What is a Sand Mandala?
A Tibetan sand mandala is a multi-colored, elaborately designed, 5’x 5’ pictorial circle constructed from finely granulated dyed sand. The sand is so carefully sprinkled onto a complicated geometrical grid, that the resulting circle looks like a painting. This sacred Buddhist art form is created over a period of six to ten days by trained spiritual practitioners who engage in chanting, prayer, and meditation as they build the mandala.
In Sanskrit, mandala means "sacred circle", "whole world", or "healing circle". Such translations denote the mystically transformative aspects of the mandala, which symbolizes the path of the human psyche to the realm of the enlightened cosmos. This holy journey—and its consequent art form—are meant to purify, benefit, and bless the physical environment and all beings who inhabit it. A sand mandala is therefore intended to be completed in a public space. In that way, as many beings as possible can experience the energies of loving-kindness, compassion, and wisdom that the mandala represents and is said to emanate.
At the conclusion of the mandala, the intricately created circle is ceremoniously dissolved to portray the impermanence of all phenomena, one of the three marks of existence (impermanence, suffering, and corelessness) as taught by the Buddha 2500 years ago.
By inviting the nuns of Khachoe Ghakyil nunnery to create a Sand Mandala at Holy Names College, we break historic ground. Sand Mandalas have never before been created by Tibetan nuns in the Americas. Holy Names College in Oakland, California will be the first to host this historic event. The ability to create a sand mandala requires exacting spiritual and intellectual training, wherein the creator undertakes numerous meditative retreats and practices, in addition to many years of academic study and prayer.