The Wensum riverbank provided a sunny autumn backdrop for the dispersing into the river of the Mitrupka Sand Mandala made by monks from Tashi Lhunpo monastery, in exile. The Mandala, a two dimensional sacred painting, made from millions of grains of coloured sand, had been created over the previous week at the King of Hearts Centre for People and the Arts in Norwich. The Gallery of the King of Hearts was overflowing with an audience fascinated in the dissolution of this beautiful image by those who had so painstakingly created it. The event drew a large crowd with over thirty people unable to fit in the Gallery peering through the courtyard windows to catch a glimpse of this extraordinary ceremony. The sacred image once completed is visualised as the residence of the enlightened being or Buddha. In the closing ceremony the monks respectively thank him for his presence and request the Buddha to leave. After the departure of the enlightened beings the structure is broken by sweeping the sand from the mandala into the centre of the table. Those present at the King of Hearts gasped as they saw the same monks who had worked with such devotion and precision to create such an exquisite artefact, destroy it with the same equanimity. Traditionally the sand is then taken to be distributed into running water, on Sunday this was the River Wensum.
The previous day the Tashi Lhunpo monks had given a short performance of dance and chant in the medieval Cloisters of Norwich Cathedral. Once again, drawing a large audience in the warm autumn sunshine. The new Dean of Norwich Cathedral, The Very Reverend Graham Smith, welcomed the monks emphasising the Benedictine tradition of the Cathedral and its emphasis on hospitality. He said “it is (therefore) a privilege for us to welcome members of another community of faith whose life together honours the sanctity of life itself.”
Kachen Lobsang Tuskhor, senior teacher, Chant Master of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in exile and the monk responsible for the making of the sand mandala gave a Teaching on the Four Noble Truths. Later in the week His Eminence, Lelung Rinpoche spoke about his remarkable life within Tibet and in exile as well as his monastic lineage.
Amongst those celebrating the culture, philosophy and ideals of Tibet were members of many of East Anglia’s Buddhist traditions including : Tara Rokpa, Rigpa, Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, and Dharma Care Project. These organisations together with Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in exile had stalls in Norwich Market and held talks and film shows during Norwich Tibet Week.
The celebrated Tibetan football movie, Phorpa (The Cup), was shown to a capacity audience at Origins Presentation Suite in the Forum as a joint venture by Norwich Tibet Week and the Forum’s Homes of Football event. The Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library ran an exhibit of books about Tibet, celebrating its culture and the mystique of the hidden kingdom of Shambala. The display boasted colourful prayer flags and a fifteen foot banner photograph of Lhasa (Tibet’s capital) as it is today, vividly depicting how the World Heritage site of the Potala Palace (once home of the Dalai Lamas) has been surrounded by the modern day concrete metropolis of the occupying Peoples’ Republic of China, whose building programme has systematically destroyed much the ancient city.
Tibet Week was formally opened with a letter of encouragement and thanks by Mrs Kesang Takla, His Holiness, The Dalai Lama’s Representative for Northern Europe, based out of Office of Tibet, London. Tsering Tashi, (Secretary, Office of Tibet, London) and Alison Reynolds of the UK’s Free Tibet Campaign spoke about: Tibet – Past, Present and Future. Tsering Tashi outlined the changing fate of Tibet since Communist China’s invasion of the country under the pretext of “liberation” in 1949. Free Tibet Campaign’s Director, Alison Reynolds, described Tibet as “the Achilles Heel for China”, because each time that China embarks on international negotiations there is a pressure to bring her (China) to the negotiating table with the exiled (Tibetan) leadership. Ms Reynolds went on to say, since 2002 envoys of His Holiness The Dalai Lama have visited Beijing twice with a further visit taking place only a few days after her presentation in Norwich.
There were over thirty events in this the fifth Norwich Tibet Week, including talks on Tibetan Medicine and Astrology. An illustrated lecture by mountaineer and Climb for Tibet campaigner Tess Burrows a talk by author Isabel Losada. Lectures on Tibetan sacred art by Carole Chambers of Norwich City College and Jane Rasch organizer of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery Tour in 2004.
Throughout the NTW events took place at The Cut, Halesworth, Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library and Norwich Arts Centre where a time lapse video installation of the making and destruction of the Mitrupka Sand Mandala (filmed in Glasgow during the visit to the UK by His Holiness The Dalai Lama) played to rapt audiences. Norwich Arts Centre hosted an exhibition by photographer Georgina Cranston and a benefit gig and Norwich Tibet Week Party, where four local bands (Lucy Fur’s Angel Band, Klunk, Jacob’s Ladder and Jago) from Harleston, Bungay and Norwich played to an enthusiastic audience.
The Mayor of Bungay, Councillor Susan Curtis made the generous gesture of inviting monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery to a buffet lunch at the newly completed Riverside Centre in Bungay. Giving local people the chance to meet the monks and to watch a short demonstration of sacred dance and chant in the picturesque Waveney River setting. The monks also gave a full performance of “The Power of Compassion” – monastic chant and dance, with its stunning masks and rich brocades enchanting the audience at the Cut in Halesworth. Earlier in the same day the Cut had hosted schools and adult workshops given by the monks.
Monday 20th September saw the final event in the activity packed Fifth Norwich Tibet Week. Inner Space in St Benedict’s Street, Norwich welcomed a large and diverse audience from all over East Anglia to “Finding Peace” a taste of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Tsering Tashi (Secretary, Office of Tibet, London) said of this year’s Norwich Tibet Week :
“I am glad to learn about the successful conclusion of the Norwich Tibet Week. We at the Office of Tibet, the official agency of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, believe that such events are helpful in making more and more people better aware and supportive of the just cause of Tibet. I was delighted to be a part of the programme when I was invited to speak about Tibet on the opening day of the Norwich Tibet Week. The positive response that I got from the audience during and after the talk was most encouraging, It simply proved how at the human level we can all relate to each other as members of one big human family who want happiness and do not want suffering as the Tibetan Nobel Laureate, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, time and again tells the world. We Tibetans are neither anti-China nor anti-Chinese and hope that the leadership in China will have the courage and wisdom to resolve the issue of Tibet even if to improve their international image in the run up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Also it would be unfortunate for the world to also see the death of the Tibetan culture that has the potential to benefit humanity at large. Fortunately more and more Chinese, especially intellectuals are showing their understanding and support for the just cause of Tibet. This is an inspiring and hopeful sign.”
