Photograph by Thomas Crone
If you’ve visited the City Museum, it’s possible that you’ve seen some things you’d never expect to witness. But there’s something to be said for being around when Tibetan monks are running on the Hamster Wheel or cavorting in the caves, slides and crawl-ways of downtown’s legendary tourist attraction. Though typically seen at their public events as serious, even stoic, the six monks that are in St. Louis this week have very different personalities; in fact, some of them are quite impish.
Unlike in past years, this year’s Sacred Arts Tour features two groups of monks from the exiled Drepung Gomang Monastery splitting the United States, both parties on a year-long mission to advance the Tibetan cause. While visiting cities, they participate in a variety of set, public activities, while also mixing-and-mingling in the community, where they are frequently stopped for photos and questions.
Over the next few days, the group will be undertaking one of the more-serious aspects of their trip to St. Louis: the construction of a sand mandala at Saint Louis University. (This trip has already seen them create another one, at near-west county’s Healing Arts Center.) The experience involves the monks applying colored sand to a patterned board, through the use of a pair of metal applicators that almost musically click-and-clack through the hours of creation.
Once the piece is completed, the monks ritualistically destroy the piece, swirling the sand and taking it to a local body of water, where the colored grains are expected to carry a message of peace as they travel into larger waterways. Often, the viewers of the mandala’s destruction are also allowed a chance to take home a small baggie of sand, a physical reminder of the monks’ visit, which can be saved or used in personal ceremonies.
This week, the Center for Intercultural Studies at Saint Louis University will be hosting the monks for a sand mandala creation at the Center for Global Citizenship, in the heart of the SLU campus. (Old-timers and sports fans may remember the space as the West Pine Gym.) On Wednesday, August 27, the monks will offer an opening ceremony at 11:30 a.m., and will work until roughly 7 p.m. On Thursday, they’ll work from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. And on Friday, they’ll complete the piece, working from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at which point they’ll engage in the closing ceremony.
On Thursday, August 28, the monks will speak and chant at 7:30 p.m., in the Loyola Room of Jesuit Hall, 3618 Lindell. This will be more of an informative discussion of Tibetan Buddhism, and may feature the colorful debating system, in which monks challenge one another in games of verbal and philosophical dexterity; it’s a quite a scene.
Over the past week-and-change, I’ve had the chance to shoot the monks at events and in personal time. There’s a running flickr stream here. And for more info on the monks visit drepunggomangusa.com.
