A superb artistic performance worth recalling over and over again. On February 22, 2001, two monks from Nepal and Tibet, Ven. Tenzin Thutop and Ven. Tenzin Deshek, "built" a "Medical Buddha Sand Mandala" at the Yager Gallery in Ackland, New York, to showcase Asian art. The painting material used is sand, and the painting process is shocking and thought-provoking, suggesting to the world that "prosperity is just a handful of fine sand."
The scene at the beginning of February 22nd
Creation Tools
February 26
The drawing started on February 27th. The material is a kind of fine sand used in Tibetan medicine.
February 28
March 1: More and more people are paying attention to their creations.
March 2
March 4
March 5: The beginning of prosperity.
March 9: My child, have you seen the fragility behind prosperity?
March 14
March 15
March 16
March 20: The day of completion has finally arrived. The brilliant achievements and the magnificent picture occupy everyones vision, heart, and even soul with a compulsive attitude.
March 21: The final work, the perfect picture, the bustling world, look at it for a while and remember it.
The three-dimensional effect created by the difference in color of the sand lines on the ribbons at both ends of the pagoda is breathtaking.
Every living being surrounding the Buddha leaps onto the sand.
The exhibition continues until June 8th.
Then, pay attention to what they are doing?
Decoration, the life of the artwork is over, but maybe the gratitude they left in peoples hearts is the real life of the work, and it has just begun.
Gone... the disappointed audience.
Time seems to have stopped, and a months time is condensed beside the gurgling stream. The crowd of people watching from a distance and the man meditating nearby all expressed different condolences and evaluations of the disappearance of a world. The fine sand passing slowly in the hands of the monk no longer has the stunning appearance, those Buddhas flying in the sky, those thriving lives, those magnificent temples, and those various prosperity. Everything drifts into the stream with the wind, settles, fades, and never returns.
The entire work is to show the transience of life. The entire picture has a rigorous structure and rich colors. With the help of sand, a layered and heavy medium, the religious significance is fully expressed. Whether it is the Buddha sitting in the middle or the demeanor surrounding the BuddhaThe different creatures, or the misty aura surrounding the world, all have their own charms, and harmoniously constitute a perfect world. What is even more impressive is that this unique creative technique limits the possibility of too many changes, so the entire picture is completed in one go, just like the monks dictating the well-known world view in their minds.
From a behavioral perspective, the monks own creative process also fits the intention of the painting. The long creation, the short-term joy after success, and then the unhesitating destruction. It seems to be warning us about the principles of doing things, the long-term dedication and persistence, the short-term gains, and the pain of loss.
Of course, I don’t know if they feel any pain in their hearts. Facing such exquisite paintings, they are able to reach out with that brush. It is indeed a different realm. But judging from their expressions, the surrounding audience members were in pain, and the reluctant eyes said everything. I am also in pain, so I want to remember it and hope that people who see it can stop and read it slowly and think quietly.
Prosperity is just a handful of fine sand.
