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Creighton’s Asian World Center recently welcomed Buddhist monks and the spirit of Tibetan art and culture to campus.
From Sept. 26-30, the Asian World Center hosted the Tibetan Buddhist monks of the Gaden Shartse Monastery. Throughout the week, they have performed traditional dances, showed documentaries, given blessings. Additionally, a sand mandala (an art form using sand that is ceremoniously destroyed after completion) has been created in honor of Tibetan culture. The special events held this week have been part of the inauguration activities for Creighton’s 24th president, the Rev. Timothy R Lannon, S.J.
The week began with the construction of a sand mandala, which, according to associate philosophy professor Dr. Jeffrey Hause, is an aid to enlightenment and becoming more like Buddha.
“It is a guide to life; a way to overcome obstacles to life’s goal of reaching enlightenment,” Hause said.
According to Jangchub Chophel, one of the monks, the Mandala, made entirely of sand, is an artistic representation of an important blessing or deity in the middle, with images of the defeat of vice, and ignorance surrounding the center. This process takes up to a week. Once the Mandala is finished, it is then destroyed in a ritual fashion, as a way of signifying the impermanence and transience of life. According to the monks, this is a way to accept the transitory nature of all things.
“It reminds us that nothing is ultimately going to last and today will never come again,” Chophel said. “We need to use our days wisely so that we don’t waste them.”
According to Dr Maorong Jiang, this is the first time the Sand Mandala event has been brought to Creighton’s Campus. The construction of the Mandala has taken place all week in the Union Pacific Room, located down the stairs from the Reinert-Alumni Library.
“The amount of intense concentration that goes into creating something like that is astonishing,” Dean Myers, a senior, said.
The opening cermony Monday included the sacred dance and chant of Tibet, a performance of a series of dances and chants that celebrate Tibetan mythology, and the spiritual history of Tibet and its guiding principles. This performance included vibrant costumes, sculptural masks, evocative instruments and permeating multi phonic vocalizations.
The purpose of the visit, according to Jangchub Chophel, is to raise awareness of Tibetan culture through dialog, and to raise funds for the Gaden Shartse Monastery in India.
“Our mission is to be of service to the world community by helping to spread peace, harmony, compassion, and tolerance,” Chophel said. “[This is accomplished] through cultural exchange, interfaith dialog, and Buddhist teachings.”
On Tuesday, the documentary “Dalai Lama Renaissance,” was shown. According to Dr. Jiang, this documentary, narrated by Harrison Ford, documents an event when forty of the world’s most innovative thinkers gathered together in the Dalai Lama’s residence to discuss the problems of the world and how to solve them. This particular documentary is highly acclaimed and received multiple awards.
Other events throughout the week included a Buddha Blessing on Tuesday, with a discussion on the meaning of happiness on Wednesday (located at the Reinert-Alumni Library, a meditation workshop (outside Becker) and a purification on Thursday (at the OM Center in the Old Market), culminating in the destruction of the Sand Mandala on Friday.
“I think this is an incredible opportunity for the Creighton community to gain the wisdom of the monks,” Dr. White, a philosophy professor, said. “We belong to a global society, and I think everyone should attempt to go to every event they can.”
Jiang said that the focus of the week is to reflect the Dalai Lama’s words:
“My main concern is the preservation of Tibetan Culture.”
More information can be found at www.creighton.edu/ccas/asianworldcenter/.