Yoga Journal USA — December 2017

YOGAJOURNAL.COM / 14 / DECEMBER 2017

The art of impermanence

MIAMI BEACH IS NOT A PLACE you’d

expect to stumble upon a gathering

of Tibetan monks. But one New Year’s

Day several years ago, during the

final weeks of a dissolving four-year

marriage, I did just that.

My wife and I had planned to fly

to Miami from Manhattan—our five-

day trip to warmer climes intended

as a last-gasp attempt at reconcilia-

tion. But, long story short, I ended

up spending the holidays in South

Beach alone. Boy, was it depressing.

On the day I found the monks,

I had barely eaten. After trudging for

hours along the deserted dunes, bun-

dled against a surprisingly chilly wind

in a wool sweater and faded jeans,

I peeked into a small community

center on the beach near my crum-

bling art deco hotel. A sign above the

entrance read “Enjoy Tibetan culture

and art.” Inside, six Buddhist lamas

from a monastery in India huddled

quietly over a six-by-six-foot platform.

The monks were on day two of a week-

long project to create a sand mandala,

a richly metaphorical depiction of the

universe made of millions of grains

of vibrantly colored sand.

I joined a handful of visitors seat-

ed in chairs around the cordoned-off

platform. Some guests closed their

eyes. One silently chanted a mantra

and thumbed her mala beads. Most

of us were barefoot. The only noise

came from the gentle crashing of the

ocean waves, no more than 50 feet

away, and the tiny stick each monk

stroked over the grated surface of his

chakpur, the metallic strawlike fun-

nel through which he directed the

brightly hued sand, grain by grain,

onto the slowly blossoming mandala.

One monk kept a fold of his ma-

roon and saffron robe pulled over his

How to live more fully

by learning to let go.

By Keith Kachtick

continued on page 16

DHARMA TALK

JEREMY HORNER/GETTY IMAGES