The monks will also be working on a sand mandala over the weekend starting Friday afternoon and finishing Sunday with a destruction ceremony (Time TBC)

THE POWER OF COMPASSION For nearly five hundred years since Tashi Lhunpo Monastery was founded in Tibet by the First Dalai Lama the unique Buddhist tradition of prayers, Tantric rituals, music and dance has been offered by monks, inaccessible to all but the most fortunate. Fifty years ago, forced from their homeland by the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the monastery was re-established in India, where this great tradition continues in exile. Eight Tibetan monks are now able to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the rebuilding of their monastery in India and share this dazzling spiritual culture with audiences in the west in THE POWER OF COMPASSION, a programme of masked dance, music and Tantric ritual. This performance offers an insight into the mystical world of Tibet, featuring traditional Tibetan musical instruments, the sound of sacred mantras, and elaborate, colourful costumes. The performance is accompanied by an explanation of the significance and stories behind the dances and prayers, and provides a fascinating glimpse into an ancient cultural tradition far removed from modern Western society.

WORKSHOPS AND EXHIBITIONS Alongside the performances, the monks offer interactive workshops inviting participants to learn more about the costumes, performance and music of a Tibetan monastery or to try their hands at some of the Tibetan arts of butter sculpture, prayer flag printing or sand mandala making. The Tantric tradition of meditation is exemplified by the construction of intricate sand mandalas. These two-dimensional representations of a Buddha’s palace are made out of millions of grains of coloured sand, painstakingly put into place over a period of between three and six days. Skilled monk artists who have trained for many years offer mandala exhibitions giving a unique opportunity to experience this ephemeral form of art, its accompanying meditation and its ritual destruction to demonstrate the impermanence of all things.

www.tushi-lhunpo.org.uk

PERFORMANCES Saturday 1st July and 2nd July @ 20:00 WORKSHOPS Saturday 1st July and 2nd July @ 16:00