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Lost Treasures of Tibet
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Classroom Activity
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Objective
To create a mandala-style piece of art.
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copy of the "Designing a Mandala" student handout (PDF
or
HTML)
- paper
- colored pencils
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Anthropologists and sociologists study cultural art and religion
partly because they reflect other aspects of a society. One of
the religious and artistic expressions important to Buddhists in
Lo Monthang is the mandala. The circle represents the cosmos and
is used as a guide to meditation. Tell students they will be
creating their own mandala, and that, like a traditional
mandala, it should have symbolic meaning of their own choosing.
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Provide a copy of the "Designing a Mandala" student handout to
each student. Review with students the meaning of some of the
components represented in the Chenrezig mandala shown on their
student handouts.
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Have students create their mandalas. Tell them that symmetry is
an essential quality of mandalas, with each mandala built on a
series of concentric circles. Ask them to consider and choose
angles and geometric shapes that will create symmetry in their
mandalas.
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After students have determined some shapes, have them create
their symbol systems. As they do so, have students think about
what is important to them, including people, places, objects,
and beliefs. Have students create a chart describing what each
symbol means, including colors and their meanings.
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Once the mandalas are created, have students write short poems
or essays explaining what their mandalas symbolize. Then
organize the class into four groups. Have each group display its
mandala pictures together in one area, putting a number on each
picture. Then have members put letters on their descriptions of
the mandalas and display the descriptions with the drawings (but
not matched up).
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Once all groups are done, assign groups to different stations.
Have each group member first look at each mandala and try to
interpret its meaning and then read the descriptions and match
them up with the corresponding mandalas.
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Conclude by discussing the different ideas that students'
mandalas symbolize. How close were students' original
interpretations of each others' mandalas to the actual
descriptions?
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As an extension, have students compare their mandalas to real
ones. For photos of Tibetan mandalas, visit the Himalayan Art
Web site at:
www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=91
Tibetan monks may spend weeks creating an intricate sand mandala,
only to destroy it within seconds to symbolize the spirit of
impermanence and non-attachment to the material world—that
everything is in the process of passing away and returning. Sand
mandalas are usually gathered in a jar, blessed, and poured into a
river or stream where the water disperses the healing energies of
the sand.
Each mandala is designed to invite people to greater awareness of
various aspects of Buddhist teachings and desirable qualities, such
as compassion, wisdom, or strength. Some of the colors used in a
Chenrezig mandala, which represents compassion, include white,
green, blue, yellow, and red. A mandala usually contains three
levels: The outermost level represents the world in its divine form,
the inner level depicts a map toward enlightenment, and a secret
level represents the perfect balance between body and mind. Every
aspect of a mandala has meaning, from the shapes and symbols chosen
to the colors used.
Students' mandalas may show a great variety of forms, symbols, and
colors—they should reflect some consciousness of the use of
shapes and of symbols with meaning to the student artist. There is
no right way to design or interpret a mandala.
Book
Jackson, David, and Janice Jackson.
Tibetan Thangka Painting: Methods and Materials. Ithaca, NY:
Snow Lion Publications, 1984.
Describes the sacred art of Tibetan scroll painting, from
composition to application.
Articles
Day, Nicholas. "The World in a Grain of Sand."
Washington Post, August 5, 1998, page C1.
Describes the process that Tibetan monks use to build and destroy a
five-foot mandala made of millions of grains of crushed,
vegetable-dyed marble sand.
Shacochis, Bob. "Kingdoms in the Air."
Outside, October 2002, page 158.
Describes the Mustang region, including life in Lo Monthang.
Web Sites
NOVA's Web Site—Lost Treasures of Tibet
www.pbs.org/nova/tibet/
Provides program-related articles, interviews, interactive
activities, and resources.
The Mandala Project
www.mandalaproject.org
Invites the submission of mandalas to an online gallery and
discusses the importance of the mandala in different religious
traditions.
A New Ceiling for the Roof of the World
www.asianart.com/ahf/index.html
Discusses the restoration of the 15th-century Thubchen Gompa
monastery in Mustang.
The Mandala of Chenrezig
www.webster.edu/depts/artsci/religion/mandala/index.html
Presents Webster University's Mandala of Chenrezig and includes
information about the Buddhist religion and a link to the World Wide
Web Virtual Library for Buddhist studies Web sites.
The "Designing a Mandala" activity aligns with the following
National Science Education Standards and Standards for School
Mathematics.
Grades 5-8
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Mathematics Standard 12:
Geometry
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Grades 9-12
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Mathematics Standard 12:
Geometry
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