The week-long demonstration allowed the students to experience another culture and its approach to art, Muehlemann said.
Many other students viewed the demonstration throughout the week, including those in religious studies and sociology classes.
Wednesday morning, some of Muehlemann's studio art students were making their own mandalas.
While a real mandala is made by arranging colored sand on a 5' x 5' board, these students are making their own on a smaller scale, using paint, markers and other materials. Some are making original designs, while others are copying intricate designs of real mandalas.
It took more than 30 hours of painstaking, back-breaking labor to create the beautiful sand mandala in the Randolph College chapel, and only a few minutes to destroy it.
Friday afternoon, the monks of Tashi Kyil monastery, in Dehra, Dun, India, conducted a closing ceremony with more than 150 people present.
In chanting and music similar to the opening ceremony (available in video here), they consecrated the mandala and prayed for permission to dismantle it. Then they slowly wiped their hands across the 5' x 5' surface.
Soon, there was nothing left but a blue board with pale colored sand left on it.
The monks swept the sand into a bowl, and passed some of it out in individual bags to people who were present. The sand is said to have healing powers.
Then they walked across campus to a wooded creek that empties into the James River. There, they poured most of the remaining sand into the water. According to Buddhist philosophy, doing this can bless animals in the water and also carry the healing powers of the mandala sand throughout the world.
They kept some sand to carry to the AIDS Walk in Washington, D.C., the next stop on their journey.
Throughout this week, the monks have worked tirelessly in the chapel, lived in one of the College's dorms, interacted with students and community members, explained their beliefs, and sold Tibetan goods to raise money for their monastery. People of various religious traditions marveled at their dedication to create a beautiful work of art with religious significance.
In one week, they became a part of the College community, and they will not be forgotten.
Several of the Tibetan monks visiting Randolph's campus this week took time out to meet preschoolers from the College's Nursery School. The monks were putting the final touches on a Medicine Buddha mandala when the preschoolers arrived for a short visit. After watching the monks, the children entertained the visitors with a rehearsal for their upcoming Halloween concert.
Seven monks from the Tashi Kyil Monastery have spent the week creating the sand mandala in the College's chapel. They have worked from 10 a.m until 7 p.m. each day, painstakingly placing millions of grains of colored sand. The monks chose the rocks, smashed and pounded them into sand and colored them while at their monastery in India.
The Buddhist monks visiting Randolph's campus this week will finish their sand medicine mandala today. The closing ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in Houston Memorial Chapel. The monks, who are from a monastery in Dehra, Dun, India, are on the last leg of a U.S. tour designed to share the Tibetan culture, promote peace, and raise much needed funds for their monastery.
Seven monks from the Tashi Kyil Monastery have begun building a sacred sand painting in Houston Memorial Chapel.
More than 100 people attended the opening ceremony Monday afternoon, when the monks consecrated the space with deep chanting and music.
Following the opening ceremony, the monks began measuring and drawing a design on the 5' x 5' wooden frame.
Throughout this week, they will position millions of grains of sand to build a Medicine Buddha mandala, a sand painting said to have healing powers.
The public is invited to all events during the monks' visit:
Every day, the monks work from 10 a.m. through 7 p.m. in the chapel. Tibetan artifacts will be sold in Caldwell Commons.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Suzanne Bessenger, a Randolph College Religious Studies professor, will deliver a lecture titled "Mandalas and Meaning."
At 3 p.m. Friday, the monks will hold a closing ceremony, where they will consecrate the completed mandala, sweep up the image, and pour the sand into a nearby creek.
Seven Buddhist monks from India will share the sacred, healing art of colorful sand painting at Randolph College this month.
During the week of October 24, the monks will create a Medicine Buddha sand mandala in Houston Memorial Chapel at Randolph College. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., the chapel will be open so members of the Randolph community and the general public can watch the sacred art.
During the week, the monks will live in a residence hall on campus, said Suzanne Bessenger, the religious studies professor who invited the monks.
“It’s an opportunity for students to interact with a culture and lifestyle that isn’t all that accessible to them in the United States,” said Bessenger.
From September through November, they are traveling the country to share their culture and their religion through workshops and demonstration programs.
Bessenger learned through a friend that the monks had about a week-long gap in their schedule. She worked with other groups in the college to invite the monks.
She asked the monks to demonstrate the mandala, a sacred Tibetan Buddhist art form that creates a beautiful five-foot square painting from colorful sand. Specifically, they will create a Medicine Buddha mandala, which promises healing.
The opening ceremony will be held Monday, October 24, at 12:40 p.m. The monks will consecrate the chapel using chanting and the music from sacred horns. Then they will begin the exacting task of forming the detailed artwork with millions of grains of sand.
Mandala Demonstration at Randolph College
Opening Ceremony: Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, 12:40 p.m. Closing Ceremony: Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, 3 p.m. Open for public viewing 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. daily. Location:Houston Memorial Chapel
When they complete the artwork, they will hold a closing ceremony at 3 p.m. Friday, October 28. They consecrate the mandala and then dismantle it—symbolizing the impermanence of all that exists. They will sweep up the colorful sand and pour it into the James River, allowing the healing energy to be carried through water to the rest of the world.
However, they will save out some sand from the mandala made at Randolph College so they can carry it and its healing energy the following week when they participate in the Aids Walk in Washington, D.C.
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Sarah Cottone '15 and Amanda Cooper '13
Sarah Burgeson '15
Michael Ehilegbu '14
Chris Ernestine '14
A mandala made by Victoria Francis '13
