2008 Woodie Awards
Tibetan monks offer cultural enlightenment
Chrissy Bortner
Issue date: 4/3/07 Section: Distractions
- Page 1 of 1
Thursday night, March 27, 2007, in the Lenfest Center, the group of Buddhist monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery held a performance which completed the "Mystical Arts of Tibet" series featured by the Lenfest Center. This series included the opening ceremony, the creation of the mandala within three days, and the closing ceremony, in which the mandala was destroyed and poured into Woods Creek. This closing performance, entitled SACRED MUSIC, SACRED DANCE FOR WORLD HEALING, comprised of a number of different dances, chants, musical combinations, and an intellectual debate intended to educate the audience on the Loseling monk's culture, as well as generate spiritual energies conducive to world healing.
The Lenfest Center stage was transformed into a makeshift outdoor Tibetan shrine. The backdrop was a painting of the magnificent Patola Palace, the former home of the Dahli Llama before the invasion of the Chinese communists in 1959. One of the Loseling monks gave an opening speech before the performance, explaining the current situation of the monks and the controversy behind their decision to perform sacred rituals. After this speech, the monks processed onto the stage, blowing two massive Himalayan horns, playing dainty bells, and beating a beautiful bass drum, transporting the audience to a windy Tibetan mountainside. They carried in a framed photograph of the smiling Dahli Llama and reverently placed it on the alter facing the audience.
The various routines were executed by the monks garbed in elaborate traditional Tibetan costumes. They played music once performed in ancient Buddhist temples. Some of the highlights of the performance included the world- renownedmultiphonic chanting known as zokkay. This chant consists of the individual monk muttering three notes at one time, thus creating a complete cord with one voice.
Other highlights of the show included a "Snow Tiger Dance" in which two monks disguised themselves as a giant white tiger, and gave an energetic dance catered to the audience. Finally, the monks performed an intellectual debate, performed in their native language, demonstrating their scholarly vigor, as well as their sense of humor.
The monks present this concert to Western audiences in order to ensure the survival of their endangered Tibetan culture. All of these monks are living in exile from their homeland after the Chinese invasion and subsequent closure of the monasteries in Tibet. Two hundred and fifty monks escaped Tibet and re-founded the monastery in South India, preserving the culture. The re-established Drepung Loseling monastery now has over 2,500 members, mostly due to the spiritual exodus of monastery aspirants fleeing from communist Tibet. All of the proceeds from the Mystical Arts of Tibet tour go to the Drepung Loseling Educational Fund, a sponsorship program for the adoption of monks in training at Drepung Loseling Monastery. For more information on this monastery and the current situation of Tibet, visit http://www.drepung.org/.
The Lenfest Center stage was transformed into a makeshift outdoor Tibetan shrine. The backdrop was a painting of the magnificent Patola Palace, the former home of the Dahli Llama before the invasion of the Chinese communists in 1959. One of the Loseling monks gave an opening speech before the performance, explaining the current situation of the monks and the controversy behind their decision to perform sacred rituals. After this speech, the monks processed onto the stage, blowing two massive Himalayan horns, playing dainty bells, and beating a beautiful bass drum, transporting the audience to a windy Tibetan mountainside. They carried in a framed photograph of the smiling Dahli Llama and reverently placed it on the alter facing the audience.
The various routines were executed by the monks garbed in elaborate traditional Tibetan costumes. They played music once performed in ancient Buddhist temples. Some of the highlights of the performance included the world- renownedmultiphonic chanting known as zokkay. This chant consists of the individual monk muttering three notes at one time, thus creating a complete cord with one voice.
Other highlights of the show included a "Snow Tiger Dance" in which two monks disguised themselves as a giant white tiger, and gave an energetic dance catered to the audience. Finally, the monks performed an intellectual debate, performed in their native language, demonstrating their scholarly vigor, as well as their sense of humor.
The monks present this concert to Western audiences in order to ensure the survival of their endangered Tibetan culture. All of these monks are living in exile from their homeland after the Chinese invasion and subsequent closure of the monasteries in Tibet. Two hundred and fifty monks escaped Tibet and re-founded the monastery in South India, preserving the culture. The re-established Drepung Loseling monastery now has over 2,500 members, mostly due to the spiritual exodus of monastery aspirants fleeing from communist Tibet. All of the proceeds from the Mystical Arts of Tibet tour go to the Drepung Loseling Educational Fund, a sponsorship program for the adoption of monks in training at Drepung Loseling Monastery. For more information on this monastery and the current situation of Tibet, visit http://www.drepung.org/.
Be the first to comment on this story