TThe Dalton School Library AudioVisual Department presents a Tibetan Sand Mandala Creation Monday, May 7 through Friday, May 11, 2001 9:00 am to 3:00 pm in the Dalton 89th Street Lobby Dismantling Ceremony on Friday at 1:20 pm. We will walk to the East River.

TIBETAN SAND MANDALAS

A mandala is a geometric diagram that is an artistic moment that is experienced while the process is still unfolding. According to Tibetan Buddhism each meditative state has its own mandala which can be visualized painted or constructed from clay, wood, precious metals, rice, flowers or even butters (Yak Butter is used in Tibet).

Sand is considered to a superb medium because of the precious substances from which the sand is ground and the great skill required creating the mandalas exquisite details. According to Tibetans the mandala serves as a tool for spiritual development. Tibetans also create mandalas to purify the environment and promote harmony in the world.

According to Buddhist history, the purpose, meanings, and techniques involved in the spiritual art of sand mandala paintings were taught by Shakyamuni Buddha in the 6^th Century BC in India. The tradition has been preserved in an unbroken transmission from master to disciple down to the present day. It has only been within the past several years that His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has granted permission to create and display these symbolic diagrams out of their usual context.

CREATION PROCESS

Since the purpose of Tibetan art is to aid practitioners in meditation, the artist will chant before beginning the mandala creation. Then a blueprint of the mandala design is outlined on a hard surface. The artist will then begin constructing the mandala from the center outward. The colored sand is applied through a long metal funnel called a chakpu. A second chakpu is utilized for tapping the other to help coax a fine stream of sand from the tip. The hollow ringing sound created by the two funnels hitting together symbolizes that nothing can exist apart from other things and is based on the concept of interdependence, a basic tent of Tibetan Culture.

Since Sand Mandalas are created in the spirit of impermanence and non attachment, after they're completed, they're dismantled in a ceremony and the blessed sand is carried to a body of water where it is offered for the benefit for marine life, the environment and all sentient beings.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

The Venerable Lama Tenzin Yignyen is an ordained Tibetan Buddhist Monk. He holds a Master of Buddhist Sutra and Tantra studies from the Namgyal Monastery of his Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dhramsala, India. Lama Tenzin has created sand mandalas in many museums and educational institutions throughout the United States including the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and the Asia Society in New York City. From 1994-1995, Lama Tenzin was a visiting teacher in Mongolia; he currently lives and teaches at the Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca, New York, and Hobart College in Geneva, New York.