Witness The New Sand Mandala at Heine Brothers

From Tuesday, Nov 25^th through Saturday, Nov 29^th Heine Brothers’ Coffee at Douglass Loop 2200 Bardstown Road, 40205 will host a group of Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Gomang Monastery as they create a Sacred Sand Mandala as a special Thanksgiving Gift for the community.

 Tibetan Sand Mandala

Interfaith “Prayer for World Peace”

You are invited to watch this intricate and fascinating cultural event every day this week. Its creation offers thanks for all peacemaking efforts worldwide and generates the will to end violence locally and internationally. 

Heine Brothers’ Coffee, Douglass Loop

2200 Bardstown Road, 40205

Opening Ceremony: Tuesday, 3 – 4pm

 Construction: Tues, 25^th, 3 – 7pm

Wed, 26^th, 8 – 4pm

Thanksgiving Day, Thurs, 27^th, 8 – 12:30pm

Fri, 28^th, 8 – 12:30pm

Sat, 29^th, 10-1pm

Dissolution Ceremony:

Sat, Nov 29^th, 1-2pm

Information:

DrepungGomangUSA.org  502-619-1652

Work on the Sand Mandala will continue every day including Thanksgiving (see schedule below) until the Closing Dissolution Ceremony on Saturday, November 29^th from 1:00 to 2:00 PM. The Monks will also be offering various crafts and gifts – many that are fair trade items made by the monks and the Tibetan refugees they support – for sale throughout the event.

This free event is open to the public. Donations are welcome.

“Mandala” means “world in harmony”. The Tibetan sand mandala is an ancient Tibetan art form for which the Monks of Drepung Gomang are renowned. This Interfaith World Peace Mandala invokes dialogue and the work of nonviolent peacemaking and compassion – thereby promoting the well-being of all sentient beings. The creation of the sand mandala begins with an Opening Ceremony in which the tour leader, Geshe Yonten Gyatso, and the visiting monks chant prayers for peace, compassion and healing, accompanied by the music of cymbals, drums and horns. After the design for the mandala is laid out, the time consuming and delicate process of placing millions of colored sand grains onto the intricate design begins – a process at which the monks will work over the 5 days. At the Closing Ceremony, which includes prayers and chanting, the mandala will be deconstructed, swept into a colorful pile – symbolizing the impermanence of all things. Finally the sand will be ceremonially dispersed into the flowing waters of Beargrass Creek to spread the prayers for world peace and the compassionate energies of the mandala to the world.

Throughout the week visitors will also be able to purchase unique items the monks will be offering for sale – including jewelry, shawls, gemstone beads, ritual items, and other objects, many created by refugee Tibetans and by monks from the Monastery.

This group of Drepung Gomang Monks, hosted by the Drepung Gomang Center for Engaging Compassion, are on tour throughout the United States to share the message of compassion, to demonstrate the artistic accomplishments and endangered culture of the Tibetan people, and to generate funds to feed and educate the 2000 monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in India. For more information about the Drepung Gomang Monastery, the tour and their mission, please visit www.drepunggomang.org. For more information about DGCEC, the hosting and local Tibetan dharma center, please visit www.DrepungGomangUSA.org or the center at 411 N. Hubbards Lane, 40207.