The Mandala Project

This sand mandala made by 4 master Tibetan mandala artists.  

The 12th day the masters have been working on this sand mandala.

Where the Venerables and the mandala artists sit and chant

Close-up of the layering the sand technique

Angelenos who stood in line outside the Hammer Museum in Westwood this past weekend got a glimpse of the most heartbreakingly beautiful piece of art - a sand mandala.  Composed of billions of grains of colored sand implemented by tapping on a metal tube filled with the colored grains.  Four orange-robed master Tibetan mandala artists have worked on making this perfect pattern for 12 days straight.  This piece was completed yesterday, then at 3pm after a dissolution ceremony where the masters chanted and dismantled the pattern, installing all the sand into a container, all parties drove to Santa Monica beach and witnessed the scattering ceremony.  It was one of the most touching moments to witness and be so completely absorbed in the idea of impermanence.  Make something so profoundly beautiful and then upon its completion, allow it to be set free.