A Sacred Art by the Tibetan Lamas
Of all the artistic traditions of Tantric or Tibetan Buddhism, painting with coloured sand ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite. In Tibetan, the art is called dul-tson-kyil-khor, which means "mandala from coloured powders". To construct the mandala, millions of grains of sand will be painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform. The mandala is a formal geometric pattern representing the floor plan of a sacred mansion. The actual construction begins with the drawing of the design on the base. The artists measure out and draw the architectural lines using a straight-edge ruler, compass and white ink pen. Once the diagram is laid out, coloured sand is applied to the mandala through the end of a metal funnel, known as a chang-bu. The most common substance used in the creation of a dul-tson-kyil-khor is white marble that has been ground and then dyed. Other popular substances are powdered flowers, herbs or grains, as well as powdered and coloured stones.
The subject of a Tibetan sand painting is known in Sanskrit as a mandala, or cosmogram, of which there are many types. They are used as tools for reconsecrating the earth and its inhabitants, and are formed of a traditional prescribed iconography that includes geometric shapes and a multitude of ancient spiritual symbols. In general, all mandalas have outer, inner and secret meanings. On the outer level they represent the world in its divine form; on the inner level they represent a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into enlightened mind; and on the secret level they depict the primordially perfect balance of the subtle energies of the body and the clear light dimension of the mind. The creation of a sand painting is said to effect a purification and healing on these three levels. In his commentary on the empowerment ceremony of the Guhyasamaja Tantra, the Seventh Dalai Lama (1708-1757) wrote:
"Empowerment can be accomplished
on the basis of a drawn or painted mandala,
a mandala made of coloured powders or sands,
or a mandala created through meditation."
The artists begin from the inside of the design and work outward, to symbolize how at birth a child is just a drop of sperm and ovum, and then steadily grows, until eventually the entire universe becomes experienced through the senses. When eventually the mandala has been completed and its purpose served, the time for dismantling it has arrived. The sands are swept up from the outside toward the centre, thus symbolizing how in old age and at the time of death everything once more returns to the primordial source at the centre of the heart.
Various preliminaries are usually performed at both the beginning and the conclusion of the work. These activities — including ritual music — claim the site for the work, ask the local spirits for their permission and blessings, and invoke the forces of goodness and enlightenment as witnesses to the meritorious undertaking.
Prior to dismantling the mandala, another ceremony is performed, giving thanks to the local spirits for their cooperation, and dedicating any meritorious energy that has been generated to the fulfillment of universal benefit, healing and peace. The sands are swept up and carried in a vase to a nearby body of water, where they are deposited. Placing the sands in water, which by nature is connected to all the waters of the world, symbolizes the dedication of the positive energies of the mandala process to universal goodness. In addition to symbolizing the impermanence of things, the dismantling of the mandala symbolizes the ultimate voidness nature of phenomena: how all things come out of nothingness and eventually return to it.
Patrons of, participants in, and witnesses to the creation and destruction of a mandala sand painting are purified and uplifted by the powers of the sacred energies involved. The area in which the art is performed is similarly transformed. Local spirits and deities are delighted, and send their blessings for peace and prosperity. The buddhas, bodhisattvas and saints look down from their pure lands and release a shower of enlightenment energies. In brief, many benefits of both a temporal and spiritual nature are produced during the mandala process, and the forces of goodness and light are strengthened.
Visitors are welcome to view the painting as it is being worked on from noon to 4pm daily in the artists studio:
Cricket Graphics Studio in The Arts Factory
107 E. Charleston Blvd. Studio 203 Las Vegas, NV 89104
(702) 366-9077
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Dar Freeland can be reached Daroicu@aol.com
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