Contributor
Julie Wu, Belmont Voice contributor
Six Tibetan monks, draped in maroon and orange robes, hunch over a square black table. They tap colored sand out of elongated, narrow funnels, one grain at a time, so the sand forms, over hours and days, into the intricate and colorful designs of a sand mandala.
After it is complete, with great ceremony, they sweep the sand mandala away. The meditative process is a lesson in compassion and impermanence. The monks from Loseling Phunkhang Monastery in South India recently performed this rarely seen ritual at Karma Fine Crafts on Leonard Street. It came as part of a multi-day sand mandala event hosted by Phuni Meston Eames and her husband, Eddie Eames.
The monks created the sand mandala from Wednesday through Saturday before dismantling it on Saturday.
The monks, just a few of two hundred at Loseling Phunkhang Monastery, are finishing up a tour of the United States, where they have created and disassembled sand mandalas in 15 cities, from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Belmont was their one stop in the Boston area. The monks connected to Eames through Phurbu Tsomo-Targay, who translated for the monks at the event on Saturday and hosted them throughout the week.
Eames grew up in the same settlement that serves as a refuge for both monks and other Tibetans fleeing Tibet.
“This sacred art form of Tibet invites us to embrace the unity of creation, recognizing every grain of sand contributes to the magnificent whole, mirroring life’s interconnected web,” Phuni Eames said. “Witnessing a sand mandala’s construction reminds us of our potential to create beauty amidst chaos and find peace in existence’s ever-changing dance.”
The closing ceremony featured Phuni Eames, her family, friends, and Tibetan community members, dressed in traditional shimmering Tibetan chuba, greeting guests at the door, introducing live music by the Ex-Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, and serving a buffet of Tibetan food.
Belmont residents, young and old, crowded around the roped-off sand mandala table to witness the final ceremony, at which the monks donned tall yellow headdresses and sang throaty, sonorous prayers, occasionally tossing rice into the sand mandala. At one point, members of the gathering sang along with the monks. Finally, head monk Jangchup Ngawang ceremoniously pushed sand at regular intervals on the perimeter of the mandala to the center, heaping the sand up into a pile.
Tsomo-Targay announced that the ceremony was complete and that guests should help themselves to both food and a bag of sand blessed by the monks.
“This ceremony reminds us of the impermanence of life, that we should enjoy the present,” Tsomo-Targay said.
Editor’s Note: Julie Wu is a member of The Belmont Voice Editorial Advisory group.
