For the exact days I was in Singapore, November 10-22, the world's largest sand mandala was created then destroyed right across the street from the place I stayed.
My gracious host Ana and I were at the food stall behind her MRT stop, a place you could pretty much find me any day I was there, when we wondered what was in the "grand tentage" set up in the open grassy area outside the station. Fortunately it was early on in my stay so I had the chance to go back in several times.
Every single grain of sand overwhelmed me. It was a unique experience in being awed. I have been privy to some incredible wonders in this world but there was something about the exquisite detail, the elaborate design and the enormity of it. All so lovingly created with only one intention, to heal the world. The fact that it was to exist for a mere 12 days made it even more poignant. The sand was brilliantly colored and impossibly piled to create texture and contour. The Buddha's nose was a perfect peak of honey colored sand. His hands looked life-like. I stared and stared at the designs. The meditative state the monks were in to create such perfection reflected back to me in every grain.
A large platform was built around the mandala. At one end an alter had been set up. Monks sat there chanting and offering blessings. I went up twice. Once for myself and once for my man. I kneeled before them. They placed a dorje on my head, then poured water into my hands I sipped then swept over my head, then they tied a string on my wrist all while chanting in their trance-inducing deep voices.
I take it as a tremendously auspicious sign of our success with Global Family Yoga in Asia...and for the wellness of the world.
***I am figuring out this weblog little by little. I just figured out how to show my photo albums so look over there on the left column below the recent post listing and check out the photos of the Buddha~
