Sacred Tibetan Sand Mandala with Lama Tashi Norbu

LIVE TIBETAN SAND MANDALA w/ Venerable Lama Tashi Norbu

Friday March 8  from 2-4pm & Saturday March 9 from 2-4pm.  Destruction Ceremony at 4pm

Join world renowned Tibetan monk and artist, Lama Tashi Norbu, for the creation of a sacred Sand Mandala at the Harn Museum.  Community members and students will all have a chance to learn and participate in the creation of this amazing and meaningful piece of art over the course of two days.  You are free to attend some or all of the events. The construction of a sand mandala is symbolic of our interconnectedness through many lifetimes - and the deconstruction is symbolic of letting go of our attachments. Never seen a Sand Mandala before? Here’s your chance. 

Of all the artistic traditions of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, painting with coloured sand is one of the most exquisite.  Mandalas are representations of the celestial mansion of one or more deities, who may be surrounded by their retinues, and other protectors.    To make the Mandala, millions of grains of coloured sand are placed painstakingly in an elaborate design laid down in the Buddhist texts, which is memorised during the monks’ training.  

Once the final grain of sand has been placed on the table, the Mandala is visualised as the residence of the enlightened beings, who the monks invite inside, and from whom they request help in achieving their wishes with prayers and meditations in the temple lasting several days.  The enlightened being or Buddha remains within the Mandala until the closing ceremony, when great thanks and appreciation are offered to him for the gift of his presence, after which he is asked respectfully to leave.  The Mandala is then destroyed by sweeping the sand into the centre of the table from each of the four corners.  The sand is then distributed in running water so that each of the blessed grains of sand reaches as far as possible for the benefit of all sentient beings.  

Don't miss this amazing opportunity to spend personal time with an extraordinary artist and human being, who's mission is to preserve Tibetan art and culture through a modern lens.  Lama Tashi is one of 6 monks who was selected to paint His Holiness Dallai Lama's personal residence, and is the founder of the Museum of Contemporary Tibetan Art in Holland.

www.LamaTashiNorbu.org