By LETITIA CHAI

On November 7, members of the Tibet Initiative at Cornell (TIC) visited the Namgyal Monastery for an introductory meditation session and social tea. We piled into a taxi and headed towards the recently opened D Khor Choe Ling extension of the monastery on 201 Tibet Drive. Many of us had little-to-no experience with meditation, but we left the center with a newfound appreciation for Tibetan monastic culture.

The Namgyal Monastery, founded in 1992, is the North American Seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a branch of the main Namgyal Monastery in Dharmsala, India. Its primary goal is to offer Western students the opportunity to explore Tibetan Buddhism. That evening, the monastery opened the newly constructed D Khor Choe Ling complex to the public.

D Khor Choe Ling, meaning the Land of Kalachakra Study and Practice, is a beautiful space designed in the traditional Tibetan style. It was opened to meet the needs of the growing population of those interested in Tibetan Buddhism and culture. Among many other community rooms, the center is home to a Kalachakra shrine dedicated to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. For the event, the main shrine room was covered in meditation cushions to accommodate all of the visitors.

The introduction to meditation, led by the Venerable Choegyal monk, lasted about two hours. The Venerable Choegyal explained the basic principles of meditation, touching on the distinction between calming and insight practices. He described the former practice as a means to calm the mind. By focusing on the breath, one can increase mindfulness and keep thoughts from wandering. On the other hand, insight meditation is a more complex form of practice that demands the ability to witness and analyze thoughts as they come and go. For the last hour of the session, the Venerable Choegyal invited us to practice either form of meditation.

Although this section was the focus of the event, the highlight of my night was seeing a Kalachakra sand mandala and socializing with members of the monastery. Recently, two monks from the Namgyal Monastery in Dharmsala had visited the Ithaca branch to make a sand mandala. Each mandala depicts a specific Buddhist tantra, a style of meditation or ritual. Made with colored grains of sand, the mandala is carefully created and later destroyed to symbolize the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence. However, this particular mandala is being preserved for the next few months so that visitors can come and see the artwork. The sand mandala in D Khor Choe Ling focuses on the Kalachakra, or The Wheel of Time. From afar, the Kalachakra mandala looks like a pattern of geometric shapes in a circular form. However, from a closer look, viewers can see images of animals and people made of tiny grains of sand. The Kalachakra mandala illustrates the flow of events in the past, present and future. Kala, meaning time, and chakra, meaning cycle, join together to demonstrate the spiritual development towards enlightenment.

After the Kalachakra viewing, visitors were led to the social room for tea and conversation. Two thermoses of milk tea kept everyone warm as we met with the various monks and coordinators of the Namgyal Monastery. As members of the Tibet Initiative at Cornell sat down to discuss the meditation session, the Venerable Choegyal came and joined us. At first, I was intimidated by his presence. However, I realized that he was a gregarious and open person. He talked to us about moving from Kham, his home and the south-eastern region of Tibet, to Dharmsala. The Venerable Choegyal, I learned, was a visiting monk who primarily taught at the Namgyal Monastery in India. Lucky for us, he has been in Ithaca for the past five months and will be here for about a year, teaching other monks and students. Afterwards, a new visiting monk from Dharmsala will come to Ithaca to share Tibetan Buddhist teachings with our community.

The Namgyal Monastery hosts weekly meditation sessions, Tibetan language classes and opportunities to explore Buddhist philosophy. This weekend, they are hosting the Annual Ithaca Tibetan Cultural Day at Saint Pauls Methodist Church in downtown Ithaca. It will be a great way to experience Tibetan culture through food, dance and art. Additionally, the Tibet Initiative at Cornell will be hosting other cultural events throughout the year. The first of which is an art installation of 1,000 cranes symbolizing peace in Tibet. The event will be hosted at the Willard Straight Hall art gallery throughout the month of December.

To learn more about the Annual Ithaca Tibetan Cultural Day, please contact the Namgyal Monastery at 607-273-0739.

To join the Tibet Initiative at Cornell, please contact Andrew Card (President of TIC) at ajc396@cornell.edu.

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GUEST ROOM | A Trip to the Namgyal Monastery