Tibetan monks promote peace and compassion in Red Deer

Tibetan Buddhist monks from the south of India wrapped up their five-day visit to the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery (MAG) last week, with a special ceremony held there on Sunday.

After arriving on Sept. 4 to create a sand mandala at the MAG, four monks from the Dzongkar Choede Monastery destroyed it during a ceremony on Sunday – a Tibetan Buddhist tradition said to involve both the creation and destruction of mandalas made from coloured sand.

Lorna Johnson, executive director at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery, says the monks first came to Red Deer seven years ago and they once again phoned MAG officials recently, advising them of their cross-Canada tour.

“As it turned out, the timing worked perfectly for us, so we invited them to come,” explains Johnson. “Rinpoche Sopa is the Abbott of the Monastery and he was here for the creation of the sand mandala and he performed the final ceremony of destroying the sand mandala and distributing the sand to everyone who was present. The mandala that they created this time was the Mandala of Compassion.”