It is important when choosing a thanka for practice that one understands the special significance behind what a particular thanka represents.  Thankas are most often used for the aiding of the practitioner's visualization exercise during meditation.   Special reverence paid to particular deities often involves picturing the god or goddess perched on the crown of the head or seated in front of the practitioner.  The image of a deities that the thanka portrays serves as point of concentration during such meditative practice.  Thankas that display mandalas are also often used in meditation to help in the essential calming of the mind. 

        It is believed by those who paint thankas as a form of offering and meditation that an individual must paint only the deities that they have received the proper initiation for.  Given this scenario, certain deities are left only for the most powerful of practitioners to paint so as to insure the safety of others who might view or display such a deity.  It is for this reason that particular deities are not offered.  However, if one has an interest for a particular deity not offered because of certain aspects, than one should by all means please contact us and we will find such a thanka.

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