Friday, May 14th, 2010

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will be in town next week, and he will be making a stop on the Upper West Side!  The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Amsterdam at 112th) is excited to host an event with His Holiness on Sunday, May 23rd.  “Enter the Conversation” features a discussion with the spiritual leader of Tibet on “kinship and its meaning in our world today.”  The conversation features guests like Executive Director of Interfaith Youth Core Eboo Patel and Founder and Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning Sakena Yacoobi, and will be moderated by the Very Rev. Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean of the Cathedral, and facilitated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, His Holiness’ translator.  While general admission seats are sold out, a limited number of premium seats are still available.  Requests can be made to Dee Dee Mozeleski at dmozeleski@stjohndivine.org.

To welcome His Holiness, the Cathedral is also hosting the Drepung Loseling Monks, who will build a Tibetan Sand Mandala starting tomorrow.  A tradition of Tantric Buddhism, a sand mandala is a “painting” process involving millions of grains of sand which are painstakingly laid in place using hollow pipes called chak-purs, through which the sand is vibrated into the design.  When the mandala, constructed as a vehicle to generate compassion and socially heal the environment, is finally completed, it is ritually dismantled during a colorful ceremony to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists.  Come to the Cathedral any day starting tomorrow (when the opening ceremony takes place) and continuing through Tuesday, May 25th (when the closing ceremony takes place) to watch the construction of the Tibetan Sand Mandala.

Enter the Conversation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010, 2:00 pm, sold out (limited number of premium seats may be available)
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Amsterdam at 112th

Sand Mandala Construction
Saturday, May 15th through Tuesday, May 25th, 2010, FREE
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Amsterdam at 112th

Filed under: Free, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog No Comments »
Tags: Dalai Lama, Drepung Loseling Monks, His Holiness, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Monks, Sand Mandala, Tibet, Tibetan Monks