A Letter from Losang on the Eve of the Start of the Mandala

I am so excited that next week, on October 26th, I will begin to
construct the Kalachakra Mandala. I always feel honoured to create this
mandala, for when I first laid eyes on it at the age of 16 in the
Monastery of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, it gave me goose bumps. It
will take a long time and a great deal of effort and concentration, but
the benefits will be immeasurable.

For those of you able to witness the creation of this glorious mandala in
person, I invite you to come and visit as often as you are able. For
anyone unable to visit the physical space where the mandala will be
constructed, it will be possibleto enjoy the process online. Images will
be available on the Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Centre
ofPhiladelphia's Website. I hope to
post images every day and to explain the significance of each section of
the mandala as they emerge on the thekpu (mandala house or platform) as
well as during the ceremonial dismantling. I hope you can all join me
for thecreation of the mandala as well as for the other exciting events
planned (see the calendar of events on the Centre's website).

I would like to provide you some information on the Kalachakra and the
significance of creating this wonderful Mandala here in Philadelphia. 
The Kalachakra Mandala, also known as The Wheel of Time,is one of the
most advanced and complex Buddhist teachings and is dedicated tobring
peace to individuals, communities, and the world. I feel inspired that
this intricate andbeautiful mandala will be created in my hometown, in
physical proximity to variousmonuments of freedom, including
Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. According to tradition it
states thaton the 8th of July 1776 the Liberty Bell rang from the
steeple ofIndependence Hall to summon the citizens of Philadelphia to
hear the firstpublic reading of the Declaration of Independence. On
that day, the sound of independence and liberty chimed through the City
of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. With the rasping of the metal funnels
(chakpu) to release the tiny grains of sand that create thedesign of the
Kalachakra, a melody of liberation will ring out once again. I invite
you all to join me in thecreation of the Kalachakra Mandala, to ring the
internal bell of liberty forfreedom from suffering for all living
beings.

The Kalachakra Mandala (Du Kyi Khorlo in Tibetan) will be created at the
University of Artand the Gershman Y along with various other programs
from 26th of October to the 22nd of November. This mandala is a
remarkable testament to thetransformational teachings of the Dharma. It
depicts the knowledge and understanding of all events andperceptions,
past, present and future, and is a vehicle for world peace. This sacred
scripture was taught over 2600 years ago by the historic Buddha
Shakyamuni to the king of the mythicalland of Shambala, King Suchandra
(Dawa Sangbo in Tibetan). Recognized as an emanation of the deity
Vajrapani (who represents thepower of the Buddhas), King Suchandra had
heard of the Kalachakra and requestedthis teaching from the Buddha. 
Inresponse to the request, the Buddha manifested himself as the deity
Kalachakrain union with his consort Vishvamata, in the centre of the
glorious three-dimensional mandala.

The Buddha manifested the entire mandala within a stupa (a stupais a
monument to the Buddha) in a village in southern India, a sacred place
nowknown as Amaravati. Within the stupa appeared the image of cosmic
Mt. Meru, upon whichrested a five-story palace. Kalachakra and
Vishvamata reside within the centre of the palace, together with hundreds
of other deities. This represents the inner mandala.  In addition, the
outer mandala, known as the Glorious Constellation Mandala, was projected
on the ceiling of the stupa; with a view of the stars and the
entire cosmos. The alternate mandala, withthe secret teachings on the
union of wisdom and compassion, was also depicted. The Buddha of
Wisdom,Manjushri, also appeared within the stupa at the time of the
original teaching, and is said to always be present in the transmission
of the Kalachakra Tantra.

For two years following this Initiation, King Suchandra composed over
twelve thousand verses, representing the root text of theKalachakra
teaching. Buddha had instructed King Suchandra to teach the Kalachakra
Tantra and to build a physical model of the Kalachakra Mandala within
Shambala. It is said that several highly realized practitioners
journeyed to Shambala, a pure land inhabited by human beings of special
spiritual and karmic qualities, to witness this monument to
ultimate freedom and learn about the Kalachakra. They returned to India
with an understanding of the teachings and wrotethem in Sanskrit to be
preserved by many high level Tantric masters.

King Suchandra was the first in the lineage of kings ofShambala who
preserved the Kalachakra Tantra. One of the kings of Shambala, Yasha,
was an emanation ofManjushri, and through skillful instruction united
all castes of Shambala intoone family and ensured that Shambala would
maintain its peaceful, idealstate. This was critical to ensurethe pure
teachings would be preserved until the time when Kalachakra
teachingswould be greatly needed. It wasforetold that the Kalachakra
Tantra would reemerge from Shambala to bringtremendous peace in a time
referred to as an Age of Darkness, also known as theDegenerating Times.

The twenty-fifth kalki(governor who carries the lineage) was seen to be
the one who would thentransform the ignorance during the Degenerating
Times and guide humanity towardan Age of Enlightenment. It was said that
the Age of Enlightenment would last for a thousand years, after
whichtime another Age of Darkness would occur. All of these events were
originally prophesied by Buddha Shakyamuni atthe time of the instruction
to King Suchandra. It is believed that the time of the twenty-fifth
kalki, the Degenerating Times, could be the 21stCentury.

When we look at the world today, it certainly seems thatthis may indeed
be the Degenerating Times. This is a time when humanity is facing
incredible challenges, including international tensions and violence,
environmental destruction, increasing spiritual doubt, financial crises,
epidemics andplagues. For example, with increasing international travel
and transportation, we have seen the increase in spread of diseases and
are currently `on alert' for a potential globalepidemic or
pandemic.

