UA News

The community is invited to view the final steps in the creation of the meditative sand painting of the steps to enlightenment and partake in the dismantling ceremony on Sunday.

The Tucson Festival of Books this weekend will offer a rare glimpse of ephemeral art, both in its creation and dismantling. As part of the cultural component of the festival, the public is invited to view the universe of enlightenment represented in the Kalachaka sand mandala being created at The University of Arizona. 

When the mandala is completed, volunteers also will be asked to help return it to nature.  
                                        
The two-day festival is the first of its kind in Arizona. The event runs Saturday and Sunday, March 14-15, on the UA campus with events centered around the UA BookStore at the Student Union Memorial Center. The event will include workshops, lectures, demonstrations and various presentations for people of all ages.

The Venerable Losang Samten, a native of central Tibet and the founder of the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia, is creating the mandala in the UA BookStore.

A mandala is a ritual painting made with vibrantly colored sand, and depicts the meditation steps in the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The detailed and intricate practice is done as a form of prayer meditation but the mandala itself is an offering for world peace. Samten began working on the piece on Feb. 15.

"This design is over 2,000 years old. There are many mandala designs but this is the most important piece," said Samten, who became a Buddhist monk at age 15 and began studying the ritual creation of sand mandalas at age 17.

Samten plans to finish the mandala on Thursday, March 12, but will still be on hand through Sunday to answer any questions on Buddhism, Tibetan culture and mandalas. He also will demonstrate how to use the tools he uses in creating the mandala.

The mandala is available for viewing at the UA BookStore Student Union Memorial Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day through its dismantling on Sunday.

The Dalai Lama gave permission for the mandala's creation at the UA in an effort to inspire peace and create awareness of Tibetan religion and culture, Samten said.

The mandala is being created "to bring hope to people during difficult times like the American people are experiencing right now," he said. The ritual once was a closely guarded secret but is now a shared cultural offering.

Sponsors of the mandala creation include the UA BookStore, Arizona Friends of Tibet, the UA department of anthropology and UA Information Technology Services.

The final step of the ritual creation is the dissolution ceremony, the dismantling of the creation.

"The mandala's dismantling is just as important as its creation," Samten said. The dismantling ceremony entails chanting and prayer blessings of peace and a return of the sand to a nearby body of water."

"To most of us in the Western world, myself included, the very idea of sweeping away such a beautiful, intricate, painstakingly constructed image is shocking. But to Lama Losang Samten it is an offering to the entire world that is meant to increase peace and harmony. By creating the Kalachakra mandala and then casting it into the water, he believes that the spirit of peace that it embodies will spread throughout the world," said Chris Schafer, faculty relations coordinator at the UA BookStore.

The dissolution ceremony will take place on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and the public is welcome to participate, both in returning the sacred parts of the mandala back to nature, as well as to keep some of the sand to protect and bless their homes.

"This event, as well as the Tucson Festival of Books, are just a couple of examples of the many ways in which the UA works together with non-profit organizations to serve and enrich the Tucson community," Schafer said.