ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- For the third year in a row, Ithaca College welcomes Tibetan Buddhist monks from Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies to create a mandala on campus. The construction began on Wednesday, September 18, and will continue for five days until Monday, September 23 before being deconstructed.
Along with the creation, faculty, staff, and even students have created a lineup of daily events for members of campus and the public to attend.
The tradition is taking place in the atrium on the second floor of the School of Business in the Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise at Ithaca College.
Monks work on the piece for most of the day, pausing for a short time at 3:00 P.M. to perform a ritualistic chant. After, they hold a brief meditation session and get right back to creating.
At 4:00 P.M. each day, Ithaca College community groups will continue the session by hosting walking meditations.
Not only is this process of construction interesting to watch but, along with daily programming, it helps to educate the community on Buddhist traditions.
"It really just highlights the incredibly rich religious diversity of Ithaca and it gives the college the opportunity to get to know its Tibetan neighbors a little bit more and learn something about their really rich religious heritage," said Eric Steinschneider, an associate professor of philosophy and religion at Ithaca College. Steinschneider is also one of the organizers of the programming.
The mandala is made from various crushed marble colors, often called sand. Typically, the mandala is of geometric design and represents a celestial being or deity. This particular one is essentially a ritual object dedicated to Chenrezig, the Buddhist deity of infinite compassion.
Some monks working on the mandala say they want to help all people think more positively.
"From a broader perspective, it's for promoting world peace," said Kunchok Tenzin, one of the Tibetan Buddhist Monks from the Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies who is working on the mandala. "From a more micro-perspective, it's to help people generate positive states of mind like compassion and kindness."
Shyla Mishra, a fourth-year student at Ithaca College, is one of four student liaisons helping the monks throughout the mandala construction. Mishra says this event is a great thing to host on campus because people can witness the tradition firsthand and dismantle misconceptions some may have about Buddhism.
"I think it's very important because, in our college careers, it's important for us to get to know about the world and I think this is a great way to do that," said Mishra. "You talk to the monks, you understand everything through their perspective, and you're learning about them through these events. So, I think it's just a great learning experience and there's a lot to take from it as well."
The mandala itself will remain on display until Monday, September 23 at 4:00 P.M. Until then, a live stream of the monks working on the piece is on the college's each day from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. for anyone to watch.
At the end of the allotted display time, a dissolution ceremony will be held for all to attend. The crushed marble from the finished mandala will be gathered and poured into the pond next to Muller Chapel, also located on the Ithaca College campus.