Unfortunately throughout history battles have been foughtfor land,
resources or revenge, with extensive loss of life and horrific suffering.
However, only in lastthe few hundred years have we developed the
technology to kill millions ofpeople and destroy life on the entire
planet with the push of a few buttons. The business of war has become a
multi-billion dollar enterprise! Hand to hand combat is much more rare
in the modern world, and weaponscan be launched (through satellites or
rockets) to attack another region on theother side of the world. There
hasbeen a proliferation of nuclear weapons, resulting in the creation of
sufficientnuclear armaments to destroy all life on the planet more than
45 times[1] (fn). Biological warfare has been used in the past (for
example, in the 1800's, blankets infected with smallpox were given
toNative Americans in the USA and Canada to address the so-called
"IndianProblem", Mustard Gas was used in World War I, and Napalm
was used in the Vietnam War) and at the present time, laboratories are
working on developingenhanced chemical and biological weapons, as well
as antidotes should theseever be unleashed.

However, humans are not only concerned about the potentialdestruction of
life by the menace of weapons, as there is also the threat ofclimate
change, resulting from environmental devastation and pollution. In the
news, we hear stories fromaround the world of heavy metal contamination,
oil tanker spills, as well asgreenhouse gas emissions. All ofthese are
the result of human activities and are having a devastating effect onour
home Mother Earth, and these changes are happening so rapidly.

In the past, our grandparents grew most of our food in ourback yards,
but now we get food from around the world. Our ancestors could not have
imaginedthat with the vast supply of pristine rivers and lakes that we
would ever needto buy our drinking water. Yet,even in remote
communities beside large lakes, the residents may need to boilor buy
water because the lakes have been polluted. And who knows, if we
continue to pollute the environment, wemay soon see service stations
offering not only to refill our bottles withclean water, but also with
fresh air.

Furthermore, while we see many wonderful technologicaladvances, such as
telecommunications and computing, social and spiritualdecline is also
taking place. We see that there has been an erosion ofcommunity and
family bonds, with people of all ages becoming more aggressiveand
violent. Perhaps in an effort to address this, in the West there is an
increasing interest in spirituality inresponse to the feeling that
something is missing in people's lives. Yet, manypeople expect
spiritual transformation to take place with the velocity of
thetechnological world, where digital operations are often measured
innanoseconds. And in the East, when people see the apparent comforts of
life in the West, people may lose faith and leave their spiritual
practice behind in favour of materialism. Sadly, this is even occurring
withthose who have dedicated their life to spiritual practice –
monks and nuns.

As predicted in the prophesies of Buddha Shakyamuni andManjushri, we
have arrived at a degenerating time, but together with thisprediction,
we were also provided with the profound teachings to remedy this. The
Kalachakra is seen asone of the most powerful Tantras for transformation
and healing during thesetimes. The Kalachakra teaching was preserved in
Tibet for over a thousand years, and during his life His Holiness the XIV
Dalai Lama has given this teaching over 33 times. The latest initiation
was given in thesame place where the historic Buddha originally gave the
teaching, inAmaravati.

As you may know, the foundation of Buddhist teachings are interdependence
and the laws of cause and effect. This means that even thoughall of
these problems are happening in the world, we can come together
andrealize positive results. We can achieve freedom beyond our
imagination, more than solely political or religious freedom. If we
begin to ring thebell of inner liberation, we can elicit the sound waves
of ultimate freedom,freedom from suffering and freedom from cyclic
existence.

It is important to notice that in the world today alongsidethese
challenges, we can also find signs of hope. Although we do not see many
articles on the Front Page,there are many people working to create an
inner mandala and bring peace andharmony to the earth. There aremany
people, organizations and communities who are striving to create a
lifewhich is not dependent on non-renewable resources. Even ten years
ago, it was difficult to imagine that anAfrican American president would
be elected in the United States, and yet wenow see President Obama and
his family elected to the White House and see howthe entire world was
uplifted by the election of President Obama. Personally, this inspired
great hopefor me and I once again felt the sensation of goose bumps with
the promise ofhope for the future.

I truly believe that there are many wonderful dreams that wecan achieve.
I believe that we canachieve these, in our very own home town.
Therefore, it is important that we all come together and support
thecreation of this the spectacular mandala. As you may be aware, this
mandala is normally constructed by a group ofartists, not by one single
artist. In this instance, I will be physically working alone, but you
are allinvited to visualize yourself assisting me with the creation of
themandala. Indeed, I will visualizeeveryone working with me for the
construction of this sacred image. As you imagine yourself making the
mandala,it is also beneficial to chant the beautiful mantra of the
Kalachakra:

OM AH HUM HOH HAM KSHAH

MA LA VA RA YA HUM PHET

The four syllables OM AH HUM HOH are the four vajra syllables:

OM is the vajra of body,

AH is the vajra of speech,

HUM is the vajra of mind,

HOH is the vajra of wisdom.

The next two syllables, HAM and KSHAH are the seedsyllables for the
father Kalachakra (HAM) and, correspondingly, his consort Vishvamata
(KSHAH). Thenext syllable MA is the basisfor the inestimable mansion of
Kalachakra. The four syllables LA VA RA YA stand for the four elements
of earth, fire, water,and wind. HUM PHET signifies an offering of
blessings, with the wishthat hearing the mantra and reciting it bring
supreme benefit for all sentientbeings.

Through the Kalachakra we can ring the bell for inner peaceand inner
freedom. Together we canmake this offering of peace to the city of
Brotherly Love and the world, and tofree all living beings from
suffering. Please check out the Centre's website or my
website http://www.losangsamten.com under
upcoming events for more information on all of the wonderful activities
that await usher in the city of Philadelphia.

I love you all. Lots of Love. Peace

Losang Samten

(Reprinted from the TBC Newsletter 10/24/09)