The Auspicious Creation of a Tibetan Sand Mandala

Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, Level 3 November 5th-10th, 9 am - 5 pm

Image: Kim Yanoshik.

The Buddhist Student Association and Professor Vic Mansfield’s Core 179:  Tibet course, in conjunction with Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, are pleased to announce the creation of a Tibetan sand mandala from Monday, November 5, through Saturday, November 10.  Located in Case-Geyer’s Level 3 Reference Reading Room, the monks will work on the mandala from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.  Completion is scheduled for Saturday morning followed by a dissolution procession to Taylor Lake.  The community is invited to view the mandala and participate in the dissolution procession.

Related events:

Buddhist Meditation:  a brief introduction and meditation with the visiting monks, Tenzin Thutop and Tenzin Wangchuk

Tuesday, November 6
7:30 pm
Chapel—Garden Level   

Lecture by noted Tibetan scholar Craig Preston

"Replacing Impure Appearances with Pure Appearances: How Mandalas are used in Tibetan Buddhist Meditation to Create a Perfect World from Compassion and Emptiness"

Wednesday, November 7
4:15 pm
Case-Geyer Meeting Room 560

Talk by Thomas Brackett, Colgate Professor Emeritus and founder of the Brackett Education Fund in Burma/Myanmar

Thursday, November 8
4:15 pm
Lathrop 217

A dinner will follow the Thursday talk; contact Julia Gooding, jgooding@colgate.edu, if you are interested in attending the dinner.

Using colored sand, monks from Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca, NY, a branch of the Dalai Lama’s Namgyal monastery in Dharamsala, India, will draw a mandala of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva (or Buddha-to-be) of Compassion, also known as the Wheel of Compassion Mandala.  Mandalas are circular diagrams containing hundreds of sacred symbols drawn with fine, colored grains of sand.  Of all the traditional Tibetan ritual practices, the art of painting with colored sand is one of the most unique and exquisite. In Tibetan language, this art is called dul-tson-kyil-khor, which literally means "mandala of colored powders."  Millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks before ultimately being dismantled in order to signify the fleetingness of all existence and, for this mandala, the release of compassion for all living beings.  In addition to being created for Tibetan Buddhist initiation ritual ceremonies, the mandala is created to promote peace and harmony in the world.  Extending back millennia to Buddhist India, and originally used as sacred art in a monastic environment, the creation of the mandala has only recently been open for public viewing as a cultural offering and means to preserve Tibetan culture.

Venerable Tenzin Thutop	Venerable Tenzin Wangchuk

Acting as cultural ambassadors from the exiled personal monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, the monks of Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies have become especially well known for the creation of sand mandala exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the world.

More information about mandalas may be found at the Namgyal Monastery website, and an online slide show of a mandala recently created at Cornell’s Johnson Gallery of Art in preparation for the Dalai Lama’s recent visit is available from the Ithaca Journal.

Additional support for the Colgate mandala has been provided by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty and Provost, Chapel House and the Fund for the Study of the Great Religions, Institute for the Creative and Performing Arts, Program in Asian Studies, and the Picker Art Gallery.

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Books on reserve at Case Library
(24 hour check out)

Brauen, M. (1997). The Mandala: Sacred circle in Tibetan Buddhism (M. Willson, Trans.). Boston: Shambhala. BQ5125.M3 B7313 1997

Bryant, B. (1992). The wheel of time sand mandala : Visual scripture of Tibetan Buddhism. San Francisco: Harper. BQ7699.K34 B73 1992

Circle of enlightenment : Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala: St. Lawrence University Festival of the Arts, March 22-April 17, 1999. (n.d.). Canton, NY: St. Lawrence University. BQ5125.M3 C57 1999

Cozort, D. (1995). The sand mandala of Vajrabhairava. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications. BQ5125.M3 C69 1995

Lobsang Tharchin, S. K. R. (1987). A commentary on guru yoga and offering of the mandala. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications. BQ7699.G87 T53 1987

Videos and DVDs on reserve at Case Library
(3 hour check out)

Champion of compassion. (2005). Wangdu, T. (Producer). Madison, WI: Endless Knot Films. BQ7699. K34 C48 2005

Exploring the mandala. (1990). Ithaca, NY: Insights Video. N8193.3.M3 E97 1992

Mandala: The sacred circle of Vajrabhairava. (1997). Malmsheimer, L. (Director/Producer). Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications. BQ5125.M3 M3 1997

Mandala:  World of the mystic circle. (1998). McGee, M. and Steffan, C. (Producers). Buffalo, NY: McGee/Steffan Productions. BQ5125. M3 M36 1991b

Sandpainting: Scared art of Tibet. (2002). Brenner, S. (Producer). Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Media LLC. N8193.3.M3 S46 2002