The Making of a Sacred Mandala

Tibetan monks Geshe Thupten Dorjee and Rinzin Dorjee constructed the mandala of Buddha Akshobhya, between November 6 and November 17, 2006 on the 5th floor of Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus.

Buddha Akshobhya is the Buddha generally associated with purification. He embodies the perfected state both of our consciousness and of the environment. His color is blue, and his symbol is the vajra. The Vajra is a ritual item used in Tibetan tantric practice and represents "method" while the bell that it is always paired with represents "wisdom." Hence, the combination of vajra and bell is meant to signify wisdom and the way it is manifested ("method") in the world.

A sand mandala is a two, or sometimes three-dimensional (if the sand is sculpted), geometric pattern that is first laid out with compasses and chalk lines and straight edges, and then filled in with colored sand. They are by no means unique to Tibetan culture, although the Tibetan monks have taken them to a level, a visionary and aesthetic level, that has rightly distinguished them on the international stage. Rinzin is among other things, a mandala master, which means he has memorized all of the sacred geometries for the many mandalas the monks construct. He has also become intimately familiar with all of the color symbolisms and figures that are represented in the finished mandala.

Tibetans believe that even viewing a mandala, with its visual representation of an inner, perfected vision of reality, has profound influences on those who are fortunate enough to view it. Seldom, they rightly reason, do we see such spiritual energy in a fixed and human form. But after the mandala is done, and the vision has been manifested, and it has had its influence on all who have wandered within its purview, its creators will destroy it in a closing ceremony reminding us dramatically of the most profound teaching of all: that of emptiness and impermanence. They will then carry the the sand to a stream, and release it, with blessings, into the water, asking that its fundamental purifications be bestowed on the community and the world at large.

It was not until 1988, when the Dalai Lama first decreed that these mandalas could be constructed in public, that anyone in the West was able to view one as it was being assembled. The construction of a mandala is essentially a meditation, and a very powerful one at that, and so they have traditionally been done within sacred environments and only around a very select audience of monks and other clerics. Because it is essentially a demanding meditation with an exacting physical dimension –- a sneeze during construction is disastrous if not controlled -– a mandala usually requires 4-8 monks working in shifts for a couple of days. That Geshe and Rinzin have volunteered to do one themselves is practically unheard of; they worked several hours a day on it to finish it in the allotted time. Because the entire process of visualization, meditation, and execution of the design is so draining, both physically and spiritually, there was a very real a danger of their falling ill if they didn’t pace themselves accordingly.

A Mandala for your Group or Organization

Since the Fall 2006 mandala at the University of Arkansas, a mandala was constructed at the request of Heifer International in Little Rock in April, 2007, and another is planned for October-November, 2007 at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale. If your group or organization is interested in sponsoring construction of a sacred mandala at your facility, contact TCIA for more information.

More on Buddha Akshobhya

The name "Akshobhya" means "immovable" or "unshakable". Akshobhya's mirror-like wisdom reflects all things calmly and uncritically as it reveals their true nature. One text says, "Just as one sees one's own reflection in a mirror, so the Dharmakaya is seen in the Mirror of Wisdom." Mirror-like wisdom serves as an antidote for hatred and anger.

In the mandala of the Five Dhyani Buddhas, Akshobhya is usually positioned in the east (which is at the bottom) but he is somtimes placed in the center. His color is blue. He rules over the element of water and personifies the skandha of form. In some systems, he is associated with the skandha of consciousness. Akshobhya's lotus throne is supported by the elephant, symbol of steadfastness and strength.

The vajra, or dorje His symbol is the vajra, also called the thunderbolt or diamond scepter. The vajra denotes enlightenment, the indestructible, adamantine nature of pure consciousness, or the essence of Reality. In some traditions the vajra symbolizes the macrocosmic realm of the Buddha and at the other end the microcosmic realm of man.

Akshobhya's mudra (or hand gesture) is called the bhumisparsha mudra, the earth-touching mudra. It denotes unshakeability. This is the mudra Gautama Buddha used to summon the earth to witness to his right to attain enlightenment when he was challenged by Mara.

Akshobhya's paradise is Abhirati, the Land of Exceeding Great Delight. Buddhists believe that whoever is reborn there cannot fall back to a lower level of consciousness. Akshobya's seed syllable is HUM and the short form of his mantra is NAMO AKSHOBHYA SOHA. This is sometimes recited as OM AKSHOBHYA HUM.

NAMO AKSHOBHYA SOHA
(Short version of the mantra of Buddha Akshobhya)

NA MA RATNA TAYAYA
OM KAM KARE KAM KARE
ROTSANE ROTSANE
TOTANE TOTANE
TASANE TASANE
TATEHANA TATEHANA
SAWA KAMA PARAM
PARA NE ME SAWASATANA
(Long version of the mantra of Buddha Akshobhya)