Tibetan Sand Mandala to Be Constructed at Mullins Library

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – On March 2, Geshe Dorjee, instructor in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and Gedun Pekar of Fayetteville's Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas will be joined by two visiting scholars of Tibetan culture, Zoepa Gyatso and Lama Agha, and the four will begin the creation of a Tibetan sand mandala in the Helen Robson Walton Reading Room of Mullins Library on the University of Arkansas campus.

The word “mandala” is Sanskrit for “circle.” Created by hand, mandalas embody traditional meditative designs that represent the universal qualities of harmony, balance and community. Tibetans have long believed that to witness the creation of a mandala is to cultivate these enduring qualities within each of us, and so to witness the creation of a mandala is to lay the foundation for a strong and balanced human community.

For centuries, Tibetan mandalas were seen exclusively by the monks and nuns of Buddhist monasteries. In 1988, however, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, decreed that a mandala be constructed in full view of the public.

The construction of the mandala will be accompanied by three traditional ceremonies. An opening ceremony from 10 to 11 a.m. March 2 will initiate the mandala’s creation. Geshe Dorjee and Sidney Burris, director of religious studies in Fulbright College, will make introductory remarks followed by a brief reception.

From March 2 to March 11, Lama Agha will work on the sand painting from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 8. Visitors are welcome to watch him work during these hours.

At 7 p.m. March 11, a finishing ceremony will celebrate and seal the mandala’s completion. From March 11 to 29, the finished mandala will be on display all hours Mullins Library is open. For a schedule of library hours of operation, visit http://libinfo.uark.edu/hours/default.asp.

At 3 p.m. March 29, a final closing ceremony will be held. Geshe Dorjee and Sidney Burris will give concluding remarks about the experience, after which the mandala will be destroyed, an act symbolizing the transient nature of this world. Small packets of sand from the mandala will be distributed to those who are present.

Running concurrently with this activity will be a student exhibit of Tibetan and Indian artifacts. Students from Geshe Dorjee's undergraduate course “Buddhist Culture and Philosophy” will assemble a display of prayer flags, sculptures and color photographs of Tibetan architecture and landscape. Alongside the mandala, these items will be on display throughout the month of March.

Biographies of the visiting artists and a brief history of a previous mandala project at the University of Arkansas are also available from the 2009 Tibetan Mandala Project section of the “Diversity and the Libraries” Web site, located at http://libinfo.uark.edu/diversity/default.asp.