Sand mandala featured from Tibetan Buddhist culture
Published 1:28 pm Saturday, November 23, 2024
By David Mamaril Horowitz
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Tenzin Gelek (right) and Kherap Gyatso (left) work on the 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala that they and a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India construct to celebrate interfaith world peace during a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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A group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India work on construct their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala to celebrate interfaith world peace during a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Geshe Khenrap Chaeden leads a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India in chants and prayers during the opening ceremony for their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Spectators watch as a sand mandala constructed by monks with the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India is ceremoniously dismantled on Saturday. For the past week, a group of Buddhist monks have been creating a sand mandala at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library. The mandala placed an emphasis on world peace and on Saturday was ceremoniously dismantled by the monks. Those who attended the dismantling received small bags of sand, which were poured into Barren River from the College Street Pedestrian Bridge.
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Geshe Khenrap Chaeden performs a chant as other monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India dismantle a sand mandala at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library. The mandala placed an emphasis on world peace and on Saturday was ceremoniously dismantled by the monks. Those who attended the dismantling received small bags of sand, which were poured into Barren River from the College Street Pedestrian Bridge.
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Geshe Khenrap Chaeden rakes up sand on a sand mandala he and several other monks with the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India constructed this week at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library. The mandala placed an emphasis on world peace and on Saturday was ceremoniously dismantled by the monks. Those who attended the dismantling received small bags of sand, which were poured into Barren River from the College Street Pedestrian Bridge.
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Tenzin Gelek (left) and Kherap Gyatso chant before a sand mandala they and several other monks with the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India constructed last week at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library. The mandala placed an emphasis on world peace and on Saturday was ceremoniously dismantled by the monks. Those who attended the dismantling received small bags of sand, which were poured into Barren River from the College Street Pedestrian Bridge.
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Traditional Tibetan figurines, prayer bowls, bells, prayer beads, clothing and more sit available for visitors to purchase on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, as a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India make a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library to construct their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Jamyang Chophel, one of the Tibetan monks visiting from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India, demonstrates how to play a traditional Tibetan prayer bowl as he chants during the opening ceremony of their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Traditional Tibetan tapestries, prayer bowls, bells, prayer beads, figures, clothing and more sit available for visitors to purchase on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, as a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India make a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library to construct their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
11/32
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Traditional Tibetan prayer bowls, bells, prayer beads, figures, clothing and more sit available for visitors to purchase on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, as a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India make a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library to construct their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
12/32
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Kherap Gyatso works on a section of the 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala that he and a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India construct to celebrate interfaith world peace during a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
13/32
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Jamyang Chophel, one of the Tibetan monks visiting from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India, demonstrates how to play a traditional Tibetan prayer bowl as he chants during the opening ceremony of their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Tenzin Gelek gathers up sand in his chak-pur metal funnel as works on a section of the 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala that he and a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India construct to celebrate interfaith world peace during a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Geshe Khenrap Chaeden performs a chant with other monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India before a sand mandala is dismantled at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library. The mandala placed an emphasis on world peace and on Saturday was ceremoniously dismantled by the monks. Those who attended the dismantling received small bags of sand, which were poured into Barren River from the College Street Pedestrian Bridge.
