Un-convent-ional art
Tibetan nuns to create sand mandala during weeklong cultural visit to Lincoln City
The first-ever United States tour by a group of Tibetan nuns is coming to the Lincoln City Cultural Center for a week of Tibetan cultural events, workshops, talks and ceremonies from Thursday, Oct. 10, through Tuesday, Oct. 15.
The highlight of the visit by the Jangchub Choeling Tibetan nuns is the creation of the Avalokiteshvara Sand Mandala in the center’s auditorium. It will take four to five days to complete, and is a colorful and meticulously hand-created piece of sacred Tibetan art representing Avalokiteshvara, (Chrenrezig in Tibetan) the Bodhisattva (or “Great Being”) of Compassion. The Dalai Lama himself is said to be the reincarnation of Chenrezig. The completed mandala will be a symbolic depiction of a celestial palace, filled with sacred symbols from Tibetan culture, including animals, trees, geometric designs and a portrait of Avalokiteshvara.
Unlike some other forms of “sand painting,” the Tibetan sand mandalas are brocade-like designs that give the final design a three-dimensional quality. To draw the designs, the nuns use narrow metal funnels identical to the ancient tools used in Tibet for the past 1,000 years. The funnels are then vibrated by the nuns using a special metal rod, so that the fine lines of colored sand can be carefully “painted” into the mandala.
The week of events begins on Thursday evening with an opening “purification ceremony.” Then, from Friday through Tuesday, the nuns will be working throughout the day on the sand mandala. The public is invited to come and observe this meditative process of the mandala’s creation throughout the visit.
While the nuns are here, they will also be offering a number of other Tibetan cultural events, including a Tibetan Cultural Night on Saturday, Oct. 12, which features the sacred Dakini Dance, a ritual dance that until recently was only performed by Tibetan monks. Also on the Cultural Night program is the “Chod Ceremony" for removing of inner and outer obstacles featuring classic Tibetan Buddhist chanting and ceremony, followed by a Q&A and slideshow with the nuns about their history and life in Tibet, their perilous journey across the Himalayas to exile in India after the Chinese invasion in 1959, and the recent creation of an order of Tibetan nuns and “Geshemas,” or senior teachers, alongside the large Tibetan monasteries of Tibetan monks.
Other events during the week include: the “White Tara Empowerment Ceremony” on Friday, Oct. 11, a meditation workshop on Saturday morning and, on Sunday, Oct. 13, a talk on “Who is Green Tara?,” another important figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
On the final evening of their visit on Tuesday, the nuns will conduct the Dissolution Ceremony for the finished sand mandala, during which the completed mandala is ritually swept up and carried to the ocean. This ritual symbolizes the impermanence of all created things, a fundamental teaching of Tibetan Buddhism. The public is invited to come and celebrate with the nuns this beautiful week of cultural exchange and sharing.
All events are open and by suggested donation. Funds raised during the visit will be used for the medical care and medical facilities for the nuns at Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in the Tibetan Refugee Zone in Mundgod, India.
This tour in the United States is part of a year-long visit that has brought the nuns to Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago and New York City. The tour group includes four Tibetan nuns, one of whom is a Geshema, the highest degree awarded in the Tibetan monastic universities. Thanks to the efforts of Tibetan women who aspired to become nuns and to the efforts of the Dalai Lama, the order of Tibetan nuns was re-established in the 1980s, with Geshema degrees awarded to nuns only in the past decade. However, there is still a lack of facilities, as well as qualified female teachers among the nuns, and thus the nunneries work in close cooperation and support from the various Tibetan monasteries and colleges in exile in India.
The nuns are also offering home, business and land blessings while at the coast, as well as personal blessings and healings. For appointments, contact LC Friends of Tibet at 530-748-9365 or LincolnCountyTibet@gmail.com.
For more information and a complete schedule, go to LincolnCity-CulturalCenter.org or LCFriendsofTibet.org.
Thursday, Oct. 10
6 pm - Opening ceremony for Sand Mandala
Friday, Oct. 11, through Tuesday, Oct. 15
9 am to 4 pm - Public viewing of sand mandala creation
Friday, Oct. 11
6 pm - White Tara Empowerment Ceremony for Long Life
Saturday, Oct. 12
10 am - Meditation workshop
6 pm - Tibetan Cultural Night with Jangchub Choeling Tibetan Nuns. Dakini Dance, Chod Ceremony for Removing Obstacles, slideshow and Q&A
Sunday, Oct. 13
6 pm - Who is Green Tara? With instruction in Green Tara Mantra Practice
Tuesday, Oct. 15
5 pm - Avalokiteshvara Sand Mandala Dissolution Ceremony.