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The monks make these
exquisite mandalas from memory, approaching the task within the
framework of ancient ceremonial Tantric ritual, and bringing
to the process extraordinary patience and concentration.
The Sand Mandala is built
from coloured sand, ground from rock from the Himalayas, and
then poured precisely onto the mandala design using a 'chak-pu',
a cone-shaped, fine-tipped metal funnel. To adjust the sand once
it is on the blueprint, a metal scraper called a 'gyud-ti' (tantric
knife) is used.
The mandala is constructed
from the center outwards. Once the mandala is completed, it is
then dismantled, first by the removal of each of the deities
represented in the mandala and then with a 'dorje', the head
lama cuts through the main lines, thus cutting the energy of
the mandala. The remaining sand is then swept up into the center
of the mandala and placed in an urn.
In a ritual procession,
the monks then carry the sand to the nearest moving water, where
the sand is symbolically scattered to demonstrate life's impermanence.
The mandala is, in essence,
a visualization tool, a symbol of a perfect world in which we
are all perfect beings practicing the pure loving kindness and
compassion that is innate in all living beings. Visualizing oneself
in the center of this perfect world of the mandala creates the
conditions for us to behave towards others with kindness and
compassion, which in turn, causes them to develop a similar outlook
and leads to the creation of such a perfect world.
Mandala '. all who see
it will be blessed'. |
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Sand Mandala is regarded within Tibetan Buddhism as sacred and,
until 40 years ago, was rarely seen outside the monasteries.
Architectural in structure, their complex and richly coloured
designs have remained unchanged for over 500 years, the skills
and secret meanings passed faithfully down through the generations
from teacher to student.
