Photo Contributed by Matt Faries
Geshe Pema meticulously works to construct the sand mandala at Fayettechill Basecamp on Dickson Street.
The Fayettechill Basecamp shop on Dickson Street was home to a Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala the week of April 18 through April 22.
Geshe Pema, a Tibetan monk, meticulously constructed a circle of vibrantly colored sand into intricate geometric shapes and designs for an entire week in eight-hour shifts. The process involved using special funnel tools called chakpur that shake out the sand via vibration from a scraper tool.
Shades of blue, red, yellow, white and green were used throughout the art piece.
Upon completion Friday afternoon, in the center was a depiction of the medicine Buddha, which represents healing of negative energy in town. A few hours later the grand art piece was set to be wiped away, in a ritual symbolizing the impermanence of life and nature.
At the gathering of the mandala destruction ceremony, Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan gave Geshe Pema honorary citizenship in Fayetteville.
“The thing that we believe in in this city is love and peace and hope, and when I see this mandala I think of that,” Jordan said.
“Our city is grateful for the substantial contributions the resident and visiting monks and the Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas have made to the Northwest Arkansas community and the world as they provide us with demonstrations of their rich and ancient culture.”
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Following the completion of the sand mandala, Fayetteville Lioneld Jordan grants Geshe Pema an honorary citizenship during the destruction ceremony at the Fayettechill Basecamp store Friday, April 22.
Together Geshe Pema and Geshe Thupten Dorjee, a fellow Tibetan monk and UA professor, began the destruction ceremony for a packed crowd of about 100 Fayettevillians who were able to witness it.
The two monks, dressed in orange and yellow robes and yellow feathery hats, chanted in deep, throaty tones and rang bell-like instruments to begin the ceremony.
The crowd of hip college students, Fayettechill employees, the mayor and parents with their children in their arms sat in reverence, eyes peeled on the circular artwork that would soon vanish.
One stroke at a time, the mandala was then brushed away, and the sand was given to those in attendance. A jar of leftover sand was collected, and then spread into the creek at Wilson Park in downtown Fayetteville, thus completing the ritual.
In an effort to raise community awareness of Tibetan culture and the Fayettechill nonprofit TibetanTees project, Fayettechill owner Devin O’Dea organized the mandala with the help of Geshe Dorjee, who was a former professor for O’Dea during his undergrad at UA.
The TibetanTee project raises money through sales of Tibetan-produced Fayettechill T-shirts to “create employment for exiled Tibetans refugees living in India, bring increased awareness of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and to provide funds for the education of Tibetan youth who are currently living in India,” according to the Fayettechill website.
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Geshe Pema brushes away the sand mandala during the destruction ceremony. The intricate sand artworks are built and then destroyed to symbolize impermanence in life and nature.
O’Dea said the mandala process brought a lot of awareness of the project to the community through social media coverage and saw a boost of positivity in many Fayettechill employees.
“One of the lessons I learned with the mandala was I committed to saying it was going to happen before getting the $2,000 together to do everything properly, but we were able to get the financial support from the community. It all worked out,” he said.
“There’s no clear path to how it’s going to happen but you just gotta keep pushing forward and day by day it gets a little more complete.”
The mandala also played a part in benefiting O’Dea’s personal life and relationships, O’Dea said.
“Dr. Burris told me before that being at the center of producing one of these it will really make your life flourish, and a lot of dormant energy comes to fruition,” he said. “That was happening across all avenues of my life in a pretty surreal way. I was seeing these really good sides of people in my life, either my friends, people I worked with or went to school with who connected with the concepts surrounding the mandala.”
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Geshe Thupten Dorjee deposits the remainder of the sand mandala into the creek at Wilson Park in Fayetteville, completing the mandala destruction ceremony April 22.
Several local businesses in were involved in providing funding and meals for the monks during the construction of the mandala.
“I love it when the community comes together to create and participate in something that’s really wonderful, and I think that’s what we’ve done this week,” said Wesley Clawson, president of the Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas.
Geshe Dorjee was inspired to come to Fayetteville and teach at the University of Arkansas after meeting UA professor and Honors Program director Sydney Burris at a convention in Canada.
“This is the 12th mandala we’ve done in Northwest Arkansas since Geshe Dorjee arrived here,” Burris said.
“A mandala like this requires a lot of community energy, support and feedback, and Fayettechill has been inexhaustible in that.”
