Louisianagrl
26 Aug 2005, 07:23 AM
Interesting...
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - By meticulously tapping sand out of foot-long steel funnels, eight Tibetan monks are creating a sacred artwork to commemorate the friendship of Louisville native Muhammad Ali and the Dalai Lama.
Seated on thin mattresses in the glass-enclosed lobby of a Louisville building, the monks started on the multicolored mandala Monday, and are due to finish it next week.
Traditionally, the artworks are destroyed upon completion to symbolize the impermanence of beautiful things, a central tenet of Buddhist philosophy. This one, however, will be secured with sprayed-on glue and dedicated at the grand opening Nov. 19 of the Muhammad Ali Center.
"It's cross-cultural, it's very spiritual," Ali Center president Mike Fox said Wednesday. "It reflects the gift that Muhammad (Ali) speaks of often — that we all have within us to be able to give something to another in order for that person to meet his or her potential."
Former heavyweight champion Ali wanted to attend a news conference Wednesday introducing the monks, but made a "last-minute" decision not to leave his Michigan home, Fox said. Fox would not say if the 63-year-old Ali, who has Parkinson's disease, was ill.
"He just had a last-minute complication," Fox said. "It's a 12-hour drive roundtrip, and that was asking a great deal. He was hoping to be able to do it, but another situation necessitated other circumstances."
Ali and the Dalai Lama met for the first time two years ago while dedicating an interfaith temple in Bloomington, Ind. Monks from the Drepung Gomang monastery in southern India offered to create a mandala as a gift to Ali.
"The connection between Muhammad Ali and the Dalai Lama is very important to us," Khensur Rinpoche, the monastery's senior monk, said through a translator. "It is a symbol of the friendship and the shared goals of Muhammad Ali and the Dalai Lama, which are peace and harmony."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - By meticulously tapping sand out of foot-long steel funnels, eight Tibetan monks are creating a sacred artwork to commemorate the friendship of Louisville native Muhammad Ali and the Dalai Lama.
Seated on thin mattresses in the glass-enclosed lobby of a Louisville building, the monks started on the multicolored mandala Monday, and are due to finish it next week.
Traditionally, the artworks are destroyed upon completion to symbolize the impermanence of beautiful things, a central tenet of Buddhist philosophy. This one, however, will be secured with sprayed-on glue and dedicated at the grand opening Nov. 19 of the Muhammad Ali Center.
"It's cross-cultural, it's very spiritual," Ali Center president Mike Fox said Wednesday. "It reflects the gift that Muhammad (Ali) speaks of often — that we all have within us to be able to give something to another in order for that person to meet his or her potential."
Former heavyweight champion Ali wanted to attend a news conference Wednesday introducing the monks, but made a "last-minute" decision not to leave his Michigan home, Fox said. Fox would not say if the 63-year-old Ali, who has Parkinson's disease, was ill.
"He just had a last-minute complication," Fox said. "It's a 12-hour drive roundtrip, and that was asking a great deal. He was hoping to be able to do it, but another situation necessitated other circumstances."
Ali and the Dalai Lama met for the first time two years ago while dedicating an interfaith temple in Bloomington, Ind. Monks from the Drepung Gomang monastery in southern India offered to create a mandala as a gift to Ali.
"The connection between Muhammad Ali and the Dalai Lama is very important to us," Khensur Rinpoche, the monastery's senior monk, said through a translator. "It is a symbol of the friendship and the shared goals of Muhammad Ali and the Dalai Lama, which are peace and harmony."