At Thiksey Gompa...

Intricacy in every detail of the idol's profile. Vibrant colour visible from every angle. A small, upturned smile, as if to promise kindness and the blessings of all the beauty life has to offer. An overall expression of peace, so beautifully captured on a large idol that mesmerises everyone who lays eyes on it.
How did they achieve an expression like that? How is it possible unless the sculptors themselves had some idea of the meaning of inner peace?
To me, that soft and gentle half-smile is what gives the entire monastery the air of serenity that it offers all who enter it. The idol seems to radiate a sense of peace that envelopes everyone around.
It's amazing because the idol is a creation born out of human skill, an ancient relic that has the capacity to touch so many other people in turn. And so generations will be touched by that serenity and peace that a group of men helped create in an idol.

P.S.- I love walking on loose floorboards.