Mandala Yak Skull

A beloved friend of mine lives on a ranch in Routt County and their family had a yak herd for a number of years.  This skull was from a bull in her family’s herd.  She also happens to be a world traveler and had the great honor of meeting the Dalai Lama in his home in the Kangra district of northern India where he lives in exile.  She asked if I would be willing to bead a skull honoring both the ancestral homeland of the yaks, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and for the design to include both the eternity knot and the Om symbol, both important in Buddhist philosophy.  The eternity knot represents eternity, infinity and interconnectedness.  The Om symbol represents a sacred sound embodying the universe, consciousness and the connection between the individual and the design.  I chose a mandala design for the forehead because they have long been created by Buddhist monks. 

Over a period of days to weeks the monks patiently create mandalas out of colored sand believing the act of creation benefits all beings.  Upon their completion they are immediately destroyed as a symbolic gesture of the impermanence of all things.  This skull now humbly hangs over the mantle on the ranch.