Today was the completion of the sand mandala at Clark College here. the mandala took 5 days to make with 4 monks who came from Tibet. I didn’t know that they actually have a specific degree for the monks who do the sand mandalas. The mandala being made here is a manifestation of the Buddha of Compassion. “Mandala literally means residence, or place of, the Buddha of Compassion” The sand being used is not only colored sand, they also use ground gems and gold or silver. In the mandala itself, there are four entrances, or gates, in each direction. In the middle are lotus leaves. That represents the Buddha of Compassion The various deities will have a different symbol in the center. Each gate contains a different color. Green occupies the north, blue the east, white the west and yellow the south. The colors in the different directions represent the five different Buddha families in five different colors. near the outside is a ring of lotus petals, they stop negative things from entering the mandala. At the outside is a ring of flames that protect the mandala. after it is finished it is blessed with chanting, and music. Then the mandala is “whisked” away, literally to signify impermanence. In this case, each of those in attendance received a small amount of the blessed sand, the rest was taken down to the Vancouver Pier and scattered in the Columbia River. It was very stirring experience.
The ending ceremony for the “compassion” sand mandala was touching deep inside and reverberating…to those who spent the hours building and relinquishing it, to those in attendance of the process, to this community and beyond. My mind echoes in the chanting space right now.about:blankFacebook URL
The ending ceremony for the “compassion” sand mandala was touching deep inside and reverberating…to those who spent the hours building and relinquishing it, to those in attendance of the process, to this community and beyond. My mind echoes in the chanting space right now.
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