TIBETAN BUDDHIST MONKS WILL BE IN RESIDENCE AT BARD COLLEGE ON OCTOBER 15 AND 16 Programs will feature sacred music and dance as well as teachings on Buddhism
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.-A group of ten Tibetan Buddhist monks, from the Gaden Jangtse Monastery, will be visiting Bard College on Monday, October 15, and Tuesday, October 16. The program for their visit will include performances of sacred music and dance and teachings on Buddhism. Events are free to Bard students, faculty, and staff, but there is a $5 suggested donation per event for the general public. This donation will go towards improvement of the monks' monastery, as it being reconstructed in exile in India.
On Monday, October 15, at 3:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, the monks will conduct a "Rite of Offering to the Guru." At 7:30 p.m., in Room 102 of the F. W. Olin Humanities Building, there will be a teaching on the "Three Principal Paths of Practice: Renunciation, Bodhichitta, and Wisdom."
On Tuesday, October 16, at 4:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the Bertelsmann Campus Center, the monks will conduct a demonstration and workshop for sacred chanting (part of the liturgical tradition of Tibetan Buddhism). The residency concludes at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall with a performance of Tibetan Buddhist sacred dance.
"This residency provides a chance for students to see a presentation of religious and cultural traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, established over 1,500 years ago, that now are threatened both by the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the life in exile of the Tibetan community," explains Bradley Clough, assistant professor of religion and Asian Studies and codirector of the First-Year Seminar at Bard. "The other reason for this program is to help the monks who have embarked on this fundraising tour, in order to rebuild their monastery in exile. They have been in exile from Tibet and now reside in India, devoting their lives to preserving the religious and cultural traditions and teachings of Tibetan Buddhism."
The Gaden Jangste Monastery was first established near Lhasa in Tibet in 1409, and was the first main monastery of the Gelugpa order of Tibetan Buddhism. Housing more than 6,000 monks at its peak, the monastery was destroyed by during the Chinese occupation of Tibet. In 1969 it was reestablished in exile in Mundgod, India, and now houses approximately 3,000 monks, who are able to continue their traditional religious training. A construction project was begun in 1997 to help ease overcrowding at the monastery. This is the fourth North American tour by the monks, who are raising funds for the interior furnishing of the monastery. In December of this year, there will be a dedication ceremony at the monastery in India by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
For further information, call 845-758-6822.
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(10.3.01)