Photo by Ding LU on Unsplash

I watched a video recently in which a group of Tibetan monks created beautiful mandalas out of tiny grains of sand. Some of these patterns can take weeks to finish as they are crafted meticulously just one grain at a time. They put all of their focus into this piece of art and, most surprisingly, as soon as they are finished, they wipe it all away and start again.

It’s similar to a child who can sometimes spend hours being entertained by the most mundane thing, repeating the same action over and over; it is not motivated by a sense of achievement but rather than the joy of the action itself. The reason these monks wipe away their art is to develop the same sense of selflessness. To go beyond the shallow happiness of pride or fulfilment of desire and find a more peaceful and long lasting joy in everything they do. With each wiping away of the mandala their sense of ‘doing’ is softened and they become less identified with motivation and desire.

Attachment to the outcomes of our actions can either lead to great joys or great sorrows. When something is done with the expectation of gain it creates tension and prevents us from being lost in the action itself.

Suppose a group of people are on a holiday, exploring a new location. For the first half of the day everything is great; they walk around, take in the sights and everyone seems happy. Then they decide to do some sightseeing. One person wants to go to one location, another to somewhere different; one person might want to get food, another might want to back to the hotel. A little of the joy and freedom is lost; there’s tension. The day which started out with no goals or agendas is now oriented around fullfillment. The feeling of enjoying the moment and being in the present slackens as the group focuses on how to get to where they want to go. These desires and motivations are unavoidable; without them life would not move on, but the tension we have around these feelings can be avoided.

I have especially found that this applies with work. The majority of us go to work everyday five days a week, and usually do the same thing over and over again. In remembrance of the child playing with the same toy for hours I had a thought one day; why can’t I feel the same way at work? Because I work for money? Because work is something I have to do? These ideas restrict me from simply enjoying the action of work itself. If I’m focusing only on ‘me’ making money and ‘me’ doing what I have to do then I’m stuck in my own selfish motivations. But if I can forget about these notions for just a little while, I lose myself in the doing; my sense of self starts to drop and I can find joy in any task I perform.

This type of selfless detatchment is very powerful and can bleed out into day to day life. I’ve noticed that attatchments are created all the time because of the smallest things, each containing a little pocket of either happiness or sadness. If you watch yourself throughout the day you will also see how the smallest of instances can completely ruin what joy you felt at the start of the day. Maybe you had plans one night to go out with friends and you were really excited, then your plans fell through and it seemed all the joy you felt was lost. It is still there, but you gambled it away on the fact you were going out. This is another reason why the monks practice what they do, so when attatchment like this happens they can catch themselves and destroy this constant cycle of pain and pleasure, finding a new and joyous peace that is unrelient of external circumstances.



When we start to let go of selfish motives in what we do we can leave more room to help other’s as well. We can start to take each moment as it comes and react to whatever happens with a sense of stillness, rising above the whirling emotions that are unavoidable in life. Even when something goes wrong it can help us to keep a level head, knowing the experience will come and go.

With this type of freedom we can become like children again, finding the fun in everything, rather than being swamped by the obligation to do something or the need for gain. Life becomes less of a chore and a disappointment, and more of a game. This doesn’t mean you treat everything with disinterest because it doesn’t matter or you don’t care. Another balance the monks have to maintain is not worrying about results, yet still putting in their full attention and focus. They know all along that the mandala will not last, yet despite this knowledge they still create it with so much care and love, painstakingly crafting every little detail. They find joy and purpose only in the absolute freedom of doing, knowing that, just like all of life, the mandala will no doubt fade away in the end.