Buddhist monks visit Elon, build Sand Mandala
Elon students had the opportunity to watch two visiting Tibetan monks construct a Buddhist Sand Mandala over the course of three days last week. The monks are resident teachers at the Kadampa Center for the Practice of Tibetan Buddhism, a local Buddhist center based locally in Raleigh.
Sand Mandalas are built as a meditative activity to express a specific emotion. This mandala focused on peace and healing. The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life hosted the event where the community was invited to watch the mandala be built in the Numen Lumen Pavilion. It was later deconstructed as part of a special ceremony.
First year student Emily DeMaioNewton is a practicing Buddhist and expressed her gratitude for the event on campus.
“I think it’s really good that they’re recognizing all different faiths and providing events for people who belong to those faiths but also for people who maybe don’t know much about them - it gives them an opportunity to learn about different religions and people and culture,” said DeMaioNewton.
