnerable women and children in the developing world; and Lhomon Society, which promotes sustainable development in Bhutan through education.

Rinpoche is the author of several books, including: What Makes You Not a Buddhist (2006), Not For Happiness (2012), The Guru Drinks Bourbon? (2016), and Poison is Medicine: Clarifying the Vajrayana (2021), and has garnered renown inside and outside of the global Buddhist community for the feature-length films he has written and directed: The Cup (1999), Travellers and Magicians (2004), Vara: A Blessing (2012), Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I wait (2016), and Looking For A Lady With Fangs And A Moustache (2019).

*Buddha Touching the Earth* by Tara di Gesu from the United States. Image courtesy of Siddhartha’s Intent

* Siddhartha’s Intent Announces 2023 Dzongsar Monlam and Siddhartha Festival in Bodh Gaya (BDG)

Craig C Lewis

Craig Lewis grew up in a transplanted Scottish family in southern England before setting off against all advice to seek light and wisdom in far-off places, rather than staying put and looking within. After repeated encounters with the Buddhadharma as a journalist in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and across Asia, he eventually found refuge as senior editor at BDG, where he reports and writes on the diversity of contemporary manifestations of the Dharma. Craig is also a keen mountain trekker and photographer, finding particular inspiration in the peoples, cultures, and Buddhist expressions of the Himalaya. In his column for BDG, “Chasing Light,” Craig seeks to document encounters, experiences, and epiphanies resulting from his own tentative and faltering path toward liberation. Contact: [email protected]

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