Buddhist Monks Painstakingly Create Sand Mandala

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
By Dave Hart

Tibetan monk Dawa Tashi, 33, works on a new sand mandala on the floor.
HARRY LYNCH

NORTH CAROLINA - Grain by grain, the visiting monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in India have spent this week creating an incredibly intricate sand mandala. The mandala and its creation are open for public viewing and then, in accordance with tradition, the monks will deconstruct it in a public ceremony. Its demise represents a key concept in Buddhist thought. "It symbolizes the impermanence of everything, and we use it to remind people of that impermanence," Geshe Lobsang Dhondup said, through an interpreter. "The lack of understanding about that causes many of the discomforts and problems for individuals and in the world." [link]