The impermanence of a sand mandala can be a great metaphor for your life.
The sun and the moon, atoms and the Milky Way all have in common what Carl Jung called "the archetype of wholeness." Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning "whole" and the word that Jung eventually adopted for his extensive study of circular symbolism.
Mandalas play an integral role in the practice and ritual of Tibetan Buddhism. Complex and beautiful renderings of mandalas are created three-dimensionally, painted on paper, and through the meticulous, time intensive process of sand painting. The centermost deity determines the nature of the mandala. One of the most well-known Tibetan mandalas is the Kalachakra, or Wheel of Time, considered the basis of the Tibetan calendar. The Kalachakra's geometric patterns and symbolic images map the outer universe - stars, planets and the constellations; the inner universe - the body, organs and subtle body or energy channels; and the Secret Kalachakra - a yoga or union of the two.
To create a sand mandala, artists, usually monastics, spend weeks crouching on platforms over the elaborate design tapping out grains of colored sand, powdered gems, and other precious substances from small metal funnels. It is a form of meditation but is not considered art or entertainment, even when displayed in museums.
The final product is never preserved, rather the lama returns and with a brush of his hand, destroys the mandala, The once shocking colors - fuschia's, golds and blues - become grey when swept together. It is a most graphic display of impermanence. Most of the substances are distributed to the initiates and then strewn in places that need healing energy - rivers, mountains and holy sites. From those rivers to the sea, the prayer is that any peaceful benefit from the mandala will spread and ever increase.
Meditating on this impermanence and the interconnectedness of all things can inspire one to practice wisdom and compassion while spending time on this great mandala planet Earth.
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