As the final event of MLK Days of Dialogue, the Drepung Loseling monks enthralled spectators Friday night with a showcase of their culture and arts.
The event “Sacred Music, Sacred Dance for World Healing” streamlined the four day ritual of music and dance used to bring about healing on environmental, social and personal levels into a two hour event.
“Every time they come to campus, there seems to be a dimming down of life’s background noise,” Ted Sprague, stage technician for Arts and Sciences said, “It starts the semester out nicely in a grounded place and seems to calm everything down.”
To start out the evening, the monks presented Nyensen, a vocal performance that invokes the forces of good. The monks who performed had been chosen by elders for their spiritual maturity and mastery of the performing arts. This was evident from monk’s mastery of their vocal cords and their demonstration of tunnel chanting, an art where three notes are sang simultaneously. The group worked together flawlessly as they blended vocals and instrumentals into resonating melody.
“I wait for monk week,” Nancy Sindelar, a community member, said. “I admire the level of focus they have. I can’t even begin to understand the Buddhist tradition, but they walk their talk and live their beliefs.”
The crowning moment in the presentation for many spectators was Senggey Garcham, the Snow Lion Dance. In Tibet, the snow lion symbolizes the fearlessness and elegance of the enlightened mind and the dance is said to create a healthy environment where all beings rejoice. As the music was performed on stage, the spirit animal made a surprise entrance through a side door and interacted with the audience, weaving between aisles before heading to the stage.
“The spiritual animal came through the crowd and actually came down the same aisle where I was sitting,” Eric Ogle, ASUW senator said. “The monks that were dressed up, actually stopped where I was at and got within maybe two feet of my face. It was one of the coolest shows that I have ever been to.”
The performance also included a look into the monks’ life in the monastery in the segment, “Intense Encounters of the Third Degree.” This debating art is used to train young monks who are striving for enlightenment and can last for hours.
The monks begin with a question and, as the debate grows more heated, more monks jump in to the animated debate. At times in the presentation, the monks had to hold each other back and they countered the argument, clapping their hands at each other to signal the enlightenment that would come.
“The show was very unique to me in a sense that I had never seen anything like it,” Ogle said. “It not only showed diversity here on campus, but throughout the world.”
