So I’ve had an unusual week. One of amazing surprises, generosity and kindness. It all started and ended with dinner…

My friend Aly went to dinner at Elizabeth on 37th street for her birthday and over the course of dinner met the owner, found out that they were having monks from Tibet creating a mandala and got invited to watch the process. She in turn invited me and with the permission of the monks and Gary and Greg (the owners of Elizabeth on 37th) I was able to shoot the mandala and the monks.

It was a unique and very rare opportunity and one that I grasped whole heartedly. Watching them work on this amazing piece of spiritual art shook me to my core. Their infinite patience, and calm. Their dedication to their craft and their beliefs spoke volumes more than any of these pictures ever can or will.

The process of shooting it was slightly hair raising as I was constantly afraid I’d breathe too hard and disturb the sand or slip and drop my camera onto the mandala. I quickly put the visions of accidently destroying it out of my mind and lost myself in the shoot. When I came up for air I was humming with energy. I left shaking and giddy. The energy in the room was palpable.

Again the generosity of others came forth-Gary and Greg invited Aly and I back for the closing ceremonies dinner – an invite only benefit to raise money for the Monks monastery in Northern India. Wanting to find some way too help them and give back, Aly and I took our photos and constructed a full color program for the evenings benefit. Working late into the night the day before and just making the deadline to get it printed we managed to pull it off. Then in an amazing turn of events my printer offered to do it for free in support of the cause. Everything was coming together.

The benefit dinner arrived and it went off smashingly. The monks chanted their prayers, and dissolved the mandala, sweeping the colorful sand all together into a large pile of gray. It was magical. It was intense. It was pure. I will never forget them. I am extremely thankful for the experience and for what it has taught me.

We must not forget that there is still struggle going on in the world. We must remember Tibet.

If you would like to help out or donate to the cause you can find out how at the monks website – www.drepung.org