OXFORD, Miss. – Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung
Loseling Monastery plan to construct a mandala sand
painting April 28-May 2 at the University of Mississippi.
Staged in the Ole Miss Student Union lobby, the
construction is open to the public throughout the week. The
process begins with the opening ceremony at noon April 28,
during which the lamas consecrate the site and call forth
the forces of goodness with chanting, music and mantra
recitation. The closing ceremony is set for 1 p.m. May 2.
A lecture on the symbolism of the sand mandala is scheduled
for 7:30 p.m. April 30 in Farley Hall Auditorium. Admission
is free.
In conjunction with the sand mandala, University Museum &
Historic Houses is hosting “Tibet: Magical Land of
Spiritual Wonders,” a photo exhibit of 21 stunning color
images taken by some of the world’s foremost photographic
artists. Images include the Potala Palace (home of the
Dalai Lama), the Yumbu Lagang (Tibet’s first castle), the
Jokhang (Tibet’s first temple) and Samye (Tibet’s first
monastery), as well as other spiritually important and
culturally significant subjects. The exhibit opened this
week and runs through May 11. Museum hours are 9:30
a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday.
“This exhibition is coming at a time when Tibet is in the
news,” said Albert Sperath, director of University Museum.
“These beautiful and quiet images will take you to a place
where turmoil is the current experience.”
Among all 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 platform over a period of days or
weeks to form the image of a mandala. The monks have
created mandala sand paintings at more than 100 museums,
art centers, colleges and universities in the United States
and Europe.
Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning sacred cosmogram. These
cosmograms can be created in various media, such as
watercolor on canvas and wood carvings. However, the most
spectacular and enduringly popular are those made from
colored sand.
In general, all mandalas have outer, inner and secret
meanings. On the outer level, they represent the world in
its divine form; on the inner level, they represent a map
by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into an
enlightened mind; and on the secret level, they depict the
primordially perfect balance of the subtle energies of the
body and the clear light dimension of the mind. The
creation of a sand painting is said to effect purification
and healing on these three levels.
The lamas begin the exhibit by drawing an outline of the
mandala on a wooden platform. On the following days they
lay the colored sands. Each monk holds a traditional metal
funnel, called a chakpur, while running a metal rod on its
grated surface. The vibration causes the sands to flow like
liquid onto the platform.
Traditionally, most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly
after their completion. This is done as a metaphor for the
impermanence of life. The sands are swept up and placed in
an urn; to fulfill the function of healing, half is
distributed to the audience at the closing ceremony, while
the remainder is carried to a nearby body of water, where
it is deposited. The waters then carry the healing blessing
to the ocean, and from there it spreads throughout the
world for planetary healing.
For more information on the Mystical Arts of Tibet, visit
http://www.mysticalartsoftibet.org.
For more information on the UM Museum & Historic Houses, go
to