A Colorado Memory
About sixteen years ago I was privileged to watch the creation of a sand painting. It was round, and about twelve feet in diameter. The creator spent three days on it, and spoke to us as he worked.
He explained that it was spiritual more than artistic, often regarded as healing, that the process itself is deserving of respect because of its connection to spirit; because of this it is to be entered from a certain direction, and the work is done in deliberate order, just like the earth of which it is made.
He mentioned several times that humans have forgotten that they belong to the earth, not the other way around, that because of that forgetting we are losing the ability to hear the earth when it speaks to us. He went on to say that the earth has been lamenting the imbalance we bring, and that the earth will eventually have no choice but to fight back.
We respected his request that no photographs be taken. Having watched him work, I realized that it would have been as intrusive as filming someone at prayer. It doesn’t matter, the colors are still vivid in memory. And the same can be said of the vibrancy of his message.
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Years ago I, too, had the opportunity to watch the construction of a sand painting, only this one was by Tibetan monks visiting our university. It was breathtaking, painstaking, patient -- a 3D mandala for peace, a 3D prayer, destined to be deposited in the ocean within days of completion, not ever intended to be a permanent art exhibit or a permanent anything.
Tibetans and Navajos apparently are the only two cultures who have invented this prayer/art form.
There's a book you might like, if you haven't already seen it:
Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom: The Circle of the Spirit by Peter Gold
Forgive the digression. Thank you again. 
