An Auspicious Day

The first consignment of mosaics left my Kathmandu mosaic studio yesterday en route to the exhibition that we will be holding in Skipton, North Yorkshire, UK on the 4th December. The excitement of the girls was tangible and sweet to witness. It must have been amazing for them to be preparing for such an event so soon after having been trapped inside miserable Indian circuses. The central exhibit will be the eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism. For the unitiated, like me, they are:

the white parasol - keeps away the heat of evil desires

two fish - symbols of happiness and utility

seashell - symbol of blessedness to the right

lotus - pledge of salvation and symbol of divine origin

vessel - treasury of all desires

victory - banner erected on Mt Meru, centre of the Buddhist cosmos

wheel - eight spokes represent the eight fold path

endless knot - mystic diagram representing endless rebirths

Whatever one makes of the religious significance of these, or otherwise, I think they look great and the girls have really excelled themselves in subject material that they can relate to. I am very tempted to buy these myself to celebrate the auspicious day when we complete our international adoption process with Alisha. That will be something that she too can treasure in later life and always have as a valued, and no doubt much-needed, reminder of her native land.