{"id":21227,"date":"2015-03-26T00:01:16","date_gmt":"2015-03-26T07:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=21227"},"modified":"2015-03-26T00:01:16","modified_gmt":"2015-03-26T07:01:16","slug":"what-happens-when-you-drop-your-cell-phone-into-the-sacred-buddhist-sand-painting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/what-happens-when-you-drop-your-cell-phone-into-the-sacred-buddhist-sand-painting\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happens When You Drop Your Cell Phone Into the Sacred Buddhist Sand Painting?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Monks<\/a>
Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism created a sand painting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in December, 2014. A photo of the Dalai Lama\u00a0is\u00a0at left. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

The red-robed monks have spent days creating\u00a0this intricate Tibetan sand painting. It’s a sacred mandala. At its center sits the Ashokbhya<\/a> Buddha. Meditating on his image will help you\u00a0overcome your anger and hatred. In his hand the Ashokbhya Buddha\u00a0holds the vajra scepter\u00a0representing unshakable enlightenment. The painting is nearly finished, and it is exquisite.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow<\/a>
A\u00a0monk tapped sand onto the\u00a0border\u00a0of the mandala, which depicts the Akshobhya Buddha, the Immovable One, who embodies\u00a0unshakable peace–equanimity–in the face of conflict. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You lean into\u00a0the painting for a closer look. You hold your cell phone over it to snap a\u00a0picture. The phone slips from your fingers and drops with a thud. Sand scatters. White sand mixes with green and one corner of the priceless, sacred mandala \u00a0is destroyed.<\/p>\n

What happens next?<\/p>\n

Not a thing. The monks tidy up. And the next day a visitor asks about the jagged\u00a0bare spot in the mandala (That would be me. Because, no, I’d never hold my\u00a0cell phone over a sacred\u00a0Buddhist sand painting, would I?). A monk smiles with\u00a0equanimity.<\/p>\n

“Nothing is perfect,” he says.<\/p>\n

A few days later, in an act symbolizing the temporariness of all things, the monks — with equanimity — swirl the sand on the table, mixing it together, destroying their week’s work.<\/p>\n

PS: Just so you\u00a0know,\u00a0the word Islam means equanimity — surrender to what is.<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed this post, you might like “Religion Scholar Huston Smith at 93: ‘Be Happy!'”<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0or \u00a0“Buddhist Teacher Jack Kornfield on Sex, Drugs and Enlightenment.”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Tided up, but imperfect, the Santa Fe sand painting depicts the immovable Ashokbhya Buddha at its center — and the spot where the cell phone dropped, lower left. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For more about my newly released book, <\/em>Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith, go to WrestlingWithGodBook.com<\/a><\/strong>. In the book,\u00a0Buddhist teacher Martin Verhoeven tells the story of how he maintained his equanimity when a man pointed a gun at him during his 650-mile bowing pilgrimage up the California coast.<\/em><\/p>\n