On Oct. 31, starting at 12p.m. and extending for many hours afterwards, a troupe of Tibetan monks painstakingly created a sand painting called a Green Tara on a black table in the middle of the Student Union Ballrooom. The Green Tara, a mandala that ushers in peace and harmony to the surrounding area, is the monks' new gift to us at Longwood, along with the opportunity to buy items for the cause of a free Tibet. Beginning with an introduction by Tenzin, the troupe's translator, the procession of several monks performed an impressive entrance complete with the sounding of large trumpets, woodwinds and percussion followed by a session of mantras before they began to carefully measure out the mandala's parameters with chalk saturated string to lay the main lines. After over two hours of overlaying designs and engraving them in the table, the months began to pour the colored sand, a combination of dye and finely crushed marble, on the template. With funnels so delicate, the sand needed to be tapped from their tiny siphons with a copper tong, the monks began to paint the green skinned figure at the center of the mandala and the intricate designs and lotus blossom that blooms around him. It was a quiet process: meticulous and heavily studied. For these monks, it was more important than a display of skill. It was ingrained reverence and the innate blessing of the mandala's creation and presence before it is terminated into Buffallo Creek this Friday. The monks' representative, Tenzin was available to talk while the mandala formed slowly from the hands and tools of the Tibetan monastics. Tenzin shared that the monks' troupe had been on tour "in the United States in different cities and museums and shows for one year and eight months" and had previously visited "Nichols College [in Massachusetts] where [they] created the mandala of ManjusriBuddha."
Tenzin shared more information saying that "[The members of the troupe] are all Tibetan monks and originally from Tibet [but] because of the current situation in Tibet, since it has been overpowered by China, so they had to flee to India to study their own culture, religion, philosophy, and now a days they all are living in India … they had to live in India and we have a monastery named Drepung Loseling in South India, and monks are living in that monastery … and we have some information here and at our site www. Drepung Loseling.org. It will have all the information about the monastery, and also we have Drepung Loseling monastery in Atlanta, Georgia … so the people living in Altanta can study our philosophy, so we have teaching programs and so on. That monastery is associated with Emory…"
When asked about the origin of the mandala art itself, Tenzin said that "actually sandpainting mandala, or this tradition of sandpainting mandalas, was initiated by Buddha ÅšÄkyamuni2,500 years ago. Buddha ÅšÄkyamuniwas the founder of Buddhism. He introduced that tradition of sand painting mandala for practice; you know training our minds in love, compassion and positive attitudes and reducing negative emotions. And develop peace and harmony within individuals. "
Then Tenzin switched to the subject that undercut, as he stated, the lives of today's Tibetan religious and ethnic community. He spoke about the longstanding Chinese occupation saying, "people are very nice to us all the time … we feel a kind of support … feeling support from you guys you know the situation in Tibet, we don't have freedom in Tibet. The Chinese are still targeting Tibet and many Tibetans; they are killed in their prisons … right now the prison situation is getting very much worse, ten Tibetans set fire to themselves [in two months] in order to have freedom in Tibet and have his holiness the Dalai Lama visit Tibet. Tibet is a very small country … anybody can invade or do things, but we are still getting support from places all around the world, especially the United States, so that's why we can get freedom in Tibet … but China is really a huge country … Some contest that the United States depends on China on an economic level. So fight with China? It's a very powerful country, but we are getting support from all around the world."
Tenzin also mentioned the realistic gain of meaningful autonomy from China that would allow Tibet's culture and religion to be expressed, but noted that the ideal of a completely independent country is not expected. He further noted that "culture is very important, not only for Tibetan people but for all the people in the world. We have such a method to develop love and compassion … and promote peace and harmony. We have this kind of culture. That's why all around the world they are studying Buddhist philosophy, in order to become Buddhist … to know the method to develop positive attitudes and energies and peace and harmony. This art is not just to show off … not to fascinate the people in that sense. We are creating this art for peace and harmony … you know the purpose of this art is to bring peace … to the area and also for people living here in the area. We are doing this by ritual, by chanting … in this way it affects hearts … this is the purpose for conducting the art."
Explaining the abilities of the mandala to reduce conflicts, Tenzin combined it with the interrelatedness of people and their environment: how a good person's disposition can make one feel comfortable and generally repair the surrounding world. Part of this had to do with the composition of life and universe from the elements Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Space. However, Tenzin wished to have Longwood's population retain a message even long after the mandala's dispersal. Tenzin said, "I would say for people to develop love, love and compassion … as much as possible … to develop positive attitudes. This is the only way to develop peace and harmony within you, within others ... so if you don't have peace within you, how can you make others feel better?"