Tibetan monks coming to visit Norman

Tibetan monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery will be in Norman through Saturday.

The Sand Mandala of Wisdom will be created during those days, and a series of evening lectures will be presented at St Stephen’s United Methodist Church, 1801 W Brooks St.

The tours are undertaken by the monks to make a contribution to world peace and healing through sacred art, to generate a greater awareness of the endangered Tibetan civilisation and to raise support for the Tibetan refugee community in India.

The monks take time off from their life-long devotion to contemplation and study to participate in the tour.

The monks will create the mandala, a formal geometric pattern, from coloured sand. Millions of grains of sand are laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days. The team of monks may be observed as they continue the ancient ritual at St Stephen’s, beginning with an opening ceremony at noon today and from 10am to 6pm Thursday and Friday, with the dismantling of the mandala at 4pm Saturday.

The program is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Norman Arts Council Hotel Tax Grant Programme.

The lectures are scheduled for 7:30pm today, beginning with “The Psychology of Enlightenment.” Thursday evening’s topic is “From Confusion to Enlightenment,” followed by “Lama Chopa Puja” on Friday. Suggested donation for each lecture is $15.

The monks also will be available for private healings and house and business blessings.

For more information about the Drepung Loseling Mystical Arts of Tibet tour, visit www.mysticalartsoftibet.org.

Marial Martyn is sponsoring the monks’ visit to Norman through the Indigenous Cultural Preservation Project Inc, which is dedicated to documenting, preserving and sharing wisdom of indigenous cultures.