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March 11, 2010

Transcendental works of fine art

Tibetans create mandala to share with all of creation

By ROBIN CAUDELL

SEE THE VIDEO

PLATTSBURGH — The Ven. Dhondup Tsering tapped a stainless steel rod against a funnel containing ground-white-marble dyed brilliant hues with various vegetables, plants and natural stones.

Inside Myers Fine Art Lobby Gallery at Plattsburgh State, the ordained monk of the Gelug "Yellow Hat" Tibetan Buddhism lineage tapped the sand into the precise scripture-determined dimensions of a mandala symbolizing Chenrezig, the Boddhisattva of Compassion.

WHOLENESS
In Sanskrit, mandala means circle and represents the wholeness and interconnectedness of one's mind, body and surrounding environment. The mandala allows a person to perceive his or her place within the universe and relationships with all creation. The sand mandala illustrates the impermanence of life.

In ancient times, Tibetans created mandalas from stones and pebbles. Then, as now, the mandala is an offering to all of creation. A meditative and sacred tool, it is consecrated, dismantled and dispersed in a river, so that the water and its creatures can partake of the offering. Though the mandala is de-constructed, the elements receive it as whole.

Tsering created the artwork over the course of the five-day Tibetan Art of Mandala Festival that started Sunday, beginning and ending each day with prayers.

To learn the art, he studied 28 years at the Gyuto Tantric University, established in India after the exile of the 14th Dalai Lama in 1959.

"The Tibetan culture, itself, is so rich and vibrant," said Tenzin Dorjee, who owns TibetAsian gift shops in Plattsburgh and Lake Placid. With his wife, Yangchen, and Dr. Amy Mountcastle, professor of anthropology at Plattsburgh State, he organized the festival.

THANGKA PAINTING
Invited, too, was Tsering Phuntsok, who demonstrated the art of Thangka painting. Than "flat" and "ka" painting references the paintings or scrolls that depict mandalas, the Buddha, Bodhisattvas and other important Tibetan deities.

"Plattsburgh hasn't seen or experienced any Tibetan culture," Dorjee said. "The sand mandala and Thangka painting were the easiest we could bring here. It's an introduction to what the culture of Tibet is about."

SPIRIT AND CULTURE
Tibetans' spirituality and culture are intertwined.

"There's no way you can separate the two," Dorjee said.

As Tsering built levels on levels, using sand ground to three or four different sizes, students and community members wandered in and out of Myers Fine Arts. Mandalas are constructed the same as they were 2,500 years ago. In ancient times, monks created hues from grinding jade, coral, turquoise, gold and other precious stones.

"According to the teachings of the Buddha," Dorjee said. "It came to Tibet between the 6th and 7th century, and since then, they (monks) have been interpreting from the scripture."

STARTED YOUNG
Tsering began his monastic studies at age 8. At 17, he attained the level to start mandalas.

In this mandala of compassion, the five basic colors are white to dispel sloth and laziness, yellow to dispel greed, red to dispel jealousy, blue and black to dispel hatred, and green to dispel ego.

The central symbols are dorjee to dispel hatred, precious gems to dispel greed, white wheel to dispel sloth, fiery sword to dispel jealousy and the lotus to dispel ego.

"The outermost circle, the Merig, represents the mother, all aspects of the feminine," Dorjee said. "It's supposed to be fire that protects everything inside. Anything that comes in contact with fire burns. The mother's love protects everything inside, and that is emptiness. The fiery nature keeps away all evil."

The next circle, the Dorjee Rahway, represents the father or masculine.

"Where there is a child, a mother and father exists. That represents the Dewa Chimbo. The Bodhisattava imparts wisdom and knowledge (through the masculine)," Dorjee said.

LOTUS
The inner circle or layer Pema stands for the lotus.

"The lotus represents where everything originates from, where everything good can flourish. It's where you attain enlightenment. The enlightened become the Buddha. The 64 Pemas represent the 64 vessels in the mother's womb that bring you to life."

Once negative attributes are dispelled, then compassion comes.

"Once compassion grows, you can live in harmony with the whole," Dorjee said. "You're at peace with yourself, your family, your neighbors, your environment, insects, plants, everything."

HANDED DOWN
Thangkas and mandalas mirror each other. Phuntsok, a third-generation Thangka painter, is bound by the same scriptures. His late father, Jampa Kalsang, influenced and taught him this art form that represents the middle realm between the mortal and divine worlds. Thankgas are displayed in temples and homes and used for worship and meditation.

Both Tsering and Phuntsok have memorized and internalized the Buddhist scriptures.

"They're interpreting scripture into the visual, colors and shapes," Dorjee said. "Everything is precise. There is no template. They study it for years. They are able to bring it out of memory."

INTO RIVER
Thursday, the mandala was disassembled and its sand poured into the Saranac River behind Memorial Hall. The college and communal response to the festival exceeded Mountcastle's expectations.

"I know they're delighted," she said. "Their faces light up with surprise. There's a sense of amazement and wonder. I was just talking to Paul (Ferrari), who went to school here in the late '70s. He said it's one of the best events he's ever seen here in a long time."

E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

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