Ft. Lauderdale, FL – June 18 to June 21, 2007 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Miami, Florida — For the second time this year, ChakraSamvara Center and its partners: Miami Dade Co. Asian Advisory Board, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Wat Buddharangsi (Thai Temple) will welcome the Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Gomang Monastery to create the auspicious Sand Mandala at four important sites in South Florida. The event is open to the public daily from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Donations are gratefully accepted.
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Broward Gov’t Center 115 S. Andrews Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Avalokiteshvara Buddha Compassion Mandala
Monday June 18 to Thursday June 21, 2007 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Phone: (954) 357-7349
A Tibetan sand painting, the Sand Mandala is an ancient art form of Tibetan Buddhism. “Mandala” is a Sanskrit word meaning cosmogram or “world in harmony.” The sand mandala will be carefully constructed from dyed marblesand particles, and will be used as a vehicle to generate Perserverance/Enlightenment. Some mandalas that will be created are: the Shakyamuni Buddha Mandala, in honor of Buddha’s birthday; The Medicine Buddha Mandala, to heal the mind and body and promote the well-being of all sentient beings; Amitabha/Amatyus Buddha Mandala, to purify attachment and generate longevity; Avalokiteshvara Buddha Mandala, to generate compassion. All Mandalas generate the precious reality of impermanence of all phenomena, and create a social/cosmic healing ofthe environment through a drawing of the world in its divine form. In essence,the mandala is a map by which the ordinary human mind can be transformed into the enlightened mind by thousands and thousands of “grains of sand”.
All sites will have an opening ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on the first day of that site. Geshe Lharampa Lobzang Samdup, Tour Leader, and the tour monks will chant powerful prayers for peace, prosperity and healing in traditional multiphonic overtone. The chant master will intone a full chord of three notes. This chanting will be accompanied by delicate hand gestures, cymbals, drums, horns, and flutes — sacred and priceless instruments from their Monastery in India. The closing ceremony will take place at 5:00 p.m.of the last day for that site. The Mandala will be dismantled by sweeping up the colored sands to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists. Half of the dismantled sand will be distributed to the audience as a blessing for personal health and healing, while the other half will be dispersed in the body of water nearby as a blessing for the universal aquatic beings.
The Monks of Drepung Gomang are presently on tour in the United States to share the compassion and wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism, to demonstrate the sacred artistic accomplishments of the people of Tibet, and to generate funds to insure the survival of their culture. Drepung Gomang Monastery will use donations to house, feed, and educate everyone wishing to study at this monastic center of higher learnining — including orphans and refugees fleeing from Tibet. The monastery also will establish a Food Foundation Fund which will help the monastery to provide a continuous food supply to the student monks in years to come.
For more information please visit:
WWW.DAYOFMEDITATION.ORG
WWW.SOUTHFLORIDABUDDHIST.ORG