Sunday, June 16, 2013

Impermanence

 The Tibetan Flag flew over the Farmer's Market in Saxapahaw last night. I had my table set up on the porch near the gallery and sales were good. The monks walked around the market, listening to the music, checking out the farmer's stands, and taking soooo many pictures with their phone cameras. It was quite a sight to see and there was a very unique crowd out last night. It was magical. I met some very wonderful people.
 This is where they began at the first of the week, with rulers and compasses and math, ugh. Look at Wesley in the corner, not even shooting anything yet. By the end of the week, she was attached to her camera and growing more confident every moment.
 The mandala grew, the monks worked non stop for hours each day.
 Remember, this is colored SAND!
 The market wrapped up around 8:30 last night and the monks finished up around 10pm, Wesley shot some footage, I packed up my stuff and we got home around 11pm.

 Today was the deconstruction. It was an extremely emotional ceremony. Gerry came with us, celebrating Father's Day and life in general. It was breathtaking to see these young men watch as the mandala they spent all week painstakingly constructing was brushed away in just minutes.
The room swelled with metaphors for all of us........
Geshe la presented Wesley with a Khata at the end of the day as a blessing for good luck. The khata is usually given by a Tibetan as an arriving or a departure gift. Wesley of course cried, then I cried, then I remembered I had a camera. Shot this through all of our tears. This scarf will be such a treasured thing for Wesley. She has dreamed and read and studied the Tibetans since she was a little girl. And now, this week, she spent every day with them, sharing meals, praying, filming them in intimate settings, and feeling so very blessed to be allowed this opportunity. She bought some prayer beads for Gerry for Father's Day and Geshe blessed them for her. We are indeed very blessed today.
This has been a life transforming experience for many of us that participated in the monk's Sacred Arts Tour this week. I started and ended each day this week praying with monks for compassion and then watching my child grow so much and watching the mandala unfold, and most importantly sharing this with lots of very special friends. June has been quite a month for introspection and discovery of impermanence.
Namaste.........

16 comments:

Laura Farrow said...

a group of monks built a sand mandala at Duke several years ago... it really is an amazing thing to witness. there was a ceremony and march out to Duke gardens to release the sand into the pond there. they also distributed sand to those of us in attendance.. coolio. I still have that sand...
so great that you all were able to hang out and personally connect with them.. xo

June Perry said...

I've so enjoyed these posts. The lesson on impermanence and non attachment is one we can all continue to learn from.

So glad it was such a moving experience for your family.

Love,
Namaste!
June

Vicki said...

Sometimes, the Universe places us exactly where we NEED to be :)

Sand mandalas are truly awe-inspiring. Focus and dedication.

And, a lesson on "letting go".

I like to think that I can't move on to the next stage in my life until I give into and let go of the current.
Your recent posts have been wonderful reminders of that.
Thank you Tracey :)

Amy said...

wow! lucky you three.

Tracey Broome said...

Thanks ya'll, it's very hard to express just exactly what this week has been like, but I think you get it! Glad you have enjoyed the posts. One of these days when Wesley has finished her edit, I'll have a little film to show you just how special it was....

Lori Buff said...

So many lessons where put into that mandala. Besides impermanence we also saw how the journey can be more important than the destination. Beauty may be fleeting but it's still important to create beauty and to share it. I'm sure you could list more.

I'm sure you and Wes will hold onto these memories for many, many years. Thanks for bringing us along.

Michèle Hastings said...

Amazing! Thank you for sharing.

Tracey Broome said...

Lori, so right! Lessons of patience, democracy, teamwork, tolerance, acceptance, letting go.... not to mention all of the personal interactions this week. I met so many interesting people and I learned new customs of different cultures, new words, so many many things. My blog pales in comparison to the actual experience.

Michele, glad you enjoyed, hope to share the film one day with all of you!

Susan Wells said...

Sooooo beautiful!!! THanks for sharing this with us! And causing me to shred tears as well! So many blessings!

Unknown said...

What an amazing experience~ thank you for sharing it. I love that you and Wes could share this time and that Gerry could be there for the finale!

Tracey Broome said...

Yep, quite a week! Glad you liked it!!!

ang design said...

sounds peaceful trace :)

Tracey Broome said...

Peaceful, serene, life altering!

willtheyeatvegan said...

would love to see Wesley's video clips

it's so great to know that more and more people are picking up on Buddha

and experiencing old ideas

Tracey Broome said...

Wes will spend a couple of weeks editing and then maybe she will give me a little clip to post!
We need a little Buddha wisdom these days, don't we!

willtheyeatvegan said...

The Boston Buddha on FB the other day:
“Why don’t I see goodness and beauty everywhere? Because you cannot see outside of you what you fail to see inside.”

- Anthony de Mello

It's amazing how the monks can make you feel so connected to all of the goodness and beauty everywhere, just by their presence. When others experience the peacefulness they bring, it makes me feel encouraged for the USA - that there are similarly connected people all over our country, and this keeps me really hopeful for the future.