Tibetan Monks of the Gaden Shartse Monastery were in town this past week and spent several days creating a sacred sand painting. The Green Tara is a female deity known as the "Mother of all Buddhas" because she embodies wisdom. To honor the impermanence of life this artwork is destroyed after it is completed.Watching as the mandala is blessed, they circumambulate the sand mandala sliding a finger from one side of the circle into the center destroying what took days to create. Watching the dissolution brought to mind the death of a well lived life and reminds one of what is lost with the passing of a soul from this physical world.
The sand is swept into a pile and shared with those present. Remaining sand is placed in a river to spread blessings for all. The sand you receive can be spread about the house in a blessing, placed on an altar or held until one's death to be placed on the top of the head for a blessing during your own transition from the physical body.
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