I’ve been thinking about sand mandalas and rangolis (there are many other names for those, that’s the name I learned while travelling in Karnataka)… Both are beautiful, ephemeral drawings made with coloured sand (and for rangolis, flowers too).
What are Rangolis and Sand Mandalas?
For those who don’t know, sand mandalas are a meditation practice of Tibetan Buddhism (that follows a strict ritual procedure); rangolis are drawings made on the threshold of homes or home shrines and they have many symbolic meanings, one being keeping the evil eye at bay and welcoming gods (and people) into the household.
So, though the rituals and meanings change a little between the two, I see a connection. And there are many aspects of both that I find interesting:
- You need skills and technique. It is something you learn through a lot of practice.
- You need patience. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are, it is a process that requires time and patience.
- You do the best work you can, knowing that it won’t last. The “pride” is in the quality of your work, not in how many people will see it or how long it’ll last.
For me, it’s about the time-old philosophy that the journey is more important than the destination. It is a material way of sharing this knowledge. And it also teaches us the importance of doing whatever task we undertake with dignity and patience and love. Trying to be at our best for the pleasure of it, not because we will be socially rewarded.
Rangolis are also done as a daily morning household ritual. It’s beautiful having a morning practice that asks patience and creates beauty in this ephemeral way. I, by no means, am saying that we all should do it. I am the first one that doesn’t have this kind of intricate morning ritual.
How can we integrate these teachings in our life?
But I do think we can learn from that practice. We can make our little daily ritual (fixing a cup of coffee/tea, preparing breakfast, brushing our teeth or washing our face, for example) a bit more like a rangoli or a sand mandala ritual. Take time, doing it with the attention it deserves, even if it won’t last.
Instead of doing things on autopilot, rushing through our movements, we can be more intentional and put some magic in our life.
*One last note: I am no expert, if you want to learn more about rangolis and sand mandalas, there are a lot of webpages that will give you more information about them. I just wanted to write a thought on what I learned looking at them and seeing people doing them.