The materials used up until now were more practical as we wished to get on with the decoration so that the temple can soon be used. The ceilings and the other mandala have been painted using acrylic paints.

Norbu being a purist explained to us the importance of being aware of the substances that we use since they each have their own energy. He explained that everything has an importance when one starts to paint thangka and deities. It is here that we realise we need a reference such as Norbu to show us the true meaning and subtleties of Tibetan painting.

When we started work on the Kalachakra mandala the first thing we did was to make up the colours. This involved grinding the pigments for hours in water before mixing them with a skin glue solution. This process was repeated for each colour. To begin with Norbu came to check to see that the colours were correct. Then little by little we got used to this process and we became very enthusiastic about it. In fact doing this we realised that the colours had an energy and that this mixing process actually brought them alive. It was like a shinay meditation (mental pacification.)

He helped us to understand that this work was not only preparing the colours for painting but also ourselves.

We can therefore see that many of these traditional elements are necessary and have to be conserved.We have to be careful of our instincts, conditioned by a desire for immediate and superficial efficiency, to consider them as superfluous.

Tendrel: When Norbu gives a painting lesson as he did in Dhagpo Kagyu Ling and Le Bost, how does this take place ?

Lama Kunkyab: It's fascinating to watch him drawing. He has integrated all these drawings to such a degree that one has the impression that he projects the visualisation onto paper. He starts to draw an outline in a line with a slight trembling then the drawing becomes more and more precise. Next he marks out a few key points in pencil and little by little the drawing takes shape.

Finally he uses the paintbrush and paints a perfect vision which at times differs from the initial sketch, yet he does not hesitate in the the slightest way. We could spend hours just watching him. It's incredible to see his flexibility with a paint brush and the extent to which his painting is gestural.