Tibetan Monks Return to SU November 10-14
SALISBURY, MD---For the third time this decade, the monks of Tibet’s famed Drepung Loseling Monastery visit Salisbury University to spread their message of peace and understanding.
The monks are in residence Wednesday-Sunday, November 10-14, constructing an elaborate sand mandala which they believe brings purification and healing. Following a five-day series of lectures and demonstrations, they conclude their stay with the famed “Sacred Music, Sacred Dance” concert.
The internationally renown multiphonic singers, whose sellout performances in Carnegie Hall received national acclaim, have made Salisbury part of their international tour of “Sacred Music, Sacred Dance,” which is sponsored by Richard Gere Productions Inc. and the Drepung Loseling Institute, the North American Seat of the Deprung Loseling Monastery. The visit comes with the blessings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Two of their recordings achieved top 10 listings on the New Age charts and the monks participated in the soundtrack of the film Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt. They performed to an audience of 50,000 on the National Mall, Washington, D.C., as part of the 2000 Fourth of July celebration.
During their busy days at SU, the 11 monks will construct their mandala in the University Gallery of Fulton Hall, a painstaking ceremony where millions of grains of colored sand are laid out in a complex pattern. The public is invited to view the entire process and participate in part of its five ceremonies. They are:
• Opening ceremony — Wednesday, November 10, noon
• Mandala construction — Wednesday-Friday, November 10-12, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, November 13, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Sunday, November 14, noon-2 p.m.
• Mandala consecration and closing ceremony — Sunday, November 14, 2 p.m.
• Dispersal ceremony — Sunday, November 14, immediately following the closing ceremony, at the Salisbury City Park bridge, near the bandstand.
Construction of the mandala also may be viewed online via live streaming at http://www.salisbury.edu/culturalaffairs/monks.
The monks speak on “Mandala Sand Painting: the Symbolism of the Sand” Wednesday, November 10, at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall of Holloway Hall. A second lecture, “Meditation: a Tool for Conscious Living,” is 7 p.m. Thursday, November 11, in the Great Hall.
The “Sacred Music, Sacred Dance” performance is Sunday, November 14, at 7 p.m. in Holloway Hall Auditorium. Tickets are not required.
Sponsored by the Office of Cultural Affairs, admission is free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-543-6271 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.