Ganden Jangtse Tibetan Buddhist Monastery Tour Toronto Update
Chernrezig Sand Mandala construction
*PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGES*
Mon. July 27
9am-5pm
9am-2:30pm
Viewing of completed Mandala
Wed. July 29th
3pm-7pm
Dismantling Ceremony
7pm-7:30pm
Heritage Room
Metropolitan United Church
(56 Queen St. East at Church St)
All are welcome!
Donations for monastery & for venue fee accepted.
About the monks' tour and Mandalas:
"The Ganden Jangtse monastic college is a sub-school of Ganden Tibetan Buddhist Monastery located originally in Tibet and now operational in exile in Mundgod, Karnataka, South India. Ganden Monastery was founded in 1409 by Lama Tsong Khapa (a hugely influential Tibetan scholar-monk who founded the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, author of the great Lam-Rim Chenmo text and Root Guru of His Holiness the Dalai Lama). Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in exile often send their best and brightest monks abroad to both raise awareness about Tibet, with its rich cultural and religious traditions, and Buddhism...they are available to teach about Buddhism only if requested, as the non-proselytising approach of Buddhism is to ensure not being an interference to other and already existing local religious traditions which are held in highest esteem and considered both valid and immensely beneficial. The current tour consists of 5 monks, including a Geshe, which is a fully-qualified scholar in all of the major and minor subjects in Buddhist philosophy who has trained rigorously through debate, study and meditation for 20-25 years. The mandala construction consists of a selection of the monks consecrating the space through prayer (they are deep-throat chant masters, all) and then quiet placement of coloured sand particles in a geometric and symbolic pattern that, when complete, is both a map of the cosmos and a 2-dimensional representation of a 3-dimensional celestial palace that houses various enlightened beings. The mandala construction is a meditation for the monks, and the intention in building such a religious work is to bless the area and the beings therein with the highest happiness and the elimination of suffering. Mandala construction is often said by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be beneficial towards bringing us closer to world peace, which is reasonable since the intention of the practitioners involved (and the lineage of their teachers which traces back to Shakyamuni Buddha Himself) is a loving and compassionate one, and the mandala itself is a design of a utopic environment full of bliss and based on the wisdom of ultimate reality. Upon its completion, the mandala is deconstructed with brushes, which dramatically shows the impermanence of all things, and the sand is collected into an urn so that it can be transported to a body of water into which it is deposited (thus blessing the living beings there as well) along with more prayers for the benefit of all beings. In keeping with being a non-sectarian/non-exclusive/universalist tradition, there are no restrictions to attendance and all events with the monks are open to everyone who is interested. May all be well and happy! Sarva mangalam."
(By Sean Hillman, former Buddhist monastic of 13 years; UofT Department of Religion [Buddhist/Tibetan/Sanskrit studies] Masters student; St. Michael's Hospital Clinical Assistant; all errors and omissions are the author's)
About the tour:
http://tsengdokrinpoche.com/Mandala-Tour-in-Canada.htm
About Ganden Jangtse:
http://www.dhonden.nl/e-ganden-jangtse-monastery-india.html
Mandala info:
http://www.artnetwork.com/mandala/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_mandala
http://doctordilday.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/mandala1.jpg
For more information, contact:
Sean Hillman
-Masters student
University of Toronto
Department of Religion
(Buddhist/Tibetan/Sanskrit Studies)
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