Tibetan Monks: create a sand mandala in London

Tibetan Monks UK Peace Tour

The purpose of the Lelung Dharma Trust’s Shide-Peace project is to promote peace throughout the world. In order to raise awareness of this mission, the Lelung Dharma Trust has brought a group of Tibetan monks from the Drepung Monastery in South India to the UK. While they are here they are performing a number of sacred activities. One of these is the creating of a sand mandala which I was privilege to witness in St. James’s church in Piccadilly, London.

Buddhism is of interest to me as it promotes a way of living for greater peace and happiness. It considers human behaviour and how we might individually improve our personal behaviour to make the world a better place. It is not about someone else doing something but each of us individually taking responsibility for our own behaviour and in so doing contribute to the whole. read more

Meet Wang, a Tibetan monk

Recently I met a Tibetan monk called Wang.  He is a man with great humour and wisdom.  I do not have a picture of him but I think of him as in the picture of the Tibetan monk in this article.

In the Tibetan culture Wang means empowerment. An empowerment is a ritual which initiates a student into a particular practice. A tantric practice is not considered effective until a master has transmitted the corresponding Wang (power) of the practice directly to the student. As part of the preliminary practices before a student even begins the actual practices, the teacher introduces the student to the ‘mandala’ of the deity. read more

Soul Map examples

You create your soul map using geometric shapes.  The large circle represents the circle of life, the smaller circles individual souls participating in your life and the lines between you are relationships or life lessons you are helping each other with.  As this is your soul map, you are at the centre represented by a single circle.  Below are some examples of soul maps created by my students.

soul-map-example