Thursday, September 06, 2007

we have no Mandala today

Over the weekend I met up with CK. We ordered ourselves a three curry sampler at a local joint and then went to the Rubin Museum of Art. It's a museum dedicated to Himalayan art. I went because I had heard that there was an artist, Tenzing Rigdol, creating a Giant Sand Mandala in nine days with a ceremonial destruction on the last day.

I really wanted to see it. Lately, I have been noticing a lack of compassion in myself. I have been feeling restless and impatient and anxious and I thought maybe being witness to this ritual would do something for me. Being in its presence might be cleansing. But for every one of the nine days of the Mandala I was an utter spank and never manged to see it.

The day CK and I went to the museum, Tenzig had left for the day and the room where the Mandala was being created was being used for the screening of a movie.

So we just wandered around the museum. CK told me stories about Butan and about some of the art that we were wandering around. There was an exhibit up called "The Missing Peace: Artists consider the Dalai Lama." There's a neato virtual tour of it online. I was very struck by the piece by Jenny Holzer "It Is in Your Self Interest to Find a Way to Be Very Tender."

There is something about a statement that is chiseled into marble. Forgive the pun but in that medium I found myself giving the words greater weight. And thinking about them more slowly and a lot more carefully.

The Rubin has a really lovely lounge area. Perfect for a first date.

But alas, no Mandala for me. On telling this story to KS, he came up with the idea of making a Mandala myself.

Here is what I could find on the topic of "How to make a sand mandala." I am intrigued by this prospect.

Wanna make a Mandala with me?

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