Mandala Of Compassion

Last weekend we went to observe the construction of the Chenrezig (Guan Yin, Avalokitesvara) Mandala by Tibetan monks of the Drepung Gomang Monastic University in India. For four days these monks work their tools to contruct this beautiful mandala made of colored sand.

On the first day, the monks began with a blessing and performed the necessary rituals to begin the mandala. We thought initially that we would stop by from time to time, but after feeling the peace and serenity of the room, the fellowship with other Buddhists, and beautiful handiwork of the monks, we spent every second that we could.

The mandala is very complex and a detailed explanation of its parts would be too lengthy for a go blog. The mandala is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional mandala, which displays an outer fortress which represent the inner cosmos.

During the construction of the mandala we put other, more mundane matters to the side.



Here (above), at the entrance to the gate of the fortress, two deer listen to the Buddha and his teachings. The Buddha had required that no image be made of him and so in early Buddhism we find his represent by the Dharma Wheel, which stands between these two deer. The Buddha gave his first teaching in the Deer Park, and so this may have some significance as well.



Here you see the corner of the fortress and the intricate detail (above)

Day 4-The completed mandala. Everyone gathered around to look at it one last time.



To demonstrate the impermanent, transient nature of our existence, the pain-staking effort of the mandala is washed away with brush, and all that is left is the impression in the mind. A ceremony of chanting followed.


Following the chanting, the monks proceeded to the river to cast the sand into the water, allowing it to disperse among the elements, and manifest of something else in the future.

The ceremony and serenity of the sound of tools working and calm minds of the monks had a strong affect of me personally. Carol spent a great deal of her time at the temple while the mandala was being made. She befriended the assistant to the monks, named Tenzin, a Westerner who fled to India and ended up in a Buddhist temple and was taken in, despite being female and now teaches English there to the young monks.

Carol was there for so long, in fact, that she was invited to eat lunch with the monks, Tenzin, and the Rinpoche. She said it was a very delicious vegetarian meal.

The monks and the mandala had a strong effect on both of us and made a strong turn of my inner cakra.

Relic Tour

I receive regular newsletter emails from a Tibetan Buddhist group here in Miami. It has been awhile since I have read one, and so Saturday I opened the latest. Inside it said something of Buddhist relics touring the world. I assumed this email was from the Buddhist group in Nepal. I was very shocked to see that these relics were showing in Tamarac, Florida; only 30 minutes away.
I assumed we were traveling to a Tibetan Buddhist temple and was very happy to discover that it was indeed, a Chinese Pure Land temple. Though I lean towards Chinese Chan, a Chinese Buddhist temple of any sort so close to home was a great find. We removed our shoes and entered the large hall, where the relics lay encased in glass throughout a table, decorated with candles, water, and various Buddhist statues. Behind the table was a great altar with a large statue of Buddha, a singing bowl and various Buddhist religious items. On the back wall was a large poster detailing the Maitreya project, to which these relics are destined.
After finishing the tour, these relics will be placed inside a 500ft statue of the Maitreya Buddha, to be built in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Many of the relics have been hidden away inside statues in various countries and it is indeed a rare opportunity to be able to view them. Among the relics are pearl-like 'beads' that are found in the ashes of cremated bodies of Buddhist saints. The most eye-catching of these are the relics from Buddha Shakyamuni himself. Other relics included those from Ananda, the saint who recorded the words of Buddha, Sariputra, Nagarjuna, the saint most associated with a profound understanding of emptiness in te Buddhist perspective, Lama Tsongkhapa, Marpa, and Milarepa. It was great to see so many relics from the Tibetan Kagyu lineage, to which of have read many of their works and have been affected by their words.
Upon entering, we were invited to receive a blessing from a Rinpoche, seated to the side. We both knelt, one at a time, in front of the Rinpoche, as a relic was placed on our head, and the Rinpoche recited a prayer in Tibetan.



At the front of the table was a small Buddhist statue inside a bowl of water. Carol, following tradition, grabbed a ladle and poured water over the small statue, bathing it in the pure water.
In the reception area I met a disciple of Sheng Yen, a great Chan Buddhist master of our day. It was the first time I have ever spoken face to face with another follower of Chan.
Carol received here first set of prayer beads and we left with a beautiful set of postcards of all of the relics. It was hard to leave such a peaceful place, surrounded by Buddhists of all denominations, coming as one, in typical Buddhist fashion, united under the Dharma, to witness a rare, historical event.

Hurricane Wilma

[1/31/06]
I meant to come back to this post and add everything at a later time.. and it got later and later.....

so I will just summarize:
The hurricane hit and the news had led us to believe it wouldn't be that bad. We weren't preprared. Here on the 14th floor, the winds were moving the giant glass balcony door like it was a kite and so I ran into the family room and grabbed the tv, hauled it into the bedroom where it was safe and plugged it in.. to the one channel we actually get. We hoped to see the satelitte images and find out where the hurricane actually was and how bad it was going to be. ........
Instead... this reported talked for 8 minutes about nonsense.... up until the point that winds grew too strong and the power went out.

At that point Carol went into the bathroom and looked at the bathtub, which was full of water, as we were told to do. To her surprise, the water was shaking back and forth like it was a full blown earthquake. By the time the walls started to shake really bad and I thought things could get ugly I knew Carol might panic and with no other idea in sight, light sleeper that I am, I pretented to sleep. If I, who wake up at any noise, was sleeping, perhaps it would keep her calm. She later said it had helped.

So... from then on... it sucked. No air conditioning. No running water or toilet because on the 14th floor you need electricity to power the water. The truck had no gas so we went to drive the car... but .... NO! The parking garage was blocked by a giant tree. Don't feel too bad for me... I got to miss a few days of work.
When I did go back to work, that sucked out the last of the gas and we spent the weekend riding rollerblades to the grocery store or anywhere we wanted to go. Carol said, in a way, it made her happy to spend the quality time. It is dumb that we, meaning humanity, need things like this to get back to essentials.
The power company said that it would be 3 weeks until the power would come back on. 3 weeks on 14 flights of stairs... no bathroom... except for the one on the FIRST FLOOR!!!!...... no air conditioning.. no stove... no microwave... no food... no place to get food...
On the bright side, I thought that with no power, I would be able to study Japanese, and Chinese, and read more and more like I had always wanted to... thought the candlelight reading wasn't so great.
But the power did come on after about a week and we were thankful.

A few floors in the building weren't so lucky. Walls and ceiling, glass doors and windows all came in. Car windows were smashed one car even had a portable building fall on it!

A crack went right up the the front side of our doorframe, but didn't make it to the inside of the frame. We were lucky.

Cars all around the parking lot had broken windows. Trees had fallen all over the streets. Our cars were both fine. We were lucky.

All in all, and in life in general, we were and are.... lucky.

This Floating World

Our life is so short on the funny little floating world. If we blink, we might just miss it all. Too many "I'll do it tomorrow's" leave you with nothing years later. Life should be lived. Life should be fun. It seems this crazy world puts a price tag on everything and holds us back from too much fun. There always seems to be a barrier. There have to be ways around. The path itself might be a great adventure.
I am told that Ganesha is the God of New Beginnings, and so we ask him to bless our first entry of a record of our tiny fragment in the grand mosaic of life.....