Contact: Macreena Doyle, [email protected] (315) 229-5587 Supplementary Visuals Available
ARTS FESTIVAL FOCUSES ON TIBETAN BUDDHIST VIEW OF HEALING
CANTON, N.Y. - The Tibetan Buddhist perspective on issues of health and healing will be explored in this year's St. Lawrence University Festival of the Arts, on campus March 23 through April 16.
Buddhism teaches that it is possible to transcend suffering, through understanding the interdependence of mind and body and the transient nature of all phenomena. From this perspective - very different from the traditional Western view - the elimination of suffering may be achieved through the development of concentration, penetrating insight and the practice of ethical behavior.
According to arts festival co-chair Catherine Shrady, associate professor of geology, the festival "provides a window into the Tibetan Buddhist universe, secular and sacred, and thus a key to comprehending a view of health and healing radically different from that with which we are familiar."
Events in the festival, titled "Circle of Enlightenment: Tibetan Buddhist Sand Mandala," include a residency by two monks from Namgyal Monastery, who will construct and ritually dismantle a "Kalachakra Mind" mandala, a design of colored sand. An exhibition of photographs taken by Heinrich Harrer in Tibet just prior to the Chinese invasion in 1950 will be contrasted by an exhibition of contemporary photographs of Tibetan refugees by Alison Wright. Workshops on Zen and Tibetan Buddhist meditation will be offered, as well as a performance of sacred music and dance by Tibetan monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery. A series of lectures is also included, to provide scholarly and practical perspectives on the relationships between Buddhism and healing.
The festival schedule is as follows:
- Monday, March 22, at 7 p.m. in Room 123 of the Griffiths Arts Center, Daniel Cozort, associate professor of religion at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, will give a lecture on "Mandalas: Sacred Circles of Healing and Enlightenment."
- Tuesday, March 23, at 10 a.m., a meditation and chanting ceremony will be conducted in the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery by the Namgyal monks, to begin construction of the sand mandala. The monks begin the mandala construction each day with ritual chanting at 10 a.m. (through Friday, April 9).
- Tuesday, March 23, at 7 p.m. in Herring-Cole, "Life Stories of the Monks," a discussion with the Namgyal monks.
- Wednesday, March 24, at 6:45 p.m. in Herring-Cole, a Zen meditation session sponsored by the North Country Zen Center.
- Thursday, March 25, at 7 p.m. in Room 222 of the E.J. Noble University Center, "How To Draw A Mandala," a demonstration and workshop by the Namgyal monks. Attendance is limited to 20 people; registration is required in advance, by calling 315-229-5264.
- Friday, March 26, at 3 p.m. in Room 123 of the Griffiths Arts Center, a lecture will be given by Alison Wright, titled "The Spirit of Tibet: Portrait of a Culture in Exile," followed by a reception in the Brush Gallery.
- Sunday, March 28, at 1:30 p.m. at the Canton Unitarian Universalist Church, 3 1/2 East Main Street, a discussion is scheduled with the Rev. Wade Wheelock, St. Lawrence Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Mark MacWilliams and the Namgyal monks.
- Monday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Gulick Theatre, a lecture will be given by Robert Thurman, an author and former Tibetan Buddhist monk, on "Buddhism, Meditation and the Psychology of Self."
- Tuesday, March 30, at 7 p.m. in Herring-Cole, a discussion and meditation session will be led by Roko Ni-Osho Sherry Chayat on "The Healing Breath."
- Monday, April 5, at 4 p.m. in the Brush Gallery, a discussion on "Making An Altar: Its Meaning and Significance" will be led by the Namgyal monks. Attendance is limited to 20 people; registration is required in advance, by calling 315-229-5264.
- Monday, April 5, at 7 p.m. in Room 123 of the Griffiths Arts Center, Anne Klein, professor of religious studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas, will give a lecture on "Healing and the Ritual Arts of Tibet."
- Wednesday, April 7, at 6:45 p.m. in the Brush Gallery, a Tibetan Buddhist "White Tara" meditation session will be led by one of the monks.
- Friday, April 9, at 2 p.m. in Room 222 of the E.J. Noble University Center, a demonstration of "tormas," ritual butter sculptures, will be given by the Namgyal monks. Attendance is limited to 20 people; registration is required in advance, by calling 315-229-5264.
- Friday, April 9, at 5 p.m., the Kalachakra Mind Mandala is scheduled to be completed in the Brush Gallery and may be viewed during regular hours through April 17.
- Monday, April 12, at 9:40 a.m. in the formal lounge of Dean-Eaton Residence Hall, a lecture by monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery will be given on "Man and Nature: Buddhist Attitudes Toward the Environment." At 10:50 a.m., they will give a lecture on "Non-Violence: Personal and Social Perspectives."
- Monday, April 12, at 2 p.m. in the formal lounge of Dean-Eaton Residence Hall, monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery will lead a workshop on "The Ancient Art of Healing: The Tibetan Buddhist Approach."
- Monday, April 12, at 8 p.m., in Gulick Theatre, "Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing," will be performed by monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery.
- Tuesday, April 13, at 10:10 a.m. in the formal lounge of Dean-Eaton Residence Hall, a lecture by monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery will be given, on "Sound as Medicine for Healing."
- Tuesday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the Canton Presbyterian Church, Park Place, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation session will be led by monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery.
- Wednesday, April 14, at 6:45 p.m., a Zen meditation session will be held in the Brush Gallery, sponsored by the North Country Zen Center.
- Saturday, April 17, at noon in the Brush Gallery, the ritual dismantling of the sand mandala will begin, with a community walk to the Grass River to disperse the sand.
The gallery welcomes individuals and groups for guided tours. For more information, call 315-229-5174, or visit their web site, at http://www.stlawu.edu/gallery.
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