As part of the Site/Sound Festival with The Rail Park and Mural Arts Philadelphia, watch and reflect as scholar, artist, and former Buddhist monk Losang Samten creates a sacred sand mandala for Bethesda Project’s shelter guests and members of the public. The art of sand painting is an ancient practice intended to uplift and benefit those who see it, while blessing the environment. Mandalas are used to enhance spiritual practice through imagery and meditation to overcome suffering by healing a person’s body, speech and mind.

At sunset, help dismantle the mandala to close out the festival. The meditation will take place outdoors near Bethesda Project’s emergency shelter, Our Brothers’ Place, at the corner of 10th and Hamilton Streets. The event is free and open to the public.

Losang Samten is an American Tibetan scholar, sand mandala artist, former Buddhist monk, and Spiritual Director of the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia. He is one of only an estimated thirty people worldwide who are qualified to teach the traditional art of Tibetan sand painting.

Site/Sound Festival will take place October 5-19, weaving together sight and sound along the tracks, thoroughfares, and tunnels of the Reading Railroad in Philadelphia. Celebrate the past, present, and future of this historic rail corridor with public events and installations, breaking new ground in the interconnection of sound and visual art in public art projects.