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The monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery will create a mandala sand painting over a period of days beginning Oct. 17 at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and perform a concert of multiphonic singing Oct. 20 at 8 p.m.
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Songs and sand
Drepung Loseling monks bring peace and awareness to Scottsdale
Staff reports

SCOTTSDALE – World peace and healing, a greater awareness of the endangered Tibetan civilization, and support for the Tibetan refugee community in India.

It’s little wonder the Dalai Lama endorses the international fund‑raising tour of “The Mystical Arts of Tibet,” which will present the celebrated singers of Tibet’s Drepung Loseling Monastery. The monks are scheduled to perform “Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing” at 8 p.m. on Oct. 20 at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.

The monks are renowned for their multiphonic singing and for using traditional instruments such as 10‑foot long dung‑chen horns, drums, bells, cymbals, and gyaling trumpets. Rich, brocaded costumes and masked dances, such as the “Dance of the Sacred Snow Lion,” make for a colorful and spectacular performance.

The monks have performed with Kitaro, Paul Simon, Eddie Brickell, Natalie Merchant, Patti Smith, the Beastie Boys, the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart, and composer Philip Glass.

From Oct. 17‑22 the public will also have the opportunity to watch the monks create a mandala sand painting in the atrium of the center. The sand painting consists of millions of grains of colored sand painstakingly placed on a flat platform over a period of days to form the image of a mandala, one of the most exquisite artistic traditions of Tantric Buddhism.

The Monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery will perform Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St. in Scottsdale. Tickets are $38 through the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts box office. Call (480) 994‑ARTS (2787).

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