The photo of a Tibetan Buddhist
sand mandala that appeared in the January/February BAM has been gnawing at me ever since (“All Is Flux,” Elms).
As the article noted, the creation of this mandala is a religious
ritual with a particular focus: the transitory nature of all things.
One of the monks who made the sand painting is quoted as saying “he
didn’t feel a sense of loss when he destroyed a mandala. Buddhism sees
everything—including our faith, our views, and our identity—as
transitory.” By contrast, a Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology curator
told the author that the Western way “is geared toward permanence and
keeping things and collecting things.”
How is the meaning of this ritual supported by producing a permanent
photograph of the mandala? It was gorgeous; I appreciated it for its
aesthetic beauty, but as an event run by the Haffenreffer museum the
mandala creation should, I believe, have remained a cultural
expression, not simply a pretty picture. Permanently recording this
transitory ritual robs it of its cultural significance and reduces it
to a simple painting.
Samuel Baltimore ’05
Providence, R.I.
