Tibetan Nuns Come to Lincoln City Cultural Center Oct. 10-15

The first-ever US tour by a group of Tibetan nuns comes to Lincoln City Cultural Center October 10-15th for the creation of the Avalokiteshvara Sand Mandala, and a full week of Tibetan cultural events, workshops, talks, and ceremonies.

The highlight of the visit by the Jangchub Choeling Tibetan nuns is the creation of the Avalokiteshvara Sand Mandala in the Lincoln City Cultural Center theater. It will take four to five days to complete, and is a colorful and meticulously hand-created piece of sacred Tibetan art representing Avalokiteshvara (Chrenrezig in Tibetan), the Bodhisattva (or “Great Being”) of Compassion. The Dalai Lama himself is said to be the reincarnation of Chenrezig. The completed mandala will be a symbolic depiction of a celestial palace, filled with sacred symbols from Tibetan culture, including animals, trees, geometric designs, and a portrait of Avalokiteshvara.

Unlike some other forms of “sand painting,” the Tibetan sand mandalas are brocade-like designs that give the final design a three dimensional quality. To draw the designs, the nuns use narrow metal funnels identical to the ancient tools used for the past 1000 years in Tibet. The funnels are then vibrated by the nuns using a special metal rod, so that the fine lines of colored sand can be carefully ‘painted” into the mandala. 

The week of events begins on Thursday evening, October 10th, 6pm with the opening “purification ceremony.” Then, from October 11th through the 15th, the nuns will be working on the sand mandala daily from 9am to 4pm at the Cultural Center theater. The public is invited to come and observe this meditative process of the mandala’s creation throughout the visit.

While the nuns are here, they’ll also be offering a number of other Tibetan cultural events, including a Tibetan Cultural Night on Saturday, October 12th which features the sacred Dakini Dance, a ritual dance that until recently was only performed by Tibetan monks. Also on the Cultural Night program is the “Chod Ceremony" for removing of inner and outer obstacles featuring classic Tibetan Buddhist chanting and ceremony, followed by a Q& A and slideshow with the nuns about their history and life in Tibet, their perilous journey across the Himalayas to exile in India after the Chinese invasion in 1959, and the recent creation of an order of Tibetan nuns and “Geshemas” (or senior teachers) alongside the large Tibetan monasteries of Tibetan monks.

Other events during the week include: the “White Tara Empowerment Ceremony” on Friday, October 11th; a meditation workshop on Saturday morning at 10am; and on Sunday, a talk on “Who is Green Tara?”, another important figure in Tibetan Buddhism.

On the final evening of their visit, Tuesday, October 15th, at 5pm, the nuns will conduct the Dissolution Ceremony for the finished sand mandala, during which the completed mandala is ritually swept up and carried to the ocean. This ritual “dissolution” symbolizes the impermanence of all created things, a fundamental teaching of Tibetan Buddhism. The public is invited to come and celebrate with the nuns this beautiful week of cultural exchange and sharing.

All events are walk-up and by suggested donation. All proceeds benefit directly the Jangchub Choeling nuns' medical care in India. 

This is the first-ever full tour in the United States by a group of Tibetan nuns, and is part of a year-long visit that has brought the nuns to Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, and NYC. The tour group includes four Tibetan nuns, one of whom is a “Geshema”, the highest degree awarded in the Tibetan monastic universities. Thanks to the efforts of Tibetan women who aspired to become nuns, and to the efforts of the Dalai Lama, the order of Tibetan nuns was re-established in the last 1980s, and Geshema degrees awarded to nuns only in the past decade. However, there is still a lack of facilities, as well as qualified female teachers amongst the nuns, and thus the nunneries work in close cooperation and support from the various Tibetan monasteries and colleges in exile in India.

The nuns are also offering House, Business, and Land Blessings while they’re here, as well as Personal Blessings and Healings. For more information, contact LC Friends of Tibet at 530-748-9365 or email LincolnCountyTibet@gmail.com.

This visit and residency is presented by Lincoln County Friends of Tibet in cooperation with the Lincoln City Cultural Center. Lincoln County Friends of Tibet also hosted the recent visit by the Gaden Shartse Tibetan monks to Newport back in June.

All funds raised during the visit go directly for the medical care and medical facilities for the nuns at Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in the Tibetan Refugee Zone in Mundgod, India. 

For more information and a complete schedule, go to:

https://LincolnCity-CulturalCenter.org or https://LCFriendsofTibet.org

Or email: LincolnCountyTibet@gmail.com; phone: 530-748-9365,;or on Facebook: LCFriendsofTibet.