Berea College’s special relationship with Tibet’s exiled leaders and an agreement to educate Tibetan refugees makes the College a logical stop for a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks who are on a three-month tour in the United States. Their visit April 15-17 will be of special interest to Berea's nine Tibetan students.

Monks from the Tashi Lhