by ALEXIS MARTIN
Last month, a group of Buddhist monks made the journey from Tibet to Palos Verdes to visit Chadwick for four days.
Coming from the Drepung Loseling Monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa, the monks travel to the United States, eager to share their culture with others. Upper School students and faculty welcomed the visitors at the MLK Day Assembly, where they kicked off the week with a peace chant and reflection on the similarities between Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision and their values.
Out of their monastery, these seven monks are especially skilled in creating an intricately detailed mandala—an artistic symbol of peace. Over the course of their week at Chadwick, the monks spent 6-7 hours a day in Leavenworth Library, meticulously placing the sand of gemstones onto a table with a wooden tool.
The mandala illustrates a colorful palace of Buddha, including an entrance door, gate before Buddha and lotus flowers, with the outskirts protected by a ring of fire. Tenzin, the translator for the monks, noted: “We follow Tibetan Buddhism, so we believe that when you create [the mandala], you bless your environment.”
Each of the monks are given their names by priests. Some have been practicing for up to 30 years, where they start as early as 7 and 11 years old.
After creating the mandala, the monks destroy it and pour the sand into water.
“Dismantling the mandala gives a lesson about impermanence,” Tenzin said. “Everything is temporary, and that’s OK.”
But their journey didn’t stop in the South Bay. After their visit to Chadwick, the monks headed to the East Coast. They traveled to New York and Rhode Island to rebuild their mandala, and continue to showcase their practices to America.
So far, they’ve stopped by the USC Fisher Museum of Art, the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasedena, and also visited Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco over the span of five months. They plan to return to their monastery in April, where they will be greeted by 320,000 monks upon their return.
The Mainsheet 