My daughter was pretty young, about 8 or 9, and had enjoyed watching it being made so much. She had a really hard time with them dumping it out in the ocean. 

I respect Tibetan culture, but I’m glad there are a few preserved mandalas out there.

I’ve seen the preserved mandala we have, but I’ve also seen one while it was being made (that was later destroyed after it was on view for a week or so) and another while it was being destroyed. As much I like examining the preserved one we have in our gallery, I have to admit that watching the other be destroyed was much more satisfying.

The monks weren’t upset, they just said “He did exactly what he needed to do, and he may have been the one that that the mandala helped the most.”

And then they started over.

But obviously not all Buddhists are enlightened.

(This did not make me bitter toward Buddhists, btw! I own some prayer beads, and those were a recent purchase.)

Also, I know it’s a digital artifact from the camera, but I kept seeing weird perspective distortions in the background, like Scarecrow from Batman Begins.  A bout half-way through, I thought it was the really spicy curry I had for dinner, and I was communicating with my own personal Siddhartha.

I have a good friend of mine who is a Congregationalist, and I swear that he does far more to covert the damned than any crazy ass bible wielding nut. The dude just leads by example and never passes judgment. Everyone agrees that he is an awesome chill dude who is a good and trust worthy person. He can comfortably sit down with a metal head friend of mine, strike up interesting conversation and pass on a second beer because he tries not to drink too much. When he gets in among godless heathens who make some off the cuff crack at religion because they assume everyone else at the table is a godless heathen, while I am wincing because I am worried about his feelings, he is laughing and chill. He can be around my gay friends and doesn’t feel that they are damned. If I had the capacity for make believe I would be a convert.

I wish all religions to be as chill as Congregationalist or Buddhist. The world would be a much more pleasant place. You know what they say though, “wish in one hand and shit in the other, and see which one fills up first”.

I was once working at an event where one of the keynotes was going to be a traditional performance by a group of Tibetan monks. They had been around all day, and most of them spoke very little english, and since everyone running the event backstage was nervous about offending them or confusing them or whatever, people seemed to be walking on eggshells around this large group of monks. Finally one of the monks wisely decided to break the ice by declaring “TICKLE WAR” and tickling one of the stagehands. What ensued was wonderful and hilarious in every way.

This one seems especially beautiful, and less, geometric? more representational.

Edit: Oh wow….. nvm. Two blocks from my office at the Unitarian Society. How little I know about my own City….