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Fralin Museum: Creation of a Sand Mandala Plus Gallery Talk with Michael Sheehy
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On Thursday October 5, 5:00-6:00pm, Michael Sheehy will present a talk, "Mandalas and Meditation" near the mandala. Michael Sheehy is the Director of Scholarship at the Contemplative Sciences Center, Research Assistant Professor in Tibetan Buddhist studies in the Department of Religious Studies, and affiliated faculty at the Tibet Center at the University of Virginia.
After an opening ceremony at 9:30am Tuesday 10/3, the monks at The Fralin will painstakingly place colored sand in an elaborate arrangement that is specific to the Buddhist deity Avalokiteshvara. Known as Chenrezig in Tibetan language, this deity is considered to be the embodiment of pure compassion. As the monks create The Fralin mandala, they will focus their minds on cultivating compassion and reducing suffering for all living beings.
Mandala are tools used as part of Tibetan Buddhist meditation practices and are considered sacred spaces. Each color, figure, and shape has a specific meaning in Buddhist philosophy and practice that together provide meditators with resources to accomplish new levels of understanding and insight. Traditionally, once completed, these intricate sand arrangements are swept into a pile, an act that reinforces the Buddhist principle of impermanence.
