On a visit to the Rubin Museum, which is dedicated to Himalayan art, this weekend, I discovered my new favorite thing in their gift shop: a Buddha Board. It’s just a plain gray slate until you slip the included bamboo-handled brush in plain water and start painting. Then your strokes seem to magically appear in black, making you feel like a master Zen calligrapher. Until it starts to dry––and disappear. Then I could feel the grasping (mine!) part of my brain wanting to preserve my pretty lotus petals, as they completely vanished into gray within minutes. And therein lies the Buddha-ness of the board––the art of loving detachment, the in-the-moment appreciation, and next-moment letting go. Tibetans, Native Americans, and Australian aborigines practice a similar, more elaborate art of sand painting ––they spend days or weeks making intricate, colorful mandalas out of sand only to sweep them away once completed. I always had a hard time comprehending that self-imposed loss too. But this is a good, nourishing lesson and also, with the board, a fun way to spend an afternoon. They cost about $30 at buddhaboard.com