The Dalai Lama, who is visiting Taiwan this week, will be presiding over two "empowerment ceremonies" (灌頂), to be held at Linkou Stadium today and tomorrow. This ceremony is held by senior lamas to give blessings to the failthful. It will provide an opportunity for Taipei residents to see one of Tibetan Buddhism's most significant art forms, namely the creation of a Sand Temple (沙檀城) or Sand Mandala (沙曼陀羅), which is an essential part of these ceremonies.
The art of Tibetan Buddhism revolves mostly around rituals carried out by a master lama. Ritual sites are usually decorated with colorful paintings, called thangka, as well as scrolls of silk applique banners bearing the image of Buddhas and other symbolic figures. A wide variety of musical instruments and ritual implements are also brought into play.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MONGOLIAN AND TIBETAN AFFAIRS COMMISSION
The Sand Temple is a symbol of the "pure land" as well as being representative of senior lamas. The Dalai Lama, who is currently visiting Taiwan, is believed to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion (觀世音菩薩). Each senior lama has his own special sand mandala design. A sand mandala has been in production since March 23 for the Dalai Lama, and will form the centerpiece for today and tomorrow's ceremonies.
The Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center in Taipei (蒙藏文化中心) keeps the sand mandala from the Dalai Lama's last visit four years ago. According to Yang Chia-ming (楊嘉銘), a researcher at the center, the 150x150cm mandala took about 30 days to complete. Yang added that although the design for the Buddha of Mercy's sand temple is fixed, the size may vary depending on the occasion.
Yang says that the sand temple is always based on six primary colors of blue, white, red, green, yellow and black. Except for black and white, each four other colors are further divided into three sub-colors of darker and lighter hue. The colors are applied using dyed white sand.
The intricate work of making a sand mandala is usually done by lamas who learned the skills at temples, which in Tibet also serve as schools. Mandalas are labor intensive and lamas arrived late last month to begin work on the mandala that will be used tomorrow.
After the initiation ends, the colored sand will be taken back to the place from which it was taken, returning the blessing to nature.
Note: An "empowerment ceremony" will be held between 9:30 and noon today and tomorrow at the Linkou Stadium (林口體育館).
The Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center holds the Sand Mandala made for the Dalai Lama on his visit four years ago, along with a variety of other artifacts of Tibetan Buddhism. The cultural center is located at: 3, Lane 8, Chingtien St., (台北市青田街8巷3號, tel: 2341-1105.)
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