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Tenzin Gelek works on a section of the 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala that he and a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India construct to celebrate interfaith world peace during a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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A variety of sand colors sit out as a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India get started on constructing their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace during a stop on their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Tenzin Gelek (left) and Lobsang Jinpa (right), Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India, sketch out the 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace they will construct throughout the week during a stop on their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Visitors listen as Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India sing chants and prayers during the opening ceremony of their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Geshe Khenrap Chaeden leads a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India in prayers and chants during the opening ceremony for their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Geshe Khenrap Chaeden leads a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India in chants and prayers during the opening ceremony for their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Jamyang Chophel, Lobsang Jinpa and Sangyal Gyatso join in singing chants and prayers alongside their fellow Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India during the opening ceremony of their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Sangyal Gyatso runs his fingers over his prayer beads as he joins in singing chants and prayers alongside his fellow Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India during the opening ceremony of their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Jamyang Chophel joins in singing chants and prayers alongside his fellow Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India during the opening ceremony of their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Geshe Khenrap Chaeden thanks visitors for coming to the opening ceremony of the Drepung Gomang Monastery’s United States Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, as he and a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India prepare to construct their 49th World Peace sand mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks will finish the sand mandala with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Geshe Khenrap Chaeden leads a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India in chants and prayers during the opening ceremony for their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Sangyal Gyatso joins in singing chants and prayers alongside his fellow Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India during the opening ceremony of their Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library as they prepare the space physically and spiritually for the construction of their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala celebrating interfaith world peace throughout the week on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks construct the sand mandala as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Tenzin Gelek (right) and Kherap Gyatso (left) work on the 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala that they and a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India construct to celebrate interfaith world peace during a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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Kherap Gyatso works on a section of the 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala that he and a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India construct to celebrate interfaith world peace during a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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A group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India work on construct their 49th Interfaith World Peace Sand Mandala to celebrate interfaith world peace during a stop on their nationwide Sacred Arts Tour visit at WCPL Bob Kirby Branch Library on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Returning to Bowling Green for the first time since 2018, the monks constructed the sand mandala throughout the week as a way to share their culture and traditions, raise funds for the monastery and generate compassion and healing for people, and will conclude their tour stop in Bowling Green with a dissolution ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. when they will gather all the sand together and let patrons disperse the sand into the river as an offering and act of impermanence.
GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS
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For the past week, a group of Buddhist monks have been creating a sand mandala at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library. The mandala placed an emphasis on world peace and on Saturday was ceremoniously dismantled by the monks. Those who attended the dismantling received small bags of sand, which were poured into Barren River from the College Street Pedestrian Bridge.
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Spectators grab last-minute photos of a sand mandala before it is ceremoniously dismantled. For the past week, a group of Buddhist monks have been creating a sand mandala at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library. The mandala placed an emphasis on world peace and on Saturday was ceremoniously dismantled by the monks. Those who attended the dismantling received small bags of sand, which were poured into Barren River from the College Street Pedestrian Bridge.
Three Tibetan Buddhist monks, robed and sleeveless in saffron yellow and maroon vestments, sit cross-legged on den, cushion, in a Bob Kirby Branch meeting room.
They bend at the waist, a mandala centered among them – chak-pur, a funneled Tibetan sandpainting tool, in hand. As they scrape ridges, a gentle vibration releases colored sand from the tool’s fine tip.
Seven monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery of South India have shared their culture here for a weeklong event hosted by the Warren County Public Library.
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It began with a cultural pageant Monday, where they shared aspects of their endangered culture: Tashi Shoelpa, a dance for good luck; an enactment of a Tibetan Buddhist debate, how Buddhist philosophy is often taught in monasteries; and the chants of Nyurzema, Mahakala and Chöd, meaning “to cut off,” a practice designed to remove ego-clinging and defilement in an offering to deities.
“Just that they’re here in this town doing Chöd is beautiful – that they’ve come, and did a practice for feeding the demons,” said William Cecil Joiner, an attendant at Monday’s pageant.
Since Tuesday, the monks have poured over this Interfaith World Peace Mandala – an intricate representation of harmony that centers Earth, a dove superimposed, among symbols from major world religions.
“Harmony is very important because harmony is the rule of happiness,” lead monk Geshe Chaeden said.
They were set to end the visual prayer Friday. Then, in a Saturday dissolution ceremony, they’ll sweep it into a container and head to the RiverWalk bridge near the Bypass to release the sand into the river – an act intended to represent impermanence and share world peace.
“It’s such a beautiful spiritual act … that brings together all world religions and prays for peace in the world with the expectation that it’ll make a difference,” said Deborah Faircloth, an observing library patron.
