To Destroy is to Create

For the last five weeks or so the Bell Memorial Union at Chico State has been occupied with an interesting individual. Losang Samten has been working for seemingly endless hours underneathe a colorful booth with his sand mandala. Piece by piece the Buddhist monk has been building a symbolic representation of the 722 deities housed in his mandala, which he concluded with by destroying as he poured the sand into Big Chico Creek. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the dismantlying ceremony, but after visiting the mandala several times since January 29th, 2008 and speaking with its creator I have taken the initiative to document this interesting event. I have never seen a sand mandala in any state prior to this and could not imagine the amount of patience it took Samten, who worked 10 hours a day 6 days a week to create his masterpiece.

"So that's my mumbo jumbo," Samten said, after several minutes of reciting a Kalachakra mantra (Enterprise Record 3/9/08). The humor of Samten reportedly glistened over the crowd during his dismantlying ceremony which he saw as a "presentation of culture and art, [where] the community brings it as a spiritual journey." The dismantling process began by slowly gathering small amounts of all 722 deities represtented and placing them in a small glass jar, which would be followed by members of the audience sponge brushing the sand into a large pile in the center, transforming the "intricate designs into a blur of colors" (ER).

Apparently this representation of the Kalachakra defied history as it was the first time ever to be completed entirely by a single individual, normally is it manufactured by four monks. The gentle monk took much time aside to speak and take photos with observers and students, his dedication to the ceremony has been unparalleled thus far in my first year wandering around Chico State. Using a small-tubed tool to organize the color schematics Losang Samten constructed this.....

(I know!!! Its crazy, he made this with grains of colored sand!!!)