By Michael Clancy
SCOTTSDALE – A group of Buddhist monks from India will be in town starting Thursday to share Tibetan culture and raise money for their home monastery, Drepung Gomang.
Here through Sunday, the monks will create a sand mandala and perform traditional Tibetan music and dances. In addition, their host in the Valley, Venerable ZaChoeje Rinpoche of Scottsdale’s Emaho Foundation, will speak on the current situation in Tibet.
Tibet is a once-independent region of southwestern China; Buddhist monks, including the Dalai Lama, are among the leading proponents for its freedom from the People’s Republic of China.
The four-day schedule begins with the monks starting work on a Medicine Buddha sand mandala. Instead of the customary dismantling once finished, the 5-foot creation in colored sand will remain at the foundation office, 1402 N. Miller Road.
Mandalas, in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, are drawings in sand of the world in its divine form and represent a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into the enlightened mind.
An open house at the office takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday as the monks work.
At 7 p.m. Friday at Mountain View Community Center, 8625 E. Mountain View Road, Rinpoche will speak and show slides of Tibet. At the same location at 7 p.m. Saturday, the monks will perform music and dance. Admission is $15 for adults, $8 for children and seniors.
