Small boy mistakes Jersey City sand mandala for playground, destroys hours of work

[Jesus Malverde]

Jersey City received a lesson on the impermanence of life a bit earlier than planned today, when a toddler mistook a Buddhist sand mandala for a playground this morning, smudging the center and sides and almost destroying days of painstaking work.

Three Tibetan monks have been hard at work since Monday morning on the mandala, which are created and then destroyed in a ceremony to symbolize the fleeting nature of life. That ceremony, a 2,500-year Tibetan tradition, was scheduled for later today.

The mandala, made from millions of grains of sand in various hues, was about one hour from completion.

Councilman at large Daniel Rivera was inside the rotunda when it happened, along with dozens of individuals who came to 280 Grove St. for a naturalization ceremony this morning.

Rivera said the levity in the rotunda ended as soon as the boy jumped onto the mandala.

"Everybody's heart stopped," he said.

Read More: http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/04/small_boy_mistakes_jersey_city_sand_mandala_for_playground_destroys_hours_of_work.html

[postulater]

1. Surprised the monks didn't see the humor in it.

Nothing at impermanent as a little kid around sand.

[CTyankee]

65. I thought they did this all the time...make a sand table and then tilt it and whoosh, it's

gone, to demonstrate the tentativeness of the material world and how it really doesn't matter.

[fishwax]

73. that was the plan -- it just wasn't done yet

Later in the day, after working on some finishing and repair, they tossed it in the Hudson River: http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/04/monks_dissolve_jersey_city_mandala_throw_sand_into_hudson_river.html#incart_river

Former Gov. Jim McGreevey, who helped arrange for the monks to visit Jersey City and create the sand mandala here, thanked the toddler who, earlier today, jumped on top of the mandala, smudging the center and leading to a little panic that the creation was damaged beyond repair.

“This is so fitting that the hand of a child once again reminds us of life’s fleeting nature and of the need to do good while we’re present,” McGreevey said during the ceremony.

[NightWatcher]

2. the toddler was just living in the moment

[scarletwoman]

3. The little boy was the Buddha.

[phil89]

4. How so?

I don't see how that is like the buddha.

[scarletwoman]

5. Why would anyone get upset at the destruction of a sand painting - something that's intended from

the start to be destroyed?

The only reason would be ego.

[2naSalit]

7. I think it was

pretty callous of the child's guardian to allow the kid near it, and disrespectful. There is also timing in the process, it may have been meant to be destroyed but in a ritual...

some folks don't get that part I guess.

If you were making a special cake, say for your only daughter's wedding and some kid came in and took a swan dive into it, how would you feel? Egotistical about it?

[MannyGoldstein]

8. Do you have children?

It's astonishing how much mayhem they can cause in a moment.

Before I had a child, I'd have been royally pissed if a kid did a swan dive in my special cake. Now... I'd laugh myself silly.

[2naSalit]

25. Raised

six in two generations, didn't need to have my own. I still think I wouldn't have been too happy regardless, I think it's a matter of respect... something I find terribly lacking in our general society these days. More so now than ever in my lifetime. It's not that there wasn't respect shown to others in the past, it wasn't so widespread and blatant though.

[dionysus]

27. +10000

[Scootaloo]

33. Yes yes, you're from a better time, when everything was better, and you know better

Thank goodness you've come down from the mountaintop to scold these troglodytes that we allow to have children these days. Gosh!

[MannyGoldstein]

59. I'm with you on that.

But no matter how vigilant, some kids are always seconds from mayhem.

[HERVEPA]

77. I have kids. And now grandkids.

Would not happen with any of them. You cam keep an eye on your kids. In a setting like this, you need to.
Sorry, parent(s) are jerks.

[Yo_Mama]

83. Really.

There is nothing like a child to really drive home the axiom that life is what happens after you make your plans.

I bet the monks DID get the humor of it.

[Luminous Animal]

23. The exercise in this art is its impermanence. Whether it comes from from a rogue wave or a child

is exactly the point. The beauty is in the ACT of its creation. Its destruction is inevitable.

[CTyankee]

66. that is my understanding of Buddhism exactly...

[KittyWampus]

11. Because it wasn't finished. Respect for the effort others make at creation?

[Luminous Animal]

24. What do the monks think? I suspect they are laughing up there sleeve at the West's outrage

over the marring of a creation that was created to be destroyed.

