Tibetan Monks to Create Sand Mandala at Lafayette
Exiled monks from Tibet living in India are coming to Lafayette College for a three-day visit starting Monday, April 7 when they will begin creating a sand mandala during an opening ceremony at 10 a.m. in the Interfaith Chapel of Hogg Hall.
Lafayette will welcome the eight monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery for Advanced Studies and Practice on Buddhist Philosophy with white offering scarves. During this opening ceremony, prayers and chants in Tibetan will be conducted to consecrate the space and to invite deities before construction of the colorful mandala begins.
The subject of the mandala will be Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Members of the public are welcome to stop in at any time over the three-day visit to watch the progression of the mandala.
Buddhist Teachings will take place Monday and Tuesday evenings and noon-time lectures will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Interfaith Chapel. Lafayette’s Sitting Meditation Group will meet from 12:15-1 p.m. in the chapel on Monday, April 7 and from 10:45 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 8 and Wednesday, April 9. Signs will be posted outside the chapel during these times asking that people enter quietly.
The mandala will be dismantled at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9 in the chapel. Half of the sand used will be given to those in attendance and the other half will be put into the Bushkill Creek following a procession down College Hill.
Contingent on clement weather, a yak dance will take place on the college Quad prior to the closing ceremony at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9.
Traditional religious and cultural items will be sold as fundraising efforts both in Interfaith Chapel as well as in the Farinon College Center throughout the three days.
The visit in organized by a planning committee consisting of Prof. Robin Rinehart; Charles “Chot” Elliot, Esq. ’75; Nam Nguyen ’14; Amanda Furtado ’16; Sherab Tsomo ’17; Janemarie Duh, ITS administrator and Buddhist Adviser.
For more information go to: https://calendar.lafayette.edu/date/2014-04-07
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Kathleen Parrish
Associate Director of Media Relations
Lafayette College
Communications Division
Easton, PA 18042
parrishk@lafayette.edu
www.lafayette.edu