One Sunday afternoon, my wife and I visited an art museum. It was the last day of an exhibit of English landscapes. With that part of the world so ingrained in our souls, we wanted our spirits to be nurtured.

It was a lovely exhibition. Tinged with 19th Century Romanticism, many of the artists sought to evoke a world that couldn’t really be seen by the naked eye. This world had richer colors, deeper tones, delightful composition.

It was a world known only to the soul.

Serendipitously, there was another exhibit taking place at the museum that also was of keen interest to us.

Four Tibetan monks had been working all week on a mandala, and Sunday afternoon was the culmination of their marvelous and intricate artistry. A mandala is a circular design containing a depiction of deities or sacred symbols and representing wholeness or unity. This particular mandala had been carefully crafted by the monks using one grain of colored sand after another. It was a magnificent creation and we felt privileged to be able to share in what was a holy event for the monks. They were engaged in this meticulous pursuit in the hopes of bringing peace to the troubled inner city. The next day, their lama would gather up all the sand after blessing it and pour it into the river that ran through town, thus disseminating the energized particles of peace throughout the city.

Foolish, pagan drivel? Perhaps, but anyone who has studied the lives of the monks of Tibet knows that there are few people in all the world who are more committed or have done more in the cause of world peace than these Buddhists. Like the 19th Century Romantic painters in England, these monks have a vision of the world that they wish to share. It is a world that can’t be seen by the naked eye. This world has richer colors, deeper tones, delightful composition.

It is a world known only to the soul.