The Monks are back!
Every year we’re fortunate to have a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks visit us here in Laguna Beach as part of a cultural exchange and teaching of wisdom. They are in exile in a monastery in Northern India due to the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
The week they are here, they create ornate mandalas completely out of colored sand. It is said that
“according to Buddhist scripture, sand mandalas transmit positive energies to the environment and to the people who view them. While constructing a mandala, Buddhist monks chant and meditate to invoke the divine energies of the deities residing within the mandala. The monks then ask for the deities’ healing blessings. A mandala’s healing power extends to the whole world even before it is swept up and dispersed into flowing water—a further expression of sharing the mandala’s blessings with all.” – Smithsonian Institution
It takes one week for them to create these ornate mandalas, at the end of which it is dismantled and swirled together (usually to the gasp of many onlookers), then taken to the ocean to be released. It is a living example of the impermanence of Life and the importance of non-attachment.
Click to view full gallery of pictures (8 total)…
