Losang Samten Brings an Ancient Tradition to School
On a Monday morning in December, NEA National Heritage Fellow Losang Samten arrived at the Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School (FACTS) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Using markers, a straight edge, and a compass tool, he slowly and carefully began to draw precise intersecting lines and circles on a square table.
Losang emptied small bags of colored sand into shiny metal bowls and used one color to fill one foot-long hollow metal cone. The cone made a soothing and rhythmic sound as he rubbed it against a second cone, controlling each grain of sand placed at the exact center of the table. He chanted to help stay focused amid the noises of the busy school.
Under the watchful gaze of students and teachers, Losang spent a week creating an intricate and colorful mandala, a sand art masterpiece of Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of the week, FACTS students and staff helped him sweep the beautiful and meaningful artwork into a glass vase. The sand was deposited into a nearby river while Losang chanted prayers.
To those unfamiliar with the tradition of mandala making, this process raises many questions. Some of the answers were revealed during an interview that the FACTS seventh graders conducted with Losang about his school, his art, and his feelings about mandalas. Let’s find out what they discovered.
Student Questions
Q: Why did you join the Tibetan Buddhist monastery?
A: Each country has a different definition of “monastery,” but in my country, Tibet, joining the monastery means going to school. Some of the monks and people live at the monastery; some people live nearby and go every day to the monastery.
Denne historien er fra July/August 2017-utgaven av Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids.
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Denne historien er fra July/August 2017-utgaven av Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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