Transcript ď - Sites

Chapter 8
The story of Buddhism
Mandala Project
• Students create a symbolic
portrait of Buddhism in the form
of a mandala.
• Briefly review the information on
mandalas in the chapter on
Hinduism. (pages 248-250).
• Show students examples of
Buddhist sand mandalas or a
video clip showing Tibetan monks
creating a sand mandala.
Mandala Project
• In ancient Tibet, monks created
intricate mandalas made from
coloured sand as part of a spiritual
practice that still continues today.
It takes many hours to complete a
mandala. When finished, the
monks destroy the mandala,
gathering its sand into jars and
emptying the jars into a nearby
body of water while chanting. This
blessing ceremony symbolizes the
cycle of life.
Mandala Project
• Discuss how artists create
mandalas using media such as oil
paints, coloured pencils, cloth, and
using symbols. The shapes the
artist create are always
geometrical in form and all shapes
are contained within a circle.
• Demonstrate the basic principles
of making a mandala (e.g., the
appropriate features of a mandala
are concentric circles and/or
squares, symbols, symmetry, and
colour). The mandala begins at the
centre of the canvas or page and
works outward in a circular
movement. Mandalas can be
abstract or a combination of
abstract and realistic images.