Tibetan Monks To Offer Prayers

In Woodbury

WOODBURY — Seven Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in South India will again visit the Woodbury Yoga Center on Saturday, January 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and Sunday, January 16 from 4 to 6 pm.

The prayers at 6:30 pm on Saturday will be cultivating the blessings of Vijaya, Tibetan Buddhist goddess of Longevity (Namgyelma), and bring long life to participants.

At 4 pm on Sunday, the monks will be performing a traditional Tibetan Buddhist Fire Puja, honoring local deities and creating good fortune in the lives of participants. A prayer composed by the present Dalai Lama requesting that the forces of light prevail over darkness will be included.

All prayers are chanted in the traditional “overtones.” Each monk chants a chord of three notes.

Khen Rinpoche Phuntsok, the Abbott of the Monastery of 1,500 monks living in exile from their communist Chinese-occupied homeland of Tibet, will also give short talks based on the teachings of Lord Buddha.

The seven monks are concluding a six-month tour of the United States. The monks have been giving pageants and creating sand paintings (mandalas) at performance halls and museums throughout the country. The purpose of the tour is to educate Americans about the Tibetan situation and to make friends who care about the severe shortage of funds in the monastery. Funds desperately need to be raised to eliminate these shortages in order to provide adequate housing, food, medical, and educational provisions for the thousands of monks, some as young as six years old, continuing to flee from Tibet.

A suggested donation of $15 is requested at the Yoga Center events, but everyone is most welcome and no one will be turned away. The monks will also be available for offering prayers in private homes for healing, for the souls of loved ones that have passed on, and for the blessing and purification of one’s home. Arrangements can be made by calling Janacki at the Woodbury Yoga Center at 203/263-2254. The monastery plans a return tour in the Fall of the year 2000 and looks forward to more activities in Western Connecticut. Anyone interested in helping organize events in the Fall may also contact Janacki at the Yoga Center at 203/263-2254.

To learn more about the monastery, please visit www.gomang-uas.com.