The Sand Mandala of Chenrezig at Webster University was coordinated by Students for a Free Tibet of Webster University, and Dr. Robert Goss and Cathy Heidemann of the Department of Religious Studies. This web site was written by Dr. Goss, and was created by staff members of Academic Computing Services: Will Godfrey, Keith Wheeler, Christine Arteaga, and Terri Lucas. Sand Mandalas Sand painting is an ancient Tibetan art form. The sand mandala is carefully constructed from dyed sand particles to represent the particular esoteric, textual traditions of Buddhism. It is a transient art form, thought to have originated in India and been transferred in the middle ages to Tibet. The sand mandala is constructed as vehicle to generate compassion, realize the impermanence of reality, and a social/cosmic healing of the environment. In Tibetan Buddhism, a mandala is an imaginary palace that is contemplated during meditation. Each object in the palace has significance, representing some aspect of wisdom or reminding the meditator of some guiding principle. Various scriptural texts dictate the shapes, forms, and colors of the mandala. There are many different mandalas, each with different lessons to teach and blessings to confer. Most mandalas contain a host of deities, symbolic archetypes of the landscape of the mind. Among the Tibetan arts, painting with colored sand ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite. Millions of grains of colored sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of several days, forming an intricate diagram of the enlightened mind and the ideal world. When finished, to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists, the colored sands are swept up and poured into a nearby river or stream where the waters carry the healing energies throughout the world. The sand mandala includes geometric shapes and a multitude of ancient spiritual symbols, the sand-painted mandala is used as a tool for re-consecrating the earth and its inhabitants. The Chenrezig sand painting constructed at Webster University will be swept up and poured into the Mississippi River, conferring blessings on the St. Louis Region and the world. The bodhisattva Chenrezig symbolizes compassion as a central focus of the spiritual experience. At this time when there is rampant violence in high schools and societies, the Chenrezig sand mandala can confer compassion. The most common substance used in the creation of mandalas is colored sand. Other popular substances are powdered flowers, herbs or grains, and also powdered and colored stone. In ancient times powdered precious and semiprecious gems were also used. Thus lapis-lazuli would be used for the blues, rubies for the reds and so forth. Tibetan sand painting is known in Sanskrit as a mandala (Tibetan: dul-son-kyil-khor), a circle. The circle represents psychic and spiritual wholeness. Like religious texts, mandalas have outer, inner and secret meanings. On the outer level, the mandala represents the world in its divine form; on the inner level it is a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into enlightened mind; and on the secret level, it symbolizes the primordially perfect balance of the subtle energies of the body and the clear light dimension of the mind. *************************** Stages in Building a Sand Mandala at Webster University The mandala sand painting process begins with an opening ceremony on November 13. The Gandan Shartse monks will consecrate the Webster University Center, calling upon the energies and forces of goodness. This is done by means of chanting, music and mantra recitation. The lamas then begin drawing an outline of the mandala of Chenrezig on the wooden platform on Wednesday. The following days see the laying of the colored sands, which is effected by pouring the sand from traditional metal funnels called chak-pur. Each monk holds a chak-pur in one hand, while running a metal rod on its grated surface; the vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid. One monk will construct one quadrant of the sand painting. Sand mandalas are impermanent art form. Buddhism holds that everything in life is impermanent. Sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after their completion, illustrating impermanence. Many U.S. art students and artists groan at the destruction of the sand mandala after so much meticulous effort has been put into its construction. The sands will be swept up and placed in an urn on Saturday. At the closing ceremony the sand will be distributed to those for healing. The remainder of the sand will be carried to the Mississippi, where its waters will carry healing blessing to the Gulf of Mexico and other oceans for planetary healing. ************************************* The Buddhist Religion Buddhism is a world religion, founded by Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C.E.) According to Buddhist scriptures, Siddartha, an Indian prince, was isolated from everyday life by his father. In journeying outside the palace, he had the occasion of seeing a person ill, an old man, a corpse, and an Indian ascetic. He attempted to answer the question of human suffering and practiced meditation to seek the path of enlightenment. One day, after years of strenuous practice and hardship, Siddartha discovered the middle way. He overheard a musician instructing his pupil on a string instrument. He realized that if the string is too loose, you cannot play the instrument and that if it is wound too tight, the string will snap. He chose the middle path between the luxury of palace life and the hardship of religious practice in the forest. Sitting under the Bodhi tree (in Bodhgaya), Siddartha achieved enlightenment. He was called "Buddha," the Awakened One. He was awakened to the truth of enlightenment. Out of compassion for all humans, he taught his religious path for freedom from endless cycles of rebirth. The Buddha taught that the origin of suffering arises from craving and taught the cessation of suffering through the eightfold path towards freedom. The eightfold path consists of correct view, correct intention, correct speech, correct action, correct livelihood, correct effort, correct mindfulness, and correct concentration. Buddhism teaches that all life is impermanent and that people can change the conditions leading to endless cycles of rebirth. Buddhism spread outside of India into Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Tibet and Mongolia, China, and Japan. Asian Buddhisms have spread to the United States. In the last twenty years, Tibetan Buddhism has been the fasting growing form of Buddhism in the United States. There are estimates of approximately 4-5 million Buddhists in the United States. The Buddhism in Tibet is a combination of different traditions, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Mahayana spread as the dominant forms of Buddhism in Central and east Asia. It stresses the bodhisattva path, a path emphasizing universal salvation through compassion for all sentient beings. Vajryayana is an esoteric form of Buddhism that incorporated the philosophical traditions of Mahayana and its bodhisattva path with indigenous religious practices of Northern India from the 6th to 11th century. It was exported into Tibet where the indigenous religious practices of Tibet fused with the esoteric ritual practices of Indian Vajrayana Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism may be likened to Buddhism fused with Native American traditions. For a good video presentation of the life and message of the Buddha: Little Buddha. On Tibetan Buddhism: John Powers, Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, Ithaca, Snow Lion Press, 1995. See Buddhist Studies world Wide Web Virtual Library: http://www.uncwil.edu/iabs/vl ****************************** A Brief Sketch of Tibetan History Tibet is about the size of the states of Alaska and Texas combined; it represents one third of the land mass of the People's Republic of China. From the 7th century C.E., the Tibetans became more interested in Buddhism. During the dynastic empire, a series of Tibetan emperors sponsored Buddhist missionaries and institutions from India and China to bring the teachings of the Buddha into the Land of the Snows. With the downfall of the Tibetan royal dynasty, Buddhism continued to spread. During the eleventh century, there was a Buddhist revival and expansion with the founding of monastic lineages and schools. Buddhism spread during the next several centuries. Tibetans credit Buddhism with transforming their country from a fierce and violent empire into a peaceful society. Almost a thousand years after Buddhist teachings arrived, Tibet became a Buddhist nation. The Fifth Dalai Lama assumed control over Tibet as spiritual and temporal ruler. Tibet disarmed itself and provided its populace with an opportunity to enter monastic life to practice the Buddhist path that led to enlightenment. Tibet continued to be an autonomous state until 1949. It looked to the Mongols to protect Tibet from encroachments of the Manchu Chinese emperors. In the early twentieth century, Tibet became the center of the political ambitions of Great Britain, Russia, and China. The British invaded in 1904, forcing the Thirteenth Dalai Lama to flee from Tibet to Mongolia. The British withdrew from the country after imposing a treaty upon Tibet. The Manchu Chinese army invaded Tibet in 1909, once again forcing the Thirteenth Dalai Lama to flee to India. With the collapse of the Manchu government in 1911, the Dalai Lama was able to bring his government out of exile from India to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.