Tibetan Buddhist monks to create a Mandala sand painting at JCSM
Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery will construct a Mandala sand painting Aug. 21-24 at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning sacred cosmogram. From all the artistic traditions of Tantric Buddhism, painting with colored sand ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite. Millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks to form the image of a mandala. The monks have created mandala sand paintings in more than 100 museums, art centers and colleges and universities in the United States and Europe. The mandala sand painting begins with an opening ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 21, at 5 p.m., during which the lamas consecrate the site and call forth the forces of goodness with chanting, music and mantra recitation. Most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after completion, a metaphor for the impermanence of life. The sands are placed in an urn; to fulfill the function of healing, half is distributed to the audience at the closing ceremony, while the remainder is deposited in a nearby body of water. The waters then carry the healing blessing to the ocean, and from there it spreads throughout the world for planetary healing. The closing ceremony will be held on Aug. 24 at 2 p.m.