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Tibetan sand painters wow crowds at Centennial Student Union

‘Mystical Arts of Tibet’

From one floor above, you’d swear it was a painting. But then you get closer, and you realize the Tibetan monks really did create breathtaking art, one grain of sand at a time.

2007-02-09
By Robb Murray, Free Press staff writer [published in The Free Press, Mankato, MN, 2/9/2007]

From one floor above, you’d swear it was a painting.

Those perfect curves, that intricate detail. Gotta be a painting.

But then you get closer, and when the sun hits the crystals and the reds, blues and yellows sparkle with the unmistakable texture of sand, and it hits you. These silent guys in the burgundy robes and shaved heads really are creating breathtaking art one grain of sand at a time.

This is the tour of a project called “Mystical Arts of Tibet,” which since Monday was on display in the Centennial Student Union at Minnesota State University.

For 15 years, Tibetan lamas from the Drepung Loseling Monastery have toured the world creating mandalas — ornate sand art paintings — and promoting world peace, spreading the word about the political situation in Tibet and raising money for their monastery.

Thupten Chosang, one of the lamas, said most people who come to see their paintings have never seen that type of art before and, usually, they know nothing about the history of Tibet.

The history of Tibet is a complex one. But essentially, the conflict the monks want to spread the word about is the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1949, and its occupation of the country ever since. More than 100,000 people fled, including its government, led by the Dalai Lama.

China, meanwhile, insists Tibet was always a part of China. Today, Tibet is mostly populated by Chinese. Chosang, though, says they remain hopeful that, through peaceful resistance and diplomacy, they will someday be able to return to Tibet.

Chosang, one of the few, if not the only, monks who speaks English, says he spends much of his time talking to visitors and students about the Tibetan political situation.

Sometimes, Chosang said, Chinese students will come to argue politics with them. He said the monks welcome such discourse, and they always pursue a course of respect and non-violence when talking to people, even those on the other side of their fight to win back the land of Tibet.

But not all the talk is about politics and other heady issues. They also talk to people at length about the sand painting.

“Most people have never seen this before,” he said.

As students and others stepped up, the dropped jaws and quizzical looks confirmed Chosang’s assessment.

Watching and listening to the monks work is so tranquil that it’s almost therapeutic.

They step up to the table, burgundy robes and all, and lean up to it as if they’re going to inspect it very closely. They lean on a small burgundy pad and hover over a section of the mandala with a metal, cone-shaped tube full of sand in one hand, and a metal stick in the other.

They use the stick to rub the grooved side of the tube, which creates just the right vibration to trickle the sand out. From there they direct the tip of the tube where it needs to go to complete the intricate pattern of the mandala.

Student Lynsey Wetzler, a junior from Jackson, spends her time between classes in the student union. She didn’t know the sand-painting monks were going to be here this week, but she was intrigued by them, and said she’s glad they came.

“It’s bringing other cultures into Mankato,” she said.

Beyond all that culture stuff, Wetzler said she was impressed with the artistry.

“To see it actually take place is pretty cool,” she said.

There is one aspect of the sand painting that, understandably, can be difficult for people to understand. When the monks complete the mandala, they hold a closing ceremony and dismantle the work they’d spent four days creating.

It’s all about impermanence. Central to the monks’ approach to life is the concept of embracing the beauty of impermanence.

“Tibetans believe every phenomenon is impermanent by nature,” Chosang said. “If you understand impermanence, you can better understand spirituality.”

It is at the core of everything they believe in. That’s why it is so important to honor the idea of impermanence, even after creating something as stunning as their mandalas.

Usually, the monks take the mandala to the river and pour the sand in. From there they believe the positive, peaceful and spiritual energy they put into it can spread around the world.

In this particular case, however, they bagged it up and hang onto it until they can find a river in a city that isn’t so ... frozen.

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