Tibetan monks to visit Westminster College

The ancient healing arts of Tibet will be the topic of one of the public sessions.

STAFF REPORT

NEW WILMINGTON, PA. — A group of Tibetan monks from the Gaden Shartse Monastery in India will visit Westminster College Oct. 13-16, offering programs on ancient healing arts, meditation training and more.

The first two days of their visit is geared toward the community at large as students will be on mid-term break, said Dr. Bryan Rennie, Westminster’s Vira I. Heinz professor in religion. The last two days will target the campus community.

A sand mandala, a geometric, colorful design, will be constructed on the lower level of the Campus Center over the four days and will then be swept up in a ceremonial dissolution at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

The mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition symbolizing the transitory nature of things. Once a sand mandala has been built and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are finished, it is systematically destroyed despite the hours of painstaking effort and intense concentration required to construct it.

Plain white stones are ground down and dyed with opaque inks to provide colors, and the monks assigned to the project will first draw the intricate geometric measurements associated with the mandala. The sand granules are then applied using small tubes, funnels and scrapers.

The monks, who have visited Westminster twice before, will hold a series of programs in the Witherspoon Lakeview Room of the McKelvey Campus Center. The sessions are sponsored by the Heinz Lectures in Religion and the Religions and are free and open to the public.

UOct. 13 and 15, 6:30 p.m.: The monks will speak on “Serene Mind, Compassionate Heart,” talking about the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. They will take questions from the audience.

UOct. 14, 6:30 p.m.: The monks will demonstrate meditation and the ancient healing arts of Tibet. Audience members, especially those suffering from ailments, are invited to participate in the ceremony.

UOct. 16, 6:30 p.m.: Ceremonial dissolution of the sand mandala.