News Releases

For Immediate Release

April 22, 2015
For additional information: 
Chato Hazelbaker
Chief Communications Officer
Telephone:  360-992-2921
Email:  chazelbaker@clark.edu

 

Tibetan monks create intricate Sand Mandala
at Clark College May 4 - 8



VANCOUVER, Wash.–Clark College is proud to host six Tibetan Buddhist monks who will travel from South India to construct a Sand Mandala at the college Monday, May 4, through Friday, May 8. Note: This event was originally scheduled for April 27 – May 1, but was rescheduled after visa issues delayed the monks’ arrival in the United States.

The monks of Drepung Loseling Phukhang Monastery will create the Mandala in Cannell Library on the college’s main campus. This event is free and open to the public.

Sand Mandalas, also called “sand paintings,” are an ancient sacred ritual meant to bring peace and compassion to witnesses and an entire region. The intricate designs are first traced by memory onto a surface and then, over the course of many days, painstakingly filled in with brightly colored sand fed through long wooden tubes. The process begins with an opening ceremony that features traditional music and chanting; it ends with the monks ceremonially destroying the Mandala to symbolize the impermanence of all life.

Full schedule (all events located in Cannell Library unless otherwise noted):

May 4:

noon – 12:30 p.m.:                  Opening ceremony with music

12:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.:           Mandala construction

May 5-7:

10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.:                Mandala construction

May 8:

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.:                     Mandala construction

noon – 1 p.m.:                         Sacred Tibetan art presentation (Penguin Union Bldg., Room 161, concurrent with mandala construction)

2 p.m. – 3 p.m.:                       Closing ceremony with music

3 p.m. – 4 p.m.:                       Sand disbursal in the Columbia River and final ceremony at Wintler Park


This event is co-hosted by Clark College’s International Programs, Office of Diversity & Equity, Office of Student Life, and Cannell Library.

Directions and maps are available online. Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services (DSS) Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP). The DSS office is located in room 013 in Clark’s Penguin Union Building.

A video from the monks’ most recent visit to Clark College in 2012 can be viewed on Clark’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/IYVcjFhpsHc.

High-resolution photos from the monks’ 2012 visit to Clark College available by request.

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