Creating videos and illustrations for my books…

Thanks to the awesome guidance of Andrea Adler, my brilliant holistic PR Marketing Maven, I finished the first video. My agent will use it to present my books to publishers. I have two more videos to go.

The Wheel of Life with the foot of Yama, the King of Death, is one of my favorite video backgrounds.

The process of finishing the books and finding a publisher is proving to be a LOT more involved than I imagined. Andrea now lives in Santa Fe, and we have many friends in common. Although I haven’t seen any offers yet, I firmly believe these books are worth the effort. My six book proposals are constantly being refined. Find my book proposals here online.

Why do I mention Andrea Adler here? Well, because her skills are very unique. She has major experience, passion, brilliance, and integrity to help SO many holistic practitioners and spiritual people find their unique path to success. Her Broadway acting experience helped me perform the video text directly in just a few words. Andrea is author of the book: The Science of Spiritual Marketing: Initiation into Magnetism, and the holistic community needs her. I adore working with Andrea. She works from a VERY BIG-PICTURE PERSPECTIVE with flawless precision and attention to detail in every element. This is a rare quality to encompass both ends of the spectrum. It’s a process. Please give me patience!

This is a generic video introducing my book “Buddha Speaks, Channeled Conversations with the Master”. Thanks for your help, Andrea!

My video helper and taxi driver is Kunzang Dorji. His job is to placate the security guards at Rinpung Dzong monastery and to hold the camera still. Large tripods are not available here in Paro. We’re holding my small table tripod by hand as it doesn’t reach head level.

This Wheel of Life painting at the Paro Dzong shows the six realms of existence. The three realms at the top are better places to be born. The three at the bottom are to be avoided at all costs. Top three realms from left to right are the Human Realm, the Realm of the Gods, and Asura realm of the demi-gods – who are frequently in conflict. Right now most of us are living in the Human Realm.

At the bottom left is the Animal Realm. The middle bottom is the Hell Realm, ruled by Yama Dharmaraja, the God of Death. He holds a stick in his right hand and a mirror in the left to reflect Karmic actions back to the perpetrator. On the low right is the Preta Realm of the hungry ghosts. Hungry ghosts suffer from extreme hunger and thirst. Food and water burn their skinny necks as they try to swallow with great difficulty into their distended bellies, with intense agony. This realm is for miserly people who hoarded their wealth. I love all the Wheel of Life paintings in this Dzong.

I’m staying at the beautiful Spirit of Bhutan Resort, owned by a family friend. Today it’s low season and I am the only guest. The hotel is beautifully decorated with paintings everywhere. The phallic symbol in Bhutan is a sacred image of joy, happiness, and prosperity.

Today the skilled ladies at Spirit of Bhutan surprised me with a beautiful rose napkin.

Next it’s a traditional Wonju Bhutanese jacket.

A 3-corner hat! Every meal is different.

Wednesday we had a family gathering in Paro with my sister-in-law Ghalem and her family, as two family members are moving to Australia for work-study. The gathering included a picnic and visiting two temples, called Lhakangs.

First we visited Kyichu Lhakang, one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, built in the 7th century, and rebuilt in the 17th century. It is stunning! Kyichu Lhakhang is considered to be the sacred Jewel of Bhutan. The first one was established by the Buddhist King Songstsen Gampo of Tibet ostensibly to overcome the giant ogress that laid across Tibet and the Himalayas preventing the spread of Buddhism.

In the 8th century, Guru Padmasambhava was believed to have visited Kyichu Lhakhang and to have hidden a variety of treasures in the temple. These prayer wheels are huge. Today the 7th century inner sanctuary was open, and we received a special blessing from the resident Lama.

Next we visited Jangtsa Dumtseg Lhakhang near downtown Paro. This is a very old temple built in the form of a chorten, which is extremely rare. The Buddhist iconography depicted inside on the walls is considered a unique repository of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage.

In the Dumgtseg Lhakhang we climbed the steep stairs up to the 2nd and 3rd levels, passing some of the most beautiful wall paintings I have ever seen. The stairs are so STEEP, it’s more like climbing a ladder straight up the central pillar. We’re not allowed to photograph inside, but I found these images online. Some say this Lhakang was built in the 11th century, others say the 14th.

My Buddha quotes are finished. Now my work is to create illustrations for them. Submissions to publishers have to be high-resolution images. What to do?

I’m studying pixels, image resolution, and the technical requirements.

This is a series of square images that I will submit in 300 dpi, with bleed around the edges. There’s more than meets the eye in the technical world of printing that I’m now learning.

For example, I have to create filename and metadata for each image. Patience!

Meanwhile I found chia seeds in Thimphu. Hooray! I soak them 12 hours and drink with warm water every day away from meals. Soaked chia seeds help clean the intestinal walls, part of the secret to a flat tummy!

And I found pure unsweetened cocoa in a store in Paro. Woo hoo! Now I can make chocolate chai in my room!

I found cordyceps tea, said to reinforce kidney function. This helps keep me going as I work at the computer.

Thanks for checking in! I believe Lama D is coming back to Bhutan next week. I’m trying to finish my work on the books so we can take a break. Have a good week!

Srijana

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