Page 16 • Thursday, October 13, 2005
BuddHist monks
promote religious
tolerance as they share
their culture to Elon
The Pendu^ i
Leigh Ann Vanscoy
Features Editor
The Buddhist Tibetan Monies visiting this week are preach
ing religious tolerance as they face a bias against their own
religion at home.
The leaders of Communist China have forced many
Buddhists out of the country, including the Dali Lama. Each
year about 1,000 more people escape the prejudice in Tibet.
India and the present
monastery houses a total of
2,500.
Most rooms have no
screens to keep mosquitoes
out in the rainy season and
are open to rodents and
insects. Many rooms do not
y
m
Laura Hals/
Geshe Sangpo, a visiting monk, is an example. He fled the have fans for the extremely Tibetan monk; ^ . j ^..Itnre.
country when he was 14 years old. He first went to Nepal and hot season or insulation for created a ;anH ManWa/, d^ili :i!^1 ^ sharing their religion an
then later to India where he completed 17 years of schooling
and received his Geshe degree, high ranking in religious edu
cation, in Buddhist Philosophy in 2001.
The journey out of Tibet took him 21 days. He says that it
is a very hard journey. Many people lose their limbs, die or are
captured and sent to prison.
Geshe Sangpo is now sharing his education in the Sera Jey
Mahayana Buddhist University where he is in charge of a
group of monks ranging in age from 1 l-to-35 years old.
Elon hopes the monks will bring a new perspective to Elon
students. “One of the primary goals of the Truitt Center is to
help students understand and appreciate diverse religious tra
ditions,” said Chaplain Richard McBride. “Hosting Tibetan
Buddhist Monks help us fulfill that
mission.”
The monks travel all over the United States in order to raise
funds for their monastery. The original monastery in Tibet The Buddhist monks hope to teach students their ways of
housed more than 10,000 monks. But, they’ve relocated to life and about their religion through the sand Mandala The
the damp cool season as
well. Funds are sought to
alleviate these problems.
There are many sanitary
issues in the monastery.
The monastery will not
turn any students away, so it
is easy to become over
crowded. Some students do
not even have beds.
created a sand Mandala in Belk Library. They will be destroying it today-
4 4
For me interacting with the Tibetan Monks for the first tiin®
was an incredible opportunity. It opened my eyes to religions
practice and a way of life that was different from anything I
ever experienced.
— -Becky Schrier, luniof y /
They also hope to build a new city center for the Kadampa
Center, a Tibetan Buddhist center for study and practice in
Raleigh, N.C.
In order to raise money they will be touring New Jersev
New York, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina and many othe; sand k f ™ ^ '^ritual
cities, states and universities. contains
sand, traditionally made from crushed precious stone®
white marble, is considered
material because of the precious substances involve
great skill required to create the Mandala’s exquis'^® ^,
The colors of the Mandala are bright since eac
fof
Photo courtesy of The Truitt Center
Ctepto; toe'
This tradition is very different and inspiring
many people who are unfamiliar with the Buddhist
“For me interacting with the Tibetan Monks
time was an incredible opportunity,’
Schrier said. “It opened my eyes to a I
and a way of life that was different from
ever experienced.” . a
The Buddhist religion encourages
to reach “enlightenment.” Buddhists believe t
ing comes from desires and the only vvay
suffering is to not desire anything. 3''^^
This is a very different concept than what
age American teenagers believe in. . yj
“As students watch the monks spend four
ing a beautifully intricate and highly synibo i
they will be observing a focused spiri^a
Chaplain McBride said. “ At the closing cere
Mandala will be ritually dismantled in keep|'^
Buddhist idea of impermanence—that all
constant state of flux and that even a beauti W
sacred object is not meant to be preserved,
Their last visit in Fall of 2003 was a huge
monks are very eager to share their culture.
are a joyful group of men; they laugh ^
McBride said. ‘They were very approacha ;
speak with students and to share their culture
Contact Leigh Ann Vanscoy at pendulum®^
278-7247.
to