Global Weekends

Living in America: Brain and the Tibetan Creative Mind

Presented in conjunction with Brain: The Inside Story

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. Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan, abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, along with monks from Drepung Loseling 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.

This program coincides with the opening of Body and Spirit: Tibetan Medical Paintings, a new exhibition that features 64 Tibetan medical paintings, which provide a unique and rich illustrated history of early medical knowledge and procedures in Tibet.

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

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 monks 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.

10:30 am
Opening Ceremony
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor
The Drepung Loseling monks of the Mystical Arts of Tibet tour begin the six-day creation of the “Medicine Buddha” sand mandala with the traditional opening ceremony known in Tibetan as Sa-chog, the rite to prepare the site for the mandala. Through meditative visualization accompanied by chants, music and mantras, the monks will consecrate the site upon which they will create the sacred mandala with colored sand.

Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning sacred cosmogram. These cosmograms can be created in various media, such as watercolor on canvas, wood carvings, and so forth. However, the most spectacular and enduringly popular are those made from colored sand.

In general all mandalas have outer, inner and secret meanings. On the outer level they represent the world in its divine form; on the inner level they represent a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into enlightened mind; and on the secret level they depict the primordially perfect balance of the subtle energies of the body and the clear light dimension of the mind.

The creation of a sand painting is said to effect purification and healing on these three levels.

 

11 am–5 pm
Monks Create a Sand Mandala: “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.

 

11 am–1:30 pm; 2:30–5 pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Drepung Loseling 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
Monks Create a Sand Mandala: “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 evoke 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 the Drepung Loseling Monastery.

1:30–5 pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Drepung Loseling Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor

7:30 pm
Meditation Session 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 am - 5 pm
Monks Create a Sand Mandala: “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 Drepung Loseling Monastery Monks 
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor

Friday, January 28

10 am – 5 pm
Monks Create a Sand Mandala: “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 Drepung Loseling Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, second floor

6 pm
View the new exhibition Body and Spirit: Tibetan Medical Paintings with curator Laila Williamson.
Audubon Gallery, fourth floor

7 pm
Meditation Session 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
Monks Create a Sand Mandala: “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 Drepung Loseling 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
Annabella Pitkin, Term Assistant Professor at Barnard College, will lead a pre-session discussion on meditation practices in the US and Tibet.

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 - 2:30 pm
Monks Create a Sand Mandala: “Medicine Buddha”
Hall of Birds of the World, second floor

12:30 – 2 pm
Tibetan Monastic Art Exchange with the Drepung Loseling Monastery Monks
Stout Hall of Asian Peoples, Islamic Court, 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 mandala is destroyed, and the sand is placed in a jar and later poured into the river. This symbolizes the Buddhist acceptance of impermanence.

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.

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 Drepung Loseling Monastery are appearing with the assistance of The Tibet Fund.

Additional materials supported by Panchen Lama-Tashi Lhunpo Project.