The essay on the philosophical foundations and purpose of Buddhist sacred art found in this book is one of the clearest and deepest expressions of this subject found in English. This book includes 40 pages of black and white photographs and descriptions of fine Tibetan statues and paintings. From "Introduction to Tibetan Sacred Art,": Man has at his disposal two ambassadors who help him negotiate the subtle entrance through Tibetan art into the Sambhogakaya realm. One is beauty, and the other is a cultivated mindfulness of sunyata. The art's beauty spurs us to action, and inspires us to seek the highest goals we know of at a given time. Sunyata tempers our approach, forestalling our crude rush towards ethereal goals. It reminds us of the emptiness of self, subject, object and "achieving." It further points out that beauty is also "empty," and that if it is objectified into something that may be possessed, it will be lost. Beauty is only that particular aspect of appearance that we readily accept as a manifestation of the ultimate in our world. Having once been aroused by it, we should learn to extend our awe and reverence to all aspects of appearance as being equally expressive of an ultimate reality. When we have learned to do this, then we truly awaken to beauty, to the sort of beauty that is the Vajrayana's specific concern. We also awaken to a much deeper understanding of sunyata. Sunyata is far more than a device or doctrine for regulating our behaviour. The beauty that first attracts us and the sunyata that cautions our initial efforts towards spirituality are not the highest beauty, the ultimate sunyata. Only with this in mind may we correctly interpret the statement: "If we understand the right way to look, everything is seen as beauty."
