Tibetan mandala sand art bring awareness to issues

By CORY SHINDEL
Collegian Staff Writer

Through sand painting and musical harmonizing, the Buddhist monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery in Tibet hope to raise awareness of Tibet's endangered culture. This week, they will bring their "Mystical Arts of Tibet" to Penn State.

The four-day series, sponsored by Richard Gere Productions Inc., the Loseling Institute and the North American Seat of Drepung Loseling Monastery, began yesterday with a ceremony in the lobby of Kern Building, commencing the construction of a Tibetan mandala.

With chanting and music, the Tibetan monks invoked the forces of goodness to spiritually bless the site for the creation of a mandala, a Tibetan sand painting. The wooden platform, where the mandala is produced, will be transformed into a spiritual work of art.

Meticulously placing millions of grains of sand upon a flat platform, the llamas, or monks, create a unique and colorful work of art. The involved process of creating the mandala will be on display through Wednesday.

Ben Jennings, co-president of Students for a Free Tibet, said mandala sand painting provides a unique opportunity for the Penn State community to see Eastern art.

"I don't think there will be anything else like this on campus," Jennings said. "It is beautiful art that people don't see very often."

The beauty of Tibetan sand painting is a stark contrast to the social and political conditions of the country. In 1949, China invaded Tibet and occupied the country for the next 10 years. Tibetan citizens, unhappy with the foreign interference, reacted with a national uprising in 1959. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and political leader, fled the country in the same year.

The Chinese government retaliated during the Cultural Revolution and tightened government control in Tibet. Since 1949, Tibet has suffered from rampant human rights abuses and the exile of nearly 100,000 of its citizens. Khyber Oser, co-president of Students for a Free Tibet, said the atrocities that have occurred in the country are surprising.

"I'd hardly ever heard of Tibet before I came to Penn State. Then I went to the (Student Involvement Fair) and got a pamphlet telling me about the terrible state of things there," Oser said. "I was shocked."

Since China's 1949 invasion of Tibet, the country has witnessed the destruction of more than 6,000 monasteries and the killing of nearly 1.2 million Tibetans, Oser said. As a result, traditional Tibetan culture is endangered. Oser said this week's visit of Drepung Loseling's monks will raise student awareness of the subject.

"Ideally, I'd like to see the monks open some eyes on campus to what is beyond central Pennsylvania and State College," Oser said. "There is so much out there we can be involved in and take a stand against. It's so easy to ignore that when we are students here in Happy Valley."

In addition to this week's mandala exhibit, the monks of Drepung Loseling will perform "Sacred Music and Sacred Dance for World Healing" tomorrow night. The performance, featuring traditional Tibetan instruments, costumes and singing, will take place at 7 p.m. in State College Area High School's South Building auditorium, 650 Westerly Parkway.

Tickets are $10 and are available at Svoboda's Books, 227 W. Beaver Ave., Tower of Glass, 200 E. Calder Way, Seven Mountain Books, 111 S. Pugh St., The Bakery, 132 W. College Ave. and The Daily Grind, 107 E. Beaver Ave.

SOURCE: Students for a Free Tibet
GRAPHIC: Amy Eichler