Tibetan Monks Create Mandalas at St. Louis Museum

April 29, 2005

Source: Beliefnet

Wire Service: AP

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/166/story_16602_1.html

On April 29, 2005 the Associated Press reported, "Tibetan monks are spending five days at the St. Louis Art Museum meticulously positioning millions of grains of sand in a colorful pattern to form a sand painting. On Sunday, they'll destroy it. The process serves as a way for the Buddhists to meditate, spread blessings and show the temporary nature of things in this world, even the beautiful ones. 'It symbolizes the impermanence of all existence,' noted Tenzin Phenthok, 25, a monk who wore a flowing maroon robe and served as spokesman for the group while the painting was assembled earlier in the week. 'Also, it tells us lessons of nonattachment,' he said, or the importance of not becoming too attached to the things of this world. In the Sculpture Hall at the art gallery, Buddhist monks lean over a wooden platform that resembles a table to create the work, known as a mandala."