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Tibetan Monks to Visit Westminster College Nov. 1-6

Posted on Thursday, October 21, 2010

A group of Tibetan monks from the Gaden Shartse Monastery will visit Westminster College Nov. 1-6 in the McKelvey Campus Center.

Sponsored by the Heinz Lectures in Religion and the Religions, all events are free and open to the public. A sand mandala will be constructed on the lower level of the Campus Center over the five days and will be swept up in a ceremonial dissolution at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Chenzerig mediation workshop will be conducted Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Weisel Conference Room (room 255). The sessions are designed to teach a complete daily practice with the focus on Chenzerig (Buddha of compassion). The practice, suitable for students of all levels, incorporates purification, contemplation, and lojong (mind training). Each participant will receive a DVD and the text of the practice.

"The Inside Story: Images of Tibetan Monastic Life," will be presented Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Berlin Lounge. The video slideshow will give a rare look inside a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. The presentation includes narration and an opportunity for questions about the ancient way of life.

"A Journey to the Roof of the World: Sacred Dance and Chants of Tibet," a live stage performance with ornate costumes, is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. in the Witherspoon Lakeview Room. Experience the rare sounds and dramatic imagery of Tibetan sacred dances, music, and chants presented in two 45-minute segments.

Ceremonial dissolution of the sand mandala is scheduled for Saturday at 8:30 a.m. on the ground floor. Despite the hours of painstaking effort and intense concentration required to construct the beautiful and meaningful artifact, the final product is not meant to be preserved but to be dismantled and ceremonially "dissolved." This exemplifies the Buddhist doctrine of anitya or anicca (impermanence). It is designed to be an exercise in, and a reminder of, non-attachment: the idea that we should not become attached to things, especially to the objects of our own production, no matter how beautiful or meaningful, but must let go of all such attachments.

Contact Dr. Bryan Rennie, Vira I. Heinz professor in religion and chair of Westminster's Department of Religion, History, Philosophy and Classic, at (724) 946-7151 or e-mail brennie@westminster.edu for more information.