Mandala for Peaceful Fire Puja - created by Sonam Dhargye,

at Jewel Heart-Cleveland - July 11 - 13, 2008

For the past several years, I have been a member of Jewel Heart, a Tibetan culture and dharma center on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded by Gelek Rinpoche, a former high lama who went into exile with His Holiness the Dala Lama XIV in 1959. He eventually emigrated to the United States, where he lived briefly in Cleveland, and then moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where Jewel Heart was founded.

Briefly expressed, my reasons for joining Jewel Heart - Cleveland, were to re-forge nearly fifty years of do-it-yourself Buddhist practice, into a more disciplined, traditional and formal practice, in the hope that it would lead to increased understanding. I also wanted involvement in the third jewel of Buddhism, the sangha. (What a westerner would call a congregation, or church family.) Jewel Heart has been a true jewel on both counts. The core group of teachers and dharma coordinators are as sweet and welcoming as can be, with great humor, enthusiasm and true love and respect for Gelek Rinpoche, himself a jewel.

Modest as most great Tibetan teachers seem to be, Rinpoche's depth of knowledge and simplicity of written and spoken teaching are products of genius. He is a true cultural treasure, as are the many of the teachers and lamas of the Tibetan diaspora, working in the west to both preserve the linages of the ancient dharma and make them available for a new expression in the west. One of the last of the generation of recognized reincarnated lamas, Gelek Rinpoche was born in old Tibet, and comes from a long and aristocratic line of Tibetan lamas, some of whom were teachers and associates of the lineage of Dali Lamas. Aware of the widespread campaign against Tibetan tradition and culture being waged by the Chinese within the homeland following the invasion, Rinpoche joined in the work of cultural preservation undertraken by His Holiness at Dharamsala, India, the home of the Tibetan Governbment in Exile.

Rinpoche has written of the contrast between his life as a high and honored lama in old Tibet, with a retinue, and traveling processions with lots of frills , and his present more humble (though still highly honored) lifestyle, as a lesson in impermanence and the suffering of attachment.

Needless to say, it is an honor and a great opportunity to participate in the preservation of Tibetan Buddhist culture by receiving teachings in the various Buddhist lineages, either from Rinpoche, or from the many great teachers brought to Cleveland and Ann Arbor by Jewel Heart, including His Holiness, Dali Lama XIV who visited Rinpoche in Ann Arbor last spring, and presented a teaching at the University of Michigan.

Sonam Dhargye

It is in the context of my membership in Jewel Heart - Cleveland, that I had an opportunity last summer, to witness the creation of a sand mandala by the renowned Tibetan artist Sonam Dhargye. His presentation was made possible by my friends, the great stalwarts of Jewel Heart - Cleveland, Bill and Susie Kirchner. The mandala he created was of a type used in a traditional Tibetan ceremony known as a Peaceful Fire Puja. I will follow this preface with an upload of a press release I wrote last summer, which will give greater detail on the nature of a Puja, and on the Peaceful Fire Puja in particular.

But first, I want to acknowledge the experience of last summer as an inspiration, and pay honor to it through this blog's title. It is my hope, in the spirit of the Peaceful Fire Puja, to contribute in this small way to an human awakening of the spirit, to a realization of the potential for positive change for those willing to risk comfortable assumptions and circumstances, and to reducing negative karma and increasing positive karma through thoughtful action.

DHL

July 11 - 13, 2008

Construction of Peaceful Fire Puja Sand Mandala

Jewel Heart; Cleveland

Sonam Dhargye, a former Tibetan Buddhist monk, and renowned artist in traditional Tibetan media, will be in Cleveland on July 11, to create a “Peaceful Fire” Sand Mandala at Jewel Heart; Cleveland. Sonam was formerly the chant/ritual master of the Gyuto Tantric College in Dharamsala, India. He is renowned as a creator of traditional Tibetan art, including an enormous butter sculpture which was on stage with the Dalai Lama at a recent event in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was one of the monks responsible for the creation of the only permanent Sand Mandala in the United States, a large Yamantaka Mandala, now on display at the Walker Museum of Art in Minneapolis.

Creation of the Peaceful Fire Puja Mandala will begin on Friday July 11 at 6pm, at Jewel Heart Cleveland, located at 2670 West 14th. Street, in Tremont. It will be completed by the following Sunday, and will remain on display until July 27th, when it will be dismantled following a traditional Tibetan ceremony.

Jewel Heart Cleveland is the local chapter of Jewel Heart International, a Tibetan educational and cultural center, founded by Gelek Rinpoche, former Tibetan Lama and an associate of the 14th Dalai Lama. Jewel Heart provides numerous teaching programs which transmit the essence of Tibetan Buddhism, providing guidance and practical methods to anyone interested in spiritual development, as well as those who wish to follow the traditional Buddhist path.

The Sand Mandala is a sacred tradition in Tantric Buddhism, extending back over 2,500 years. Prior to 1989, Mandalas were always constructed for ceremonial and ritual purposes behind the closed doors of the monastery. There was no opportunity for the public to see their creation. Only advanced practitioners could be trained in their construction, following instruction by a highly qualified Lama. Then in 1989 the first public creation of a Sand Mandala was held in the Natural History Museum in New York City. Since then, Tibetan monks and nuns have constructed and demonstrated the Sand Mandala throughout the world.

The Mandala construction at Jewel Heart Cleveland, will be part of a Peaceful Fire Puja; a traditional Buddhist ritual that purifies the environment, bestows blessings on the participants, and promotes world peace and harmony. The general purpose of the ritual is to remove obstacles to enlightenment, and to forestall impending difficulties and illnesses which have manifested themselves through dreams and inauspicious omens.

Images by: DHLarsen - July 11 - 13, 2008