Tashi Lhunpo Monks and Khen Rinpoche to create Sand Mandala and making additional presentations at the American Museum of Natural History in New York
Saturday, January 8, 2011 Article from http://www.amnh.org/calendar/event/Living-in-America:-Brain-and-the-Tibetan-Creative-Mind/
Global Weekends
Living in America: Brain and the Tibetan Creative Mind
Presented in conjunction with Brain: The Inside Story
Image Kitt TeedJanuary 25, 2011 - January 30, 2011
Daily Ticket Info
Free with Museum admission
Click here to RSVP for a meditation session.
Over six days, experience meditation, watch monastic dances, see the making of a sand mandala, and learn about the latest research on Tibetan meditation and its impact on the brain in this unique extended program. Abbot Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan and seven monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery will demonstrate Tibetan arts, including the creation of a “Medicine Buddha” sand mandala. Featured speakers include Richard J. Davidson, director of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Joseph Loizzo, director of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science.
Schedule of Events
Tuesday, January 25
8 am
Meditation Session with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan, abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery
Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, first floor (also AMNH member invitation)
Register here for this session or call 212-769-5200.
Bring your own mat or cushion. Chairs will be provided.
Tibetan Buddhism has a long tradition of meditation designed to enhance mental acuity and tranquility. Learn the basic techniques of meditation as practiced in Tibet by monastics and lay people. Explore how meditation on the Four Immeasurables—love, compassion, joy, and equanimity—combined with insight into the nature of phenomena can bring greater serenity of mind to people of all faiths.
10 am–12:30 pm; 1:30–5 pm
Sand Mandala: Making of the “Medicine Buddha”
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor
Observe the “Medicine Buddha” sand mandala as it is intricately formed and completed over six days.
Khen Rinpoche Gashe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan will introduce the meditative process integral to making the mandala.
10:30 am
Opening Ceremony
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor
Monks perform prayers to clear away obstacles and attract auspicious influences. They invite all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to join them in making the area suitable for the creation of a mandala.
11 am–1:30 pm; 2:30–5 pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor
Learn basic sand mandala making, chanting, and hand gestures (mudras).
Wednesday, January 26
10–11 am; 1:30–5 pm
Sand Mandala: Making of the “Medicine Buddha”
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor
11:30 am
Cham Performance
Kaufmann Theater, first floor
At Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Tibet, cham dances are performed for the general public on New Year’s Eve and following the monks’ return from their summer retreat. Wearing masks and costumes in vibrant colors, monks dance to the music of drums and long horns. They the activities of the wrathful Dharma protectors, supernatural beings sworn to protect diligent practitioners of Buddhism. Be mesmerized by these dances and the age-old chants performed by the monks of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.
1:30–5 pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor
7:30 pm
Meditation Sessions with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan
Hayden Planetarium Space Theater
Register here for this session or call 212-769-5200.
Bring your own mat or cushion. Chairs will be provided.
Thursday, January 27
10–12:30 pm; 1:30–5 pm
Sand Mandala: Making of the “Medicine Buddha”
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor
11 am–1:30 pm; 2:30–5 pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor
6:30 pm
Tibetan Meditation, Brain, and the Arts
Kaufmann Theater, first floor
Click here to learn more about this panel discussion and to purchase tickets.
Friday, January 28
10am–12:30 pm; 1:30–5 pm
Sand Mandala: Making of the “Medicine Buddha”
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor
11 am–1:30 pm; 2:30–5 pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor
7 pm
Meditation Sessions with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan
Audubon Gallery, fourth floor
Register here for this session or call 212-769-5200.
Bring your own mat or cushion. Chairs will be provided.
Saturday, January 29
10 am–noon; 2:30–5 pm
Sand Mandala: Making of the “Medicine Buddha”
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor
12:30 pm
Cham Performance
Kaufmann Theater, first floor
1:30 pm
Talk: Change Your Brain by Transforming Your Mind
Linder Theater, first floor
Meditation produces changes in brain function that promote well-being, foster positive affect and virtuous dispositions, and impact physical health and illness. Through research with both long-term practitioners and novices studied longitudinally, Richard J. Davidson, director of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, illustrates some key findings and challenges in the nascent field of contemplative neuroscience. Q & A session follows.
2:30–5 pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor
3–5pm
Meditation Session with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan and a pre-session discussion
Linder Theater, first floor
Register here for this session or call 212-769-5200.
Bring your own mat or cushion. Chairs will be provided.
Sunday, January 30
10 am–noon; 1:30–2:30 pm
Sand Mandala: Making of the “Medicine Buddha”
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor
2:30 pm
Closing Ceremony
The chants and prayers of the monks send the eight wise Medicine Buddhas, who have dwelt in the mandala, back to their natural abodes. The abbot destroys the mandala, and the sand is placed in a jar and later poured into the river. This symbolizes the Buddhist acceptance of impermanence.
12:30–2pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor
Programs are subject to change.
The Global Weekends series presents diverse contemporary cultures from around the world through live, family-friendly performances of music, dance, spoken word, theater, and other media.
Support for Global Weekends is made possible, in part, by the Ford Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., the Tolan Family, and the family of Frederick H. Leonhardt.
NYSCA logo. Living in America: Brain and the Tibetan Creative Mind is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State’s 62 counties.
The monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery are appearing with the assistance of The Tibet Fund.
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