Thousands of grains of colorful sand are poured into the Iowa River as a symbolic gesture. The sand comes from a Buddhist sand mandala, and the river spreads the compassion of the mandala into the world.
At the University of Iowa Levitt Gallery from Sept. 5-8, Drupon Thinley Ningpo Rinpoche, a master in the art of sand mandalas, guided the construction of the mandala. The mandala was on display and the gallery and was dissolved on Sept. 8.
A mandala is a sacred art in Buddhism, made with dyed sand. The dissolution was preceded by a procession, a prayer for compassion that consecrated the sand.
Rinpoche, originally from Tibet, now resides in Florida as a Resident Teacher at the Drong Ngur Jangchubling Buddhist Center.
Rinpoche was invited to partake in this event by the board of the Garchen Mila Buddhist Center in Iowa City. Center board members Naomi Bloom and Ellen Marie Lauricella and UI art history professor Anita Jung of the UI functioned as a liaison between the Buddha Center and the UI.
Bloom moved to Iowa in 2012 but has been a Buddhist since 1998. For a long time, Bloom was alone in her search for spiritual fulfillment. While working the graveyard shift at a hospital in Rochester, New York, she noticed something hanging from a nurse’s pocket and asked what it was. The nurse explained it was a mala, Buddhist prayer beads.
“It took my breath away,” Bloom said. “The clouds parted.”
She called her sudden enamoration with Buddhism a “karmic connection,” sharing that she was drawn to the religion because she felt that she must have been a practitioner in previous lifetimes.
Rinpoche, who is an expert on mandala construction, said the mandala at the UI represents the interconnectedness that unites everyone.
When the sand is poured into the river for dissolution, Rinpoche said, the water spreads the sand and the blessing into the river and farther into other bodies of water.
“The idea is you put the sand that now holds the blessing of compassion into the water. It corresponds to that aspiration or that prayer, may loving kindness and compassion spread throughout the world, to all beings without exception,” Rinpoche said.
For first-year student at the UI Sage Wagner, this week has been an opportunity to learn about Buddhism. Wagner shared that he has always been interested in Buddhism and has been exploring it over the past few months.
“I just sort of agree with all the points they’re making,” Wagner said. “Really the only thing we can control is ourselves. It made more sense to me than other religions have.”
While the dissolution was on Sept. 8, there were several other events throughout the week leading up to it, including a public speech at the Art Building West on Sept. 5 which covered information about the creation of mandalas and Buddhism.
“Before this my research has just been YouTube videos. It was quite reassuring and interesting to hear it straight from the source,” Wagner said.
Bloom shared that, while she takes it bit by bit, she hopes that there will be more events like this between the center and the university in the future.
“We are really, completely happy. I hope we can do this again,” Bloom said.
