The Mandala of Life

"The Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the sand mandala is an excellent metaphor for the self.
Groups of monks spend weeks meticulously crafting large, ornate, multicoloured discs of sand on the ground.
These highly elaborate designs are lovingly articulated with powerful sacred iconography, and demonstrate breathtaking levels of skill and patience.
Once completed, the mandala is then ritually swept away.
The fabulous geometry is once more reduced to piles of sand, which are carefully gathered into a jar, wrapped in ceremonial silk, and taken to a nearby river.
Here the sand is returned to it's natural source.
This unique art form serves to draw attention to the transitory nature of material existence and focuses consciousness on the process rather than the product."

 From the book The Unfoldment by Neil Kramer.