Tibetan monks to perform on campus
Date 2/20/2003 12:00 AM | Topic: Arts & CultureThe multiphonic singers of Tibet?s Drepung Loseling Monastery will be performing on the Luther College campus as part of their international tour of ?Sacred Music and Sacred Dance for World Healing.? The performance will take place on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available in the Center for Faith and Life Box Office.
The ?Sacred Music Sacred Dance? tour is sponsored by Richard Gere Productions, Inc. and Drepung Loseling Institute, the North American Seat of the Drepung Loseling Monastery, with the blessings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
According to a press release, ?The tour has three basic purposes: to make a contribution to world healing and peace movements; to generate a greater awareness of the endangered Tibetan civilization; and to raise support for the refugee community in India.
The performance features multiphonic singing, where the monks simultaneously intone three notes of a chord. The Drepung Loseling monks are particularly renowned for this type of singing. They also use traditional instruments such as 10-feet long dungchen trumpets, drums, bells, cymbals and gyaling horns.?
In conjunction with the performance, the monks will construct a mandala sand painting from Wednesday, Feb. 26 to Saturday, March 1.
According to a press release, ?The subject of a Tibetan sand painting is known in Sanskrit as a mandala, or cosmogram, of which there are many types. In general all mandalas have outer, inner and secret meanings.?
On the outer level the sand paintings represent the world in its divine form; on the inner level they represent a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into an enlightened mind; and on the secret level they depict the primordially perfect balance of the subtle energies of the body and the clear light dimension of the mind. The creation of the sand painting is said to affect purification and healing on these three levels.
The lamas begin the exhibit by drawing an outline of the mandala on a wooden platform. On the following days, they lay the colored sands. Each monk holds a traditional metal funnel called a chakpur while running a metal rod on its grated surface. The vibration causes the sand to flow like liquid.?
The mandala sand painting will begin with an opening ceremony that will take the place of chapel on Wednesday. During the opening ceremony, the lamas consecrate the site and call forth the forces of goodness. This is done by means of chanting, music and mantra recitation. The painting will be created in the Center for the Arts.
Traditionally, most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after their completion. This is done as a metaphor of the impermanence of life. The sands are swept up and placed in an urn; to fulfill the function of healing, half is distributed to the audience at the closing ceremony, while the remainder is carried to nearby body of water, where it is deposited. The waters then carry the healing blessing to the ocean and from there it spreads throughout the world for planetary healing. The closing ceremony will be held on Saturday, March 1 at noon.
?My hope is that people will understand that the basic premise of this is peace,? said Jessica Barret (?03), SAC Diversity co-chair. ?We should all be able to believe in and all work for peace without worrying about our political affiliation.?
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Jenny Rogers
C2 Manager
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