Sand Mandala Opening Ceremony

Where:

Goldenstein Gallery
390 North Highway 89A
Sedona, AZ 86336

Driving Directions

When:
Wednesday March 9, 2011 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM MST
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Greetings!

Tibetan monks from the Gaden Shartse Monastery at the Mundgod refugee camp in south India will be in Sedona from March 9th through March 13, 2011. Delegations from this Monastery have been visiting the U.S. since 1992. They have been coming to the Northern Arizona area about once every two years for the past 12 years.

They are here as part of the Sacred Earth and Healing Arts of Tibet tour. This is the official tour of this internationally recognized Monastery. Founded in 1409, The Gaden Shartse Monastery is one of three great monasteries of Tibet, recognized as one of the most important seats of education for Tibetan culture. After the exile from Tibet, the monastery was re-established in 1969 in south India.

It is such an honor to welcome them back once again.

This year they will be in Sedona and Flagstaff for five days. They have an extensive schedule of presentations and ceremonies, all open to the public. A complete schedule of their events can be viewed here: http://www.gadenshartsecf.org/sedona-arizona/

Once again this year they'll be creating a beautiful sand mandala at the Goldenstein Gallery in Uptown Sedona.

2009Mandala

The opening ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. and will run for approximately 30 minutes. Members of the delegation will then continue to work on the mandala for 5 days at the Gallery.

Closeup on sand mandala workers

As is the tradition in Tibetan culture, once the mandala is complete, it will be destroyed as part of a ceremony to illustrate the transient nature of all life. This closing ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 13th at 2:00 p.m. at the Goldenstein Gallery. After the 'sweeping' of the sand, the monks will then walk through the Uptown area to the creek at Los Abrigados where the rest of the ceremony will be performed.

Sand in creek

This is a unique opportunity to experience an important traditional ceremony that is fundamental to Tibetan culture and is being preserved by these monks.

Please join Linda Goldenstein and her staff at the Gallery to welcome the monks and to learn about the events for the rest of the time they are here in Sedona.

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As in previous years, the spiritual leader of the delegation, will be offering home and business blessings, as well as personal healings. This year the spiritual leader is Lama Geshe Kunchok Tenzin.

Tour Spiritual Leader

Venerable Geshe Kunchok Tenzin has traveled and taught in many countries including Great Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Scotland, Ireland and he has done two previous tours in the United States. Very humble by nature, he radiates compassion and teaches with great wisdom and personal experience. Learn more about the Lama and the rest of the delegation here: http://www.gadenshartsecf.org/

If you are interested in scheduling one of these offerings, please contact me at the number given below.

It should be noted that 100% of the money raised during this visit goes to the Monastery. We have a many in-kind sponsors for their visit this year and we appreciate all of their support. To see the complete list of sponsors, please visit: http://scl.tv/GSCF2011

Please also take a moment and forward this email to anyone in your network that might be interested in seeing the monks again. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at one of their events!

Sincerely,

Visit to Sedona by Monks

Jane Ginn

On behalf of the: Gaden Shartse Cultural Foundation

jane.ginn@gmail.com

(928) 399-0509