Sand Mandala created on Baruch campus by Tibetan monks from South India’s Namdroling Monastery

As part of the Baruch-Rubin Museum of Art Project, a partnership designed to incorporate the arts into the Baruch curriculum, a sand mandala was constructed and demonstrated on Baruch campus. Tibetan monks from Namdroling Monastery in South India spent the day building a sand mandala in the college’s Newman Vertical Campus Building. Construction of the sand mandala, measuring 3 by 3 feet, was completed in one day. The monks were invited by Dr. Stan Altman, Director of the Baruch-Rubin Museum of Art Project and Professor of Public Affairs, and Dr. Laurence Kirby, Professor of Mathematics, who recently received a Baruch-Rubin summer grant to explore the use of mandalas in mathematics for explaining the concept of symmetry. The project was done in collaboration with Student Life and the Non-profit Leadership Alliance, and was led by the Tibetan monks who included: Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche, Lama Rapjee Wangchuk, Lama Jigmey Tenzin, Lama Tenzin Chogyal, Lama Passang, and Lama Tashi. The commentators for this program include: Laurence Kirby, Baruch Professor in Mathematics, Judy Fleischman, Hospital for Special Surgery, Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche, Senior Professor of Buddhist Studies, Namdroling Monastery in South India, and Jan Van Alphen, Director of Rubin Museum of Art.