Today's acquaintance will be dedicated to the mandalas of Tibet. Previously, the ritual of erecting Tibetan mandalas could only be seen within the walls of Tibetan monasteries. They were an obligatory attribute of Buddhist ceremonies. Desiring to preserve this unique tradition, the Dalai Lama allowed monks to erect mandalas in various places around the world. The main goal of monks is to benefit as many living beings as possible. It is believed that one glance at the mandala is enough to cleanse oneself from diseases and all negative things that interfere with spiritual growth. Over thousands of years, Tibetans have achieved extraordinary excellence in this.
Each mandala is a symbolic image of the palace of one or another deity. It was believed that the mandala is an offering to the gods, and like any gift it should have exceptional beauty and perfection. In ancient Tibet, mandalas were created from small semi-precious stones: turquoise, jasper, malachite, amber, pearls, coral. Nowadays, Tibetan mandalas are created from crushed marble. The resulting marble chips are sieved and painted in bright colors. It is sorted by color and particle size. Each mandala requires 14 colors. The background of the future mandala is laid out with the same crushed marble, although in some monasteries it can be created from large fragments that visually resemble precious stones. Then, decorative patterns and symbols are applied to this surface. In ancient times, the sand mandala was created by hand. Now this is done with the help of chakpu - special cone-shaped metal tubes. This sanding technique is Tibetan know-how and is not found anywhere in the world. Mastering this art takes a lot of patience and hard practice.
The Tibetan mandala is an integral part of the tantric ritual, where ancient canons are strictly observed. The entire sequence of creation, structure and color scheme of mandalas are described in detail in special texts. Monks know these texts by heart and reproduce mandalas from memory. In the structure of each Tibetan mandala, an image of a palace facing the four cardinal directions is read. Sanding starts from the center to the periphery. Usually, four monks work on the construction of a mandala, each of whom is responsible for a certain side of the world. Mastering sand painting is not the most difficult task. It is much more difficult to learn the ritual itself, the text and the melody within which the mandala is built. The ceremony is always accompanied by overtone singing. The place and space where monks work is filled with love and harmony,and they themselves are in meditative concentration.
It is believed that the more perfect the work of the monks, the higher the likelihood that anyone seeing the mandala will receive a blessing from the Buddha. It takes about ten days to build a large sand mandala. The final stage is accompanied by thanksgiving to all enlightened beings, teachers and mentors who brought this knowledge to them through the centuries. The completed mandala blooms like a beautiful flower, giving peace and balance to everyone. At the end of the ritual, the mandala must be destroyed. This is a special ritual that defines the idea of Buddhism about the impermanence of all things. Everything in this world is subject to destruction, and the mandala is no exception. This ritual is symbolic and contains many different actions. At the final stage, the mandala is swept to the center and sand is placed in a ritual bowl. Sand,who is in it has tremendous cleansing power and powerful energy, which should be directed to the benefit of all living beings. Then the monks go to the river or the ocean, in order to offer sand as a gift to the spirits of water with a request to accept it and spread the blessing throughout the world. This action ends the entire multi-day ceremony. Truly, Tibetan mandalas have the key to everyone's heart.