Of course, no monks were interviewed to give their perspective. Only the 'horrified' hosts puffing their chests.

[2naSalit]

26. Having these people

making such an elaborate work is such a common thing that it can be lumped into the regular fluff of the throw-away society such that an "oh well" and a chuckle is all that is warranted.

Okay if you say so.

[Luminous Animal]

30. So, what do the monks think about this random act. As random as the waves.

We only get our western spectator perspective. Nothing from the creators AT ALL. Do you not even question that?

In my experience in the Buddhist community it would be wave kid seagull whatever. impermanence is the point. It's not a spectator experience.

That the "west" wanted to see a perfect execution to a process that was never intended to be perfect is their own blindfold.

[Bluenorthwest]

40. I read the whole story, a member of the family that is hosting the monks is quoted

"Chodak added that the child who damaged the mandala inadvertently taught everyone the lesson it’s supposed to impart.

“It’s so beautiful and then, next thing, it’s gone,” he said.

And that kinda sorta says it all if you ask me.

[uppityperson]

60. Thank you for giving info on the monk's perspctive, it taught the lesson

[tblue37]

61. According to the article, the monks were at first "stricken," but then their leader made a calming

comment and the monks set about to repair what they could of the edges, though the center was irreparable.

So, yes, the article did say that the monks were upset when they first laid eyes not he mess.

BTW, I had 2 kids of my own and also ran a home daycare for 18 years. I frequently took several toddlers and preschoolers into grocery stores, toy stores, pet stores, libraries, parks, and various other public places, as well as across busy streets on foot (I was too poor to have a car at the time). I also took them swimming at the pool belonging to the apartment complex I lived in during the first 3 years of my daycare operation. I never had an assistant either--it was just the little ones and I.

Not once did any of my charges ever get beyond what I called my "grab-back" reach in public except when we were running around outside in a safe place. Not one ever got hurt; not one ever managed to destroy anything; not one ever ran loose to get in the way of other people (or their shopping carts when we were in stores). When I am in a public place and someone is letting his or her kid run wild, I am always disgusted--not with the kid, but with the adult who is failing to properly supervise and control the kid.

Of course, when I had my troop out and about, I was not doing anything other than minding them. If someone I knew saw me and approached me to chat, I would simply wave the person off and say, "Not now--I have my hands full!" The kids had my full attention when we were out in public.

I don't believe in yelling at kids or hitting them, either. But humans are a hierarchical species, and it is natural for people, of any age, to jockey for status and power. If a little one believes that the adult is the troop leader, the child will normally respond quite well to the adult's authority, especially if the child sees the rules as fair and as fairly (and lovingly) applied.

But if the adult has been wobbly or apologetic about his/her authority, or if he/she has been inconsistent, unkind, or unfair in wielding that authority, then the child will become intransigent, disobedient, or, at the very least, passive aggressive.

When parents have to put their kids in daycare because they have to work all day--or longer--they often feel too guilty and sad to be firm with their kids. They don't realize that some consistent firmness up front will make it so that instead of arguing and struggling with their child all the time, they will be able to truly enjoy their time together. Kids feel safer if they believe there are reasonable rules in force, as long as they believe that those rules will be applied lovingly, consistently, and fairly.

[scarletwoman]

6. Here's a better answer. The little boy was the Buddha because he brought a lesson in non-attachment.

If the monks were upset it's because they failed to recognize the difference between the symbol and the substance of the teachings. They were attached to the symbol. Thus, the Buddha came along to set them straight.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. At least they've got THAT going for them.

[KittyWampus]

12. OR> the monks were human and the toddler was unrestrained and unsupervised.

[zonkers]

14. Good answer. Even monk can lose the path. FYI, I have been reading The Way of Zen by Alan Watts.

I found a copy laying around and read a different random page every day. Kind of reframes my juices.

[lumberjack_jeff]

15. .

[The Magistrate]

18. Spot On, Ma'am

[Raine1967]

64. This was my take away from this as well.

There is a certain something to be learned here.

I would make a terrible buddhist, but inavertantly the symbol took on the message as opposed to the message of the symbol.

Yes, the kid could be all the bad things that some mention in this thread, but really, what you said here transcends all of it.

