25 Green Days of Christmas

Day 24 --

Nature Mandala

A group of friends and I made this mandala as part of a birthday celebration several years ago as our impermanent gift. We used lentils, rice, seeds, petals, cranberries, limes, things I've forgotten and things we found in the yard, with everything in individual bowls or bags. Throughout the evening everyone contributed to the mandala while we cooked and ate, laughed and visited.

The birthday lady thought we were talented from the beginning with only the center built to begin. And at every phase along the way there was a camera flashing, a conversation happening or someone silently placing grains of rice in a row.

Everyone's personality came through in how they placed rice on the mandala. One person practically slung it, another put it down, picked it up, put it down again. Another found a pair of tweezers to use for more precision. Someone else requested a different colored rice we didn't have. And it was all perfect.

The other beauty of the mandala was its impermanence. At the end of the evening, with everyone in tow, we lifted the board it was on, carried it outside (fortunately we were in the country) and broadcast everything back to nature with one united cheer.

The creatures in the night were happy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen and been a part of.

What our dear blogger has not included is that at that same birthday party the birthday lady was given two yound redwood trees, which have now survivd their first two years and have rooted themselves in the ground, as my friends have rooted themselves in my heart.

Thank you, my dear friend, for your love, your joy, your beauty, and so many things you have taught me.