"Tibetans create art to open windows from the ordinary, earthly world onto a perfected universe. Their tangka paintings, sculptures, and mandalas are regarded as points to transition from the coarse world we know to the perfected enlightenment realm…
"As its teachings spread from the Indian subcontinent in all directions across Asia, Buddhism influenced every culture it touched--from Afghanistan to Korea, from Mongolia to Java. Buddhist art is a radiant reflection of the encounter of the Buddha's…