[backscatter712]

62. One of the big lessons of Buddhism is impermanence.

The monks themselves destroy these sand paintings to illustrate impermanence. The toddler got there early.

[jberryhill]

34. That was my immediate thought

I don't think the monks had a problem with it.

[myrna minx]

42. .

[enigmatic]

53. Yes he was

Don't get attached to the material; it's not meant to be forever.

I can give you a 1000 percent assurance that the monks understand and know this, and are laughing w/ the boy, not scolding him.

[1000words]

56. Bingo!

[morningfog]

57. My thought exactly! This story is a perfect Buddhist koan/joke.

[suffragette]

81. Exactly so, his action was the message.

And from a post below, it looks like the monks agree.

[pinboy3niner]

10. Stricken at first, the monks returned to repair the damage

The official destruction ceremony will now follow the unofficial destruction ceremony.

[Orrex]

13. Thank goodness that no cats were in the vicinity

[JI7]

16. this happened before , the monks are never upset

DU thread the last time it happened http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x952841

video of previous incident

[Ino]

48. I like how the mother rushed him away...

before anyone could notice.

I would like to seduce a monk someday. Is that wrong?

[renate]

84. I love that monk's smile

And I would so love to truly be that mellow about impermanence. I get it intellectually, but I have a hard time being absolutely 100% okay with it emotionally.

[Luminous Animal]

17. Were the monks upset? Where is their perspective to this story?

[JI7]

19. not upset

[Luminous Animal]

21. Exactly. The point is not the wests celebration of the effort. The point is the

impermanence of the effort be it a little boy or the ocean.

[Scootaloo]

35. It's sort of like the Buddhas of Bamiyan

The peopel least upset by those statues getting dynamited were the Buddhists. If anythingthe Taliban were just proving htem right.

[TorchTheWitch]

36. the ocean?

This isn't done on the beach. It's on the floor inside a building.

Did you even look at it? It's so intricate an precise you can't even breath on it.

The painting WHEN FINISHED is destroyed in a ceremony. The ceremony and the painting being completed is important. Which is why they're redoing it.

[Auntie Bush]

38. +100

It was back breaking work by artisans that had to be done all over again.

How frustrating! I can't believe no one seems to appreciate what a catastrophic this was!

[TorchTheWitch]

71. I don't get it either unless they didn't look at it

and figured it was just some multicolored simple thing that could be redone in a few minutes.

I liken it to the wedding cake analogy from another poster. Yes, a wedding cake is meant to be destroyed and eaten by the guests, but the finished cake is important as well as the ceremony of it being cut and pieces distributed. Any bride or groom would be horrified if their wedding cake was destroyed before it was seen in it's completed state and robbed of the ceremony of "destroying" it themselves.

Yes, the child shouldn't have been allowed to run around loose especially when the mother would have known there was a work of art in progress. But what irritates me more is that after her child destroyed that work of art instead of apologizing for the incident she grabbed her kid and fled. As embarrassing as it is when your kid has done something detrimental to others there's an obligation to take responsibility and at least apologize even if that's all you can do to make amends.

[yawnmaster]

74. Why is the ceremony and completion of the painting so important?

rituals without understanding are useless.
The little boy allows the point to be made so much more than the ritual destruction.
It does illuminate how most don't understand the idea trying to be made.
It doesn't matter how much work was done. work is a sunken cost and crying over it is useless.
Nothing we do will be here forever.

[TorchTheWitch]

75. what good is a church service conducted

in an empty church before the congregation can get there? The point of the service is that it's a ceremony having religious significance which necessitates the congregation being there to benefit from the meaning/teaching which is the point of the church service to begin with.

This is the same thing. The religious ceremony with a COMPLETED sand painting occurs before a congregation in order that THEY benefit from the meaning/teaching... which, again, is the point of the whole thing.

What point is there to a wedding cake without the completed cake? Without the ceremonial cutting of the cake by the bride and groom and distribution of pieces to the guests? Of course, everyone knows that the wedding cake is going to be destroyed, but the completed cake and the ceremony are vital to occur during the cake cutting and distribution of pieces ceremony. Any bride and groom would be rightfully pissed off if some kid sat their ass in their uncompleted wedding cake EVEN THOUGH the cake is to be destroyed as part of the ceremony. Would you seriously tell them "so what, it was going to be destroyed as part of the ceremony anyway"?

There's a deep reason why the monks are repairing the sand painting and vow to have the completed painting finished in time for the ceremony... because it MATTERS that it gets completed and the ceremony conducted with all the people present to impress on THEM the meaning/teaching. What, you thought the monks were making this sand painting exclusively for their own selves??? This is a religious ceremony requiring a completed intricate and beautiful sand painting that is displayed and then destroyed in a religious service before a lot of other people. I has no meaning without those other people, nor having the beautiful completed work of art to destroy. If it isn't fixed and completed no one will CARE that it gets destroyed causing the people to not get the meaning/teaching of the whole point to this religious teaching.

[yawnmaster]

85. the young boy taught more than any ceremony. eom

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. lol

[Luminous Animal]

22. He didn't destroy anything that was created to be destroyed. We are a remarkably stupid culture.

[lunasun]

31. to symbolize the fleeting nature of life..............

[DreamGypsy]

32. Sometimes there is great value in the destruction of a pattern ...

... by a child, or by the child within us all.

Take your place on the Great Mandala,
As it moves through your brief circle of time.
Win or lose now, you must choose now
And if you lose, you've only wasted your life.

Or, if you prefer the better known version

[Skinner]

37. Before and after pics.

[Sunlei]

39. Is good the Monks were able to smile over the childs play,said they will 'struggle again' to re-do.

'kids', you gotta love them!

[seveneyes]

41. Eventually

Castles made of sand, crumble into the sea.

[WatermelonRat]

43. Reminds me of when I'd build sand castles on Lake Michigan.

I'd spend hours slaving over it, getting it just right, and then a big wave washes it all away.

[warrprayer]

44. Castles made of sand...

slips into the sea... eventually

[RedCappedBandit]

45. Sounds kind of appropriate, no? As already discussed upthread. :) nt.

[GoneOffShore]

46. Some of the commenters here are almost as trollish as the ones in Jersey City.

Sheesh.

[Throd]

47. Free Mandala!

Even impermanence can be cut short.

[DavidDvorkin]

49. Thread winner!

[chrisa]

50. Thus proving their point, no?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

51. it's really easy to be gracious when its not hours of your work

that goes down the drain.

[grilled onions]

52. The Pearls Of Wisdom Are Plenty

Number one more people would know about the Monks and their efforts then they would have if it had a happy ending. But just as life has no guarantees their beauty and skill was shortened before its' time. We have many in life that also have their lives cut short and they were considered works of art to family and friends.
This would make a good lesson for students to compare this incident/accident to what occurs in life.
I was curious, though, was the child supervised?

[tarheelsunc]

54. I know this was made to be destroyed, but let the creators destroy it on their own in their own way.

The kid's guardian(s) should seriously be ashamed they allowed this to happen.

[Drale]

55. They always destroy them anyway because

to them its not about the destination of the finished work, but the journey to get there.

[Iggo]

63. If the Buddhists are all bent about this, then Buddhists ain't what I thought they was.

[closeupready]

67. Thanks to this thread/story, I have my next book - "Water Touching Stone"

Eliot Pattison's second installment of a mystery series set in Tibet - the first book was rich in Tibetan Buddhist iconography and traditions, i.e., prayer flags and mandalas, etc. It's been sitting on my bookshelf, but now that I finished this week's book, I have next week's queued.

My totally pointless contribution to this thread.

[hrmjustin]

70. You seem angry at kids.

[treestar]

72. Maybe they needed to put a fence around it?

If there are small children around - doesn't matter what it is - it can get knocked over/smudged/destroyed.

We used to have a big puzzle on a card table. My niece was 3 or 4 at the time. We called her "Miss Destruct-a-Puzzle."

[Orrex]

76. Because monks don't easily take a fence

[treestar]

79. They could have a locked gate or something

Just seems like leaving it that exposed meant they might expect young kids to play there.

[Orrex]

80. Maybe they should picket. Or throw him in the stockade.

[rrneck]

78. It didn't occur to them to secure the site?

Construction barricades aren't hard to find.

[pinboy3niner]

82. UPDATE: The monks fixed it in 2 hours and the ritual went on as scheduled

3-year-old plays with, almost ruins 'impermanent' artwork of monks at City Hall
http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2014/04/3-year-old_plays_with_almost_r.html