Tibetan monks visiting Newcastle - doing a sand mandala - in the city town hall. This was a week before the Dali Lama was visiting Australia. His visit was causing a great deal of attention (as it always does) because the Politicians were avoiding him because they might offend the Chinese (trade and money).
These monks had spent a week painstakingly making the mandala with very fine coloured sand. On the last day among chants and prayers the sand is then swept into one pile. Such love (of the Buddha), such devotion (of the task at hand) and finally surrender (nothing is permanent).
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these guys amaze me. i wish i could see this being done in person sometime. their attention to detail captivates me. good capture of detail and context.
That is devotion. I saw a video about a week ago of monks doing the same sand painting, and a little kid shuffled through it for fun. That certainly tested their patience as they recreated it.
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