The Creation of a Sand Mandala of Amitayus
for the 60th Birth Anniversary of
HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
Mandala
Mandala (དཀྱིལ་འཁོར།) is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the Universe. The basic form of most mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point. Each gate is in the general shape of a T. Mandala, often exhibiting radial balance.
In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed to focus the attention of aspirants and adepts, as a spiritual teaching tool, for establishing a sacred space, and as an aid to meditation and trance induction.
The mandala can be shown to represent in visual form the core essence of the Vajrayana teachings. The mind is “a microcosm representing various divine powers at work in the universe.” The mandala represents the nature of experience, and the intricacies of both the enlightened and confused mind.
On the one hand, the mandala is regarded as a place separated and protected from the ever-changing and impure outer world of samsara, and is thus seen as a “Buddhafield” or a place of Nirvana and peace. The view of Vajrayana Buddhism, however, sees the greatest protection from samsara being the power to see samsaric confusion as the “shadow” of purity, which then points towards it.
Buddha Amitayus
The Buddha Amitayus (Tse Pag Me, ཚེ་དཔག་མེད།) is a celestial Buddha who is often described in the sacred texts that belong to the Mahayana Buddhist school. He is one of the manifestations of Amitabha, who is closely associated with longevity. Amitayus is typically described and illustrated in a seated position, with his hands holding a vessel that contains the nectar of immortality.
Amitayus Ceremony
The mantra of Amitayus is longer than some other mantras, but is also relatively easy to recite. It is as follows:
Om A Ma Ra Ni Dzi Wan Ti Ye Soha
This means: “By this virtue, may I swiftly attain Buddha Amitayus’ state. May all sentient beings, without exception, attain this state.” By reciting the mantra of Amitayus, we can hope to achieve the goal of effectively overcoming the power that ignorance and death hold over all of us.
Buddha Amitayus is the Buddha who is representative of boundless merit, life, and wisdom. By engaging in reciting the mantra of Amitayus, we will be able to develop our own qualities of wisdom, life, and boundless merit, all essential aspects of our spiritual development, which will ultimately help us to achieve true enlightenment. Engaging in the practices that Amitayus speaks of is said to be able to help us with the elimination of the obstacles in our way of achieving long life, including pain and sickness. Devotion to Amitayus, and the elements he spoke of, can also help to pacify the potential for untimely or premature death, and is said to be helpful for those who are expecting a baby, but who may have suffered a previous miscarriage.
Ritual Performers
(1) His Eminence Lopen Kunzang Wangdi is the Master of State Ceremony, a Ministerial-rank Clergy in the State Monk Body of Bhutan. His Eminence will preside over the consecration of the Mandala and offer prayers of longevity and prosperity to HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.
(2) Venerable Lopen Kinley Namgyel is Chief Architecture of the Buddhist University of Tango Monastery, currently being built. He has served as the Private Chaplain to His Majesty, the Fourth King of Bhutan.
(3) Venerable Lopen Kinley Penjor is the Additional Master of Mandala (Kyilkhor Lopen) in the Centre Monk Body of Bhutan. He specializes in making sand Mandalas.
(4) Monk Daw Tshering is an artist of Mandala.
(The organizing committee of 2014 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum: Flower Culture in Asia would like to express deep gratitude and appreciation to the Centre for Bhutan Studies for organizing this event.)