CANCELED: Avalokiteshvara Sand Mandala Begins

Time: April 23, 2020, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Location: Slocum Hall Atrium

UPDATE: This event has been canceled in response to emerging COVID-19 precautions and advisories.

The School of Architecture has invited the monks of Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies to ritually construct and then disassemble a sand mandala dedicated to Chenrezig or Avalokiteshvara, the boddhisatva of compassion. These cultural ambassadors have become well known for the creation of sand mandala exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the world.

An opening program will take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 23rd, with observation through the week and a closing event at 1 p.m. on April 29th.

A mandala is a visual prayer as well as a symbolic universe. Each mandala is a sacred mansion, the home of a particular deity, who symbolically represents and embodies qualities like compassion. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, mandalas are created for rituals of initiation in which a highly qualified teacher grants permission to advanced disciples to engage in the meditation practice of a particular Tantric deity. Both the deity, which resides at the center of the mandala, and the mandala itself are recognized as pure expressions of a Buddha’s fully enlightened mind. For the Tibetan Buddhist, the mandala displays the architecture of exaltation, the inspiring three-dimensional ream of Buddhahood, built in a purified imagination. This realm is achieved through a heightened state of clarity and stability of visualization combined with deep insight and a radical transformation of the mind.

Additional supporters:

• School of Architecture
• SU Art Galleries
• Moynihan South Asia Centeron
• Department of Art and Music Histories
• Department of Religion

Lawrence Chua, Architecture