Mandala Sand Painting by the Mystical Arts of Tibet

Watch the monks present Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing at Asia Society on August 17 (two performance times).

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Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery in southern India will construct a mandala sand painting and perform special ceremonies August 14–18 at Asia Society Texas Center. During this ritual, millions of grains of sand are meticulously placed in order to purify and heal the environment and its inhabitants.

Events are offered FREE to the public (except for Saturday's Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing performances). Seating is not guaranteed at high-traffic times. A livestream of the mandala creation will run on Asia Society's website, with a new link posted daily.

During viewing hours, families can make their own lung ta ("Wind Horse") prayer flag while learning about the symbolism of the flags and proper techniques for creating and hanging them. The prayer flags will be strung together and hung at Asia Society Texas Center.

Photography of the exhibition without flash is permitted.

Admission to Site Lines: Artists Working in Texas, in its final week in the Louisa Stude Sarofim Gallery, will be free.

About Mandala Sand Paintings

This artistic tradition of Tantric Buddhism, painting with colored sand, ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite. Millions of grains of sand are meticulously placed on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks to form the image of a mandala. To date, the monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery have created mandala sand paintings in more than 100 museums, art centers, and colleges and universities in the United States and Europe.

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. However, 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; and 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 these three levels.

About the Drepung Loseling Monastery

Following the legacy of Drepung Loseling Monastery, India, Drepung Loseling is dedicated to the study and preservation of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of wisdom and compassion. A center for the cultivation of both heart and intellect, it provides a sanctuary for the nurturance of inner peace and kindness, community understanding, and global healing.