On Tuesday, I like to think Laguna Beach suddenly became brighter when the Buddhist monks arrived to complete a “Buddhist healing” sand mandala at the Neighborhood Congregational Church.
Various Facebook fans and friends have checked in to tell me that they’ve run into the monks at various spots around Laguna Beach . . . the high school football practice . . . the grocery store . . . walking on the beach in their vast crimson and golden robes. There is something about their very presence that makes us smile.
On Tuesday, after a beautiful opening ceremony, the monks got to work with meticulous architectural schematics before the first grain of sand funneled its way to the “blueprint.” Progress on the sand mandala was quickly made Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning as the sand mandala grows by patient millimeters every passing moment.
It’s difficult to describe why this is such a significant event until you sink into a pew, adjust your breathing after your usual brisk day of activity, and absorb yourself in this work of art being constructed just a few feet from you. I do encourage you to find your way to the Neighborhood Congregational Church before Sunday’s dissolution ceremony following the day’s normal church services. Somehow – and I don’t really know how – this changes you.
These photos were provided by my great friend (and great photographer), Diane Alms, diane-alms@sbcglobal.net
