Tibetan monks architect enlightenment and harmony at the Union

By Sedonia Martin on November 2, 2016

The melodic chanting and Dungchen horns filled the University Union on Monday, Oct. 31, as The Mystical Arts of Tibet—featuring the Tibetan Monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery—presented their opening ceremony for the sand mandala sand painting. The monks, in residency until Thursday, Nov. 3, presented three lectures in addition to creating the mandala. The closing ceremony will be held at noon on Thursday in the University Union second-floor lobby.

The ceremony was opened by Joanna Pecora, Ph.D., director of the Asian Arts & Culture Center—located in the Center for the Arts—and sponsor of the event. Christina Poy, administrative director, Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and Commission on South Asian American Affairs and Office of Community Initiatives, brought greetings from Governor and Mrs. Larry Hogan. Rishell Chambers, director of diversity outreach extended greetings from the SGA.

The ceremony began with Tanzin Plunchog, Mystical Arts of Tibet spokesperson explaining the significance of the monks' purpose and presence: “to bring harmonies, especially during this difficult time.”

The sand mandala, a 600 year-old tradition used to lift the human spirit to the level of God, has been created worldwide.

“When the monks are chanting, negative emotions are removed. Everything is meditative,” Plunchog told the crowd of students, faculty, staff and members of the community.

The silent monks' began work Monday by drawing an outline of the mandala on the wooden platform followed by painstakingly vibrating millions of grains of colorful sand through metal funnels called chak-purs to create the mandala, an intricate design of symbols. Each monk holds a chak-pur in one hand, while running a metal rod on its grated surface; the vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid into the design. Mandalas usually take 25 to 27 hours to complete.

During the closing ceremony the mandala will be swept up. Some of the sand will be poured into urns, some shared with those in attendance and some will be returned to the earth via the stream in The Glen. According to the monks' website “though many hours are put into its creation, the act [of dissolution] is symbolic as it represents a healing blessing as the waters spread the message of compassion throughout the world for planetary healing.”

The performers on The Mystical Arts of Tibet tour are not full-time professionals; rather they are genuine monks who are taking time off from their lifelong devotion to contemplation and study to participate in the tour. These monk artists consider it an honor to be selected to represent their monastery and share their cultural traditions on the tour, hoping that they will be able to make some small contribution toward world peace and toward greater awareness of the Tibetan situation. At the end of each tour the monks return to Drepung Loseling Monastery to continue their vocation.

The Drepung Loseling Monastery was established in Tibet in 1416, housed the second Dalai Lama in 1494 and was among 6,500 monasteries closed or destroyed following the Chinese Communist invasion of Tibet in 1959. Hundreds of monks escaped to rebuild the monastery in South India, where it now houses 3,600 monks, many of whom fled Chinese-occupied Tibet.