October 18, 2017

Elms College to host art installation by Tibetan Buddhist monks

REGIONAL
Staff report

CHICOPEE — College of Our Lady of the Elms will host an art installation in which Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta will construct a mandala sand painting from Monday, Oct. 23, to Friday, Oct. 27, in the Alumnae Library. All of the events surrounding this installation are free and open to the public.

In this artistic tradition of tantric Buddhism, millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks to form the image of a mandala. To date, the monks have created mandala sand paintings in more than 100 museums, art centers, and colleges and universities in the United States and Europe.

The mandala sand painting will begin with an opening ceremony, during which the lamas consecrate the site and call forth the forces of goodness using chanting, music, and mantra recitation. This ceremony will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23.

Following the ceremony, the lamas will work from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Thursday, Oct. 26, to construct the mandala sand painting.

In conjunction with this installation, the Institute for Theology and Pastoral Studies at Elms College will present a lecture by Elena Pakhoutova, curator of Himalayan art at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Alumnae Library Theater.

To begin each exhibit, the lamas draw an outline of the mandala on the wooden platform. On the following days, they lay the colored sands. Each monk holds a traditional metal funnel called a chak-pur while running a metal rod on its grated surface. The vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid onto the platform.

“Mandala” is a Sanskrit word meaning “sacred cosmogram.” These cosmograms can be created in various media, such as watercolor on canvas, wood carvings, and so forth; the most spectacular and enduringly popular are those made from colored sand.

In general, all mandalas have outer, inner, and secret meanings. On the outer level, they represent the world in its divine form; on the inner level, they represent a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into enlightened mind. On the secret level, they depict the primordially perfect balance of the subtle energies of the body and the clear light dimension of the mind. The creation of a sand painting is said to effect purification and healing on all three levels.

Traditionally, most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after their completion, as a metaphor for the impermanence of life. The sands are swept up and placed in an urn; to fulfill the function of healing, half is distributed to the audience at the closing ceremony, while the remainder is carried to a nearby body of water, where it is deposited. The waters then carry the healing blessing to the ocean, and from there it spreads throughout the world for planetary healing. The closing ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27.

This program is sponsored by Aramark and the Elms College Alumni Association. It is also supported in part by a grant from the Chicopee Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. The following campus organizations are co-sponsors: the Institute for Theology and Pastoral Studies, Campus Ministry, the Office of International Programs, and the Student Activities Board.