Posted on: Saturday, February 19, 2005

Monks to create Mandala at Academy of Arts

Advertiser Staff

Losang Jinpa works on a mandala, formed with sand. The one at the Honolulu Academy of Arts will take shape over a week, with the public invited to watch. Photos courtesy of the Honolulu Academy of Arts

In a concluding ceremony, a mandala is dissolved. Mandalas are sometimes preserved by spraying them with adhesive. But it is not considered appropriate to let a mandala fall apart by leaving it in its unstable natural state. As a sacred object, it is protected either by a dissolution ritual or with preservatives such as adhesive chemicals.

This is the mandala of Avalokiteshvara (Kuan Yin), which the monks plan to construct in the Honolulu Academy of Arts. A Stanford University specialist will be on hand to answer questions from visitors.

On Wednesday, monks from the eastern Tibet monastery of Dzindu will begin a weeklong project of building a sand mandala at the Honolulu Academy of Arts' Buddhist gallery during museum hours.

The construction of the mandala, a sacred cosmic diagram, provides an opportunity for visitors to learn about Buddhist tradition in its Tibetan form.

Monks meditate, then construct a sand mandala and perform rituals to invoke and re-integrate wisdom, peace, compassion, love and brotherhood.

It's part of the presentation of "Eternal Presence: Handprints and Footprints in Buddhist Art." Robert Clark of Stanford University is coordinating the sand mandala events. He also will present a free lecture in the Doris Duke Theatre at 5 p.m. March 3, "Mandala: The World Beyond Nirvana."

Clark will be available in the gallery to answer questions and to serve as translator for the monks while the mandala is being created. Information: 532-8700.