When I first wake up in the morning, I lie in bed for a while and say what I call my gratitudes. Then I briefly pray for a safe day and ask that when miracles are happening around me, I’ll be “awake” enough to notice. I'm of a mind that miracles absolutely bombard us continuously, but we're too busy to notice.
Imagine my surprise and delight to come into my office at school this morning, which is in the library, and the first thing I noticed were Tibetan monks at work. Something was very, very different than usual. At the far end of the room was a puja table with a photo of the Dalai Lama, another table with artists tools, and a tall black table with a few robed Tibetan monks drawing the outlines for what I later found out was to be a two-day creation of a sacred Tibetan art form, the Sand Mandala.
It seems that the Drepung Loseling Phukhang Monastery in South India has five monks on tour in North America from September-December 2010. The tour is being sponsored by the The Shakyamuni Tibetan Buddhist Center based in Portland, Oregon. While in the South Bay area, the monks are staying with one of our alumni families. Apparently many monasteries are traveling with their sand mandala creations to bring about healing in the world.
All day long I’ve had meetings inside my office so I missed the opening ceremony at 10 a.m., but could hear the chanting and instruments right outside the door. Students, faculty and staff streamed through the library the entire day and I’ve never heard the library so quiet. Even the smallest of children was deeply respectful and amazingly focused. Photos were allowed. Even my two young grandsons (6 and 7) came to watch. Periodically I’ve gone out to snap photos and simply sit quietly watching them. Just watching them is a form of meditation.
If you Google sand mandalas, you will find countless sites with photos of monks at work. If you click on this Tibetan healing mandala link you will find detailed information.
In a nutshell, the Tibetan mandala is a tool for gaining wisdom and compassion and generally is depicted as a tightly balanced, geometric composition wherein deities reside. The principal deity is housed in the center. (I draw mandalas in my art journal periodically and have long been fascinated with them.) The mandala serves as a tool for guiding individuals along the path to enlightenment. Monks meditate upon the mandala, imagining it as a three-dimensional palace. The deities who reside in the palace embody philosophical views and serve as role models. The mandala's purpose is to help transform ordinary minds into enlightened ones.
Sand mandalas constructed from sand are unique to Tibetan Buddhism and are believed to effect purification and healing. Typically, a great teacher chooses the specific mandala to be created. Monks then begin construction of the sand mandala by consecrating the site with sacred chants and music. Next, they make a detailed drawing from memory. Over a number of days, they fill in the design with millions of grains of colored sand. At its completion, the mandala is consecrated. The monks then enact the impermanent nature of existence by sweeping up the colored grains and dispersing them in flowing water.
I’m working late tonight and the tall black table is cordoned off until morning. Our phona-thon starts in the library tonight and here's this incredible symbol just sitting there while life continues on. I swear, however, there is an energy in this building that could blow the roof off. You can be sure I won't miss the closing ceremony scheduled for 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Wow, when I woke up this morning little did I know that something so amazing would happen. Following are a few photos.
