December 1 - New Zealand: Christchurch (South Island)

We woke up relatively early after a wonderful sleep in comfortable beds.  After a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese (which we'd bought in Dunedin yesterday), we headed out for our long drive to Christchurch.  Actually, the drive only took about 5 hours, but it felt like forever.

We stopped for a bathroom break in a little town of which I don't remember the name, and decided to have lunch on the nearby rugby field.  So we sat up on some tiny bleachers and ate peanut butter and jelly bagels.

Christchurch

By the time we arrived in Christchurch, the sun had come out and it was looking like a beautiful day.  We planned to meet up with Kath, our leader from the Tibet trip, who lives in Christchurch when she's not traversing the globe.

Chenrezig Tibetan Sand Mandala (www.mandala.eol.co.nz)

As we navigated our way around town, we randomly drove by the civic center which was featuring a Tibetan sand mandala.  Kath had told us via email that it was there, and we decided to take a break to check it out.  

Interestingly enough, we saw plenty of Mandalas in Tibet but none of them were made of sand.  So we were pretty excited to get to see it.  A mandala is a representation of an enlightened being's place of residence and everything that is contained within it.  These representations can be 3-dimensional, but a sand mandala is a two-dimensional representation.  The mandala is an expression of the state of complete enlightenment and is used as an aid to meditation.

Chenrezig embodies enlightened compassion.  As the brochure said, "If each one of us could become more compassionate there would be greater harmony and less conflict in our world.  The kind of compassion embodied by Chenrezig is unbiased and wishes to free all living beings, without exception, from the suffering they experience."

Anyway, the civic center had a raised platform on which 2 Tibetan monks were creating the mandala.  They each use a metal funnel called a chakpu.  When this ridged funnel is rubbed with a piece of horn, the colored sand (crushed limestone dyed with pigments) inside the funnel trickles out in an even flow.  Apparently, "the fact that both the funnel and the horn are needed in the process reminds us that nothing had independent existence but that everything arises in dependence on a multitude of factors."  I'd forgotten that - in Tibet - everything has a meaning.

The monks - when they work on the mandala - remain mindful and attentive, and try to arouse feelings of "love, compassion and altruism as they create the different parts of the mandala they contemplate their symbolism".  Well, if I were the monks, I'd be thinking "Damn it's uncomfortable crouched over this thing.  And what is this 'compassion and altruism crap'?  I'd rather be skiing."  But I guess that's why I'm not a Buddhist monk.

Sarcastic though I may be, the designs they were making were lovely.  And the sand mandala is incredibly tedious work.  Here's a picture of the design close-up:

In true Tibetan style, we'd removed our shoes prior to entering the building and walked clockwise around the platform.  Then we found a phone to ring Kath.  She said she'd been to the mandala a number of times already, and was presently sitting in the sun.  So we made plans to meet up later on.

We found the Christchurch Top 10 Campground, which is really the only campground in the Christchurch area.  It's also over-run with children and RVs.  We set up our tent in a little back corner of the site and met Kath an hour later at the Office.

Christchurch Botanical Gardens 

Kath drove us to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, which is a huge and lovely park in the middle of town.  The rose garden was gorgeous, as was the weather. 

It was great to catch up with Kath and her crazy Asia exploits.  She'd been scheduled to lead a tour of Mt Kailash that we knew she was looking forward to.  Unfortunately, after Sept 11 the Chinese government shut down the entire area.  So she found herself stuck in Lhasa with a group of people and no place to go.  Being the enterprising woman she is, she created her own "Tour of Tibet" and ended up showing her passengers some wonderful things.  They actually got to see a Tibetan Sky Burial, which is the traditional way of disposing bodies in Tibet.

Back at the campground, Jon and I made pasta in the super-hot kitchen that didn't have enough space for all the campers.  So we had to fight a bit for space and burners, but we got it all done in time.

Movie - "The Others"

We went around the corner to the mall to see "The Others", for which Jon had finagled us some student tickets.  There was practically no one in the theater - somewhat surprising for a Saturday night.  But the movie was very good and had a quality surprise ending.  Of course, I missed part of the movie because my eyes were covered.  But I have Jon to tell me what I missed.  I really do like Nicole Kidman, especially after seeing her in "Moulin Rouge".

We got back to the campground at 11:00, showered, and crawled into our sleeping bags.  Of course, it started to rain shortly thereafter.