Buddhist Art Vandalized (Sort of)
May 25th, 2007 by Menachem Wecker
Right: The mandala before…
In NBC’s Nightly News podcast (find it here), Brian Williams reports on the Tibetan monks’ sand creation in the Kansas City airport ruined by a 3-year-old (you will have to scroll through to 20:15 to catch the story, which appears last in the program). See also WCSH6 and ABC, which reports the monks have forgiven the toddler, see also this.
Right: The mandala after…
Blog Roundup:
“At least the monks have cultivated the mindset of the fleeting nature of art, so it was no big loss.” [American Samizdat]
“My Mom would have spanked my butt right there though and it would have been all over youtube if that were around back then!” [a Jennifer on Myspace]
“As a mother, I would have been completely mortified and apologetic if one of my boys did this. To just grab your child and leave, what a bitch!” [The one and only Angie]
“Monks are bald, so they couldn’t rip their hair out. But were they angry? Did they curse? No. They simply smiled and started over.” [Kansascity.com]
“I have to say i respect the hell out of the monks for their gentle global view. I’m sending them a little check. You should too.” [Buzz Words]
“That’s it you guys, I’m buying a red robe and shaving my head.” [Outdoorzy.com]
“…in typical Tibetan monk fashion, they simply smiled and started over. Which is probably a better reaction than I would’ve had: drop kicking the baby through a plate glass window while screaming ‘DIE!’” [Geekologie]
“Of course, since they destroy the mandala themselves when it is complete, having it ruined early on is no doubt easy to align with their beliefs.” [NonStop Chatter]
[…] A new mandala is in the works at Auburn Theological Seminary in NYC to welcome Dalai Lama, courtesy of his personal monks from India, reports PBS’ Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. Hopefully, they will ban children, or else we might see a repeat of this. […]