BILLINGS MONTANA- September 30 - October 2

Mandala Location:
BARJON’S BOOKS
223 North 29th Street
Billings, MT 59101
(406) 252-4398
(800) 788-4318
http://www.barjonsbooks.com
Just a 1/2 Block West of the Alberta Bair Theater

Dinner Location:
Good Earth Market
3024 2nd Ave North
Billings, MT 59101
Schedule:
Thursday, Sept 30:
10:00am Opening Ceremony
10:15am - 5:00pm Sand Mandala construction
7:00pm - 9:00pm - Indo-Tibetan Dinner at Good Earth Market   (Suggested Donation for dinner is $20 - RSVP 406-252-4398)
Friday, Oct 1:
10:00am - 5:00pm Sand Mandala construction continues
5:00pm - 9:00pm Artwalk - Sand Mandala construction continues
Saturday, Oct 2:
10:00am - 3:00pm Sand Mandala construction continues
3:00pm Sand Mandala Dissolution Ceremony

Venerable Ngawang Chojor is a Tibetan Buddhist monk living in Madison
Wisconsin. He is a senior monk of Namgyal Monastery, the personal
monastery of the Dalai Lama. There, he trained in all the traditional arts
and became a lead teacher in ceremonial arts for apprentice monks.
Venerable Chojor was thirteen when he became a Buddhist monk. He entered the Namgyal Monastery in Lhasa, the personal monastery of the Dalai Lama, the political and religious leader of Tibet. Ten years after he started his studies, Ven. Chojor constructed a complete set of colored sand mandalas for the monastery , demonstrating he had completed his training.

Today, Ven. Chojor is well known for constructing sand mandalas and has
constructed them in many places around the world. In 1994, he
worked with other monks to make a mandala in the World Trade Center
in New York City. He has traveled to Switzerland, Mexico, Japan, China,
and many places in the United States. Tibetan Children’s Education
Foundation is truly honored to have Venerable Chojor on this Sacred Art
Tour.

GENERAL INFO ON SAND MANDALAS:
Sand Mandalas are unique to Tibetan and Native American culture,  they are believed to affect purification and healing. They are created by hand and embody traditional meditative designs that represent the universal qualities of harmony, balance, community and pure wisdom.

The construction begins with an opening ceremony. The Tibetan monks bless the area so they have permission to inhabit the space before beginning the construction of the mandala. The construction process then begins and the monks work everyday until completion.
 
  The monks begin by drawing an outline of the mandala on the wooden platform,. Next is the laying of the colored sands, which is effected by pouring the sand from traditional metal funnels called chak-pur. Each monk holds a chak-pur in one hand, while running a metal rod on its grated surface; the vibration causes the sand to fall like liquid.

There are many types of mandalas, in general all mandalas have outer, inner and secret meanings. On the outer level they represent the world in its divine form; on the inner level they represent a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into enlightened mind; and on the secret level they depict the primordially perfect balance of the subtle energies of the body and the clear light dimension of the mind. The creation of a sand painting is said to effect a purification and healing on these three levels.

For centuries, Tibetan mandalas were seen exclusively by the monks and nuns of Buddhist monasteries. In 1988, however, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, decreed that a mandalas be constructed for the public to witness.

Tibetans have long believed that to witness the creation of a mandala is to cultivate these enduring qualities within each of us, and so to witness the creation of a mandala is to lay the foundation for a strong and balanced human community.

Traditionally most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after their completion. This is done as a metaphor of the impermanence of life. The sands are swept up and placed in an urn; to fulfill the function of healing, half is distributed to the audience at the closing ceremony, while the remainder is carried to a nearby body of water, or to the earth where it is deposited. The sand then carries the healing blessing through the earth and spreads throughout the world for planetary healing.

This exhibition is presented by the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation’s Cultural Awareness program.