In conjunction with the opening of the Hood Museum of Art's contemporary
Tibetan art exhibit, Dartmouth will host Tibetan Buddhist monks from Namgyal
Monastery, **the North American seat of the Dalai Lama**

The monks will perform a traditional Tibetan
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 **Sand Mandala Ceremony**
Wednesday January 19-Saturday January 22, 2011
10:00 am-5:00 pm daily
Location: Hood Museum of Art

All are welcome to visit anytime during museum hours to see the progress.
The mandala will be ritually dismantled and distributed into the Connecticut
River on Saturday, January 22, at 3:00 pm.
For more information, contact Liana Chase '11.

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More on Sand mandala ceremonies:

°Millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat
platform over a period of days or weeks before ultimately being dismantled
in order to release and disseminate the deity's blessings into the world to
benefit all sentient beings. Formed into traditionally prescribed Tibetan
iconography that includes geometric shapes and a multitude of historical
Buddhist spiritual symbols, the sand-painted mandala is used as a tool for
consecrating, or blessing, the earth and its inhabitants, and provides for
the practitioner a visual framework for establishing the enlightened mind of
the Buddha.°
- http://www.namgyal.org/mandalas/ (Click for Photos of Mandalas!)