Seven Tibetan Buddhist monks will be visiting Lebanon and Marion County from Oct. 7-13. They have been touring the U.S. since April and offering cultural programs to raise funds for their poor refugee monastery in India. The monks from Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery in Dehra Dun, India, will create their beautiful, intricate World Peace sand painting (mandala) in the library’s community room over a four-day period, Oct. 8-11, thanks to the kindness of the Marion County Public Library staff and board. An opening ceremony for the sand painting will be 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8. They will work daily until it is completed on Friday, Oct. 11. A closing ceremony will start at 3 p.m., Friday. Everyone is welcome to stop by during regular library hours and observe their daily progress. Call 270-692-4698 for more information. Other events for the week include: >Children’s art workshops, ages 3-12, at the Marion County Heritage Center. The first workshop is Tuesday, Oct. 8, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. The second one is Thursday, Oct. 10, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Call 270-699-9455. >A cooking class and Tibetan Dinner at Stillhouse Restaurant on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The cooking class begins at 2:30 p.m. and the dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. Call 270-692-1550. >A “Let’s Travel to Tibet” cultural program including costumed dances, chanting and music at Angelic Hall on Thursday evening, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. Call 270-692-0021. >A potluck Picnic in the Park at Graham Memorial Park on Sunday, Oct. 13, begins at 2 p.m. Bring a potluck dish, a chair, and a musical instrument to play or simply sit and enjoy. Call 270-692-1155. Saturday, Oct. 12, the monks will tour the Sisters of Loretto Motherhouse and have lunch there. That afternoon, they will visit the Abbey of Gethsemani to see Thomas Merton’s grave and attend a service in the church. The Tashi Kyil monks were with actor Richard Gere in New York City in mid-August and with the Dalai Lama when he visited Louisville in May. Three days after being with the Dalai Lama, the monks visited Frankfort, Ky. over Memorial Day weekend. “They loved Kentucky and the people who came to our capital city loved them,” says Charlie Pearl, Kentucky coordinator for the monks’ tour. Pearl, a retired journalist and now freelance writer, was news editor at The Lebanon Enterprise from 1993 through 1997. “The monks wanted to return to Kentucky before going back to their monastery in India, and I wanted them to come to Lebanon, the town where I grew up, on their second visit. I coordinated their visit to Frankfort where we raised more than $12,000 for them. My mind said Lexington would be the ideal place for them to go on their second visit because of a larger population and Tibetan meditation center there, but my heart said Lebanon and Marion County. “An enthusiastic Lebanon committee has already arranged for lodging and meals for the monks. We’re inviting art, religion, sociology and anthropology students and faculty from St. Catharine College, Campbellsville University, Centre College, Lindsey Wilson College and Berea College to come see the sand painting and other cultural programs and meet the monks.” At all of the events in Lebanon, the monks also will have merchandise for sale that is made by Tibetan refugees living in India. “To raise $2,000 (the monks’ suggested donation) for the World Peace sand painting in Frankfort, we sought $100 donations,” Pearl said. “But in Lebanon and Marion County, we’re trying to find 100 people to donate $20. We have already had several generous donations.” The suggested donation for a Tibetan Dinner ticket at the Stillhouse Restaurant is $10 and 150 tickets were printed. Tickets are available at the Marion County Heritage Center. For those in the cooking class, the suggested donation is $35, which includes a dinner ticket. In Frankfort, the dinner at Church of the Ascension (Episcopal) was a sellout, and enough food was prepared to admit another 20 at the door. The monks visit and interfaith events “are very important for a part of who we are as Christians, who happen to be Episcopalians, to help us better understand other faith traditions,” said the Rev. William Jessee Neat, rector at the downtown Frankfort church, just before the monks’ arrival in May. “It’s important to explore both where we converge in our understanding of humanity and divinity and the universe, and where we diverge. “This is a grand opportunity for us to encourage that to happen and to participate in it. We want to work toward a better understanding of those in the world around us and to dig deeper into theology because the more we can understand about others, the more we can understand about ourselves.” Neat, a retired U.S. Army colonel, served two tours of duty in Korea and credits his peace-filled visits to Eunjeok-sa Buddhist Temple in Daegu as greatly influencing his spiritual journey. He said the interfaith events scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in Frankfort “are a continuation of several decades of worldwide Christian-Buddhist dialogue that has garnered a lot of attention in both faith communities.” In Lebanon, there will be no set charge for any of the events, just suggested donations, and no one will be turned away unless the crowds exceed the maximum seating. “We had at least 1,000 people come see the monks while they were in Frankfort,” Pearl said. “Several from Frankfort have already said they will come to Lebanon to see them and have pledged donations for the sand painting here.” The Lebanon Tourist and Convention Commission, the Marion County Heritage Center, and Marion County Public Library have “helped immensely” in promoting the monks’ upcoming visit to Lebanon, Pearl said.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 14:32:04 +0000
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