GRAND JUNCTION — Today is the last opportunity to view the colorful sand mandala that six Buddhist monks have taken turns working diligently on for the past three days at the Western Colorado Center for the Arts.

By tonight the mandala will be swept up, and the sand dissolved into the Colorado River.

The monks will begin a sweeping up prayer ceremony at 6:30 p.m. at the Art Center, 1803 N. Seventh St., followed by a release of the sand into the Colorado River from Eagle Rim Park on Orchard Mesa.

Every few years, monks from Gaden Shartse Monastery in India tour the United States to share their culture and religion, and raise money to support their Tibetan Buddhist monastery.

The Gaden Shartse Monastic College was originally founded in Tibet in the 15th century. After China invaded the country in 1959, thousands of Tibetan cultural and religious centers were destroyed and many Tibetans fled to India, where the Indian government donated land to establish a monastery there.

The monks create sand mandalas twice a year at the monastery to symbolize Buddhism’s different deities. The Green Tara mandala being created at the Art Center is representative of the celestial home of the Buddha of activities, said Jangchup Chophel, an American monk and member of the monastery.

“As we create it we keep in mind the teachings of the benefits and sacred nature of this Buddha,” Chophel said. “Just by looking at it people receive vast amounts of benefit, positive imprints in their consciousness and mind.”

The monks meticulously create the mandala by scooping sand into two hollow cones and rubbing one on top of the other, carefully guiding the amount of sand released from a small hole in the cone.

Once the mandala is completed, it is dissolved quickly, within half an hour.

The dissolution ceremony is important, Chophel said.

“At the ceremony we invite the Green Tara along with her entourage — the celestial beings associated with her — to inhabit the mandala to help purify all the negativities of the area.”

Chophel has practiced Buddhism for many years and became an ordained monk three years ago. He taught high school history in Long Beach, Calif., from 2001 through 2008; he wore the traditional crimson monk robes for the past three years.

Chophel retired from teaching in July to join the monastery and direct the U.S. tour. His high school students continue to keep in touch with him via texting.

Ninety-five percent of the 1,500 monks who live in the monastery are from Tibet, said Tenzin Losang, one of the monks currently in Grand Junction. Some were born in India, but are of Tibetan heritage.

Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen, one of the last lamas remaining who was born and trained in Tibet, runs a Buddhist Center in Long Beach. He sponsors the monks to come to the United States in order to raise money to fund its monastery in India.

Peggy and Ray Pilcher of Grand Junction met the monks 11 years ago, when they were touring here. The Pilchers host the monks in their home whenever they visit Grand Junction. The Pilchers are among a group of local Buddhists who study with Gyeltsen.

The monks of Gaden Shartse Monastery travel to where they are invited and offered a place to stay, and a place to build the mandalas. The mandala being created in Grand Junction is sponsored by the Art Center and Bank of the West.

In Oregon, the monks created a mandala at a coffee shop in the hub of town.

In Glenwood Springs, they used meeting rooms in the Hotel Colorado.

Last week the group was in Aspen, where they created a mandala at a downtown art gallery.

The intention of this tour is to raise funds for the construction of a hospital near the monastery in southern India.

The hospital is for other refugees, lay people and Indians, as well as for the monks of the monastery, Chophel said.

“It’s open to all for free medical care,” he said.

The monks will be in Grand Junction for two more days. They will conduct a Green Tara Empowerment ceremony Tuesday at the Academy of Yoga at 8 p.m.

A dinner is planned with the monks at the Art Center on Wednesday. A limited number of tickets are available.

Tibetan astrology sessions, personal healings, house and business blessings are also being offered through Wednesday.

Grand Junction Free Press