LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A group of Buddhist nuns created a sand mandala in Louisville at the Drepung Gomang Center for Engaging Compassion. The multi-day project is underway until Friday, July 5.
“What we are creating today is the sand mandala of the Akshobhya,” said Nun Thukten Dema.
She is originally from Bhutan but now lives in India with some 200 Tibetan nuns at the Jangchub Choeling Nunnery.
“So once we remove the obstacles, purify the negative things, then naturally, we will have the, you see, the global peace. The main purpose is to purify the negativities,” Dema said while explaining the sand painting.
She said about five nuns have come to America for a tour, sharing their messages and preserving their culture. They began working on the sand painting on Saturday.
“I personally think that by watching, by viewing that what we are doing here today, to firstly let the viewers understand about, this is the mystical, mystical arts, the Tibetan culture. So it is like, embedded in Tibetan culture. I can say Tibetan Buddhism culture,” Dema said.
Anne Walter is the director of the Drepung Gomang Center for Engaging Compassion in Louisville.
“It’s really inspiring, I think, to get a chance to see people from, a tradition that might not be your own tradition or culture, that might not be your own culture who are generating, who have a desire to generate compassion and goodness,” Walter said.
The sand mandala painting that began on Saturday is called Buddha Akshobhya. It’s invoked through rituals, arts and meditations during times of major crisis, pandemics, natural disasters and conflicts for protection, healing and transformation of conflicts.
“Through this, you see one can accumulate immense merits by viewing this because, like the monks and the nuns, they spend a lot of like time they spent effort, they are fully devoted. And when they create the sand mandala, they are not like, you see, wandering their mind,” Dema said.
But instead, Dema said, they are focusing on peace and purity globally.
The nuns are touring across the country. Next week they are heading out to Indiana for a week and then Chicago.
The nuns will be designing the sand mandala from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, July 5, in Louisville at 411 North Hubbards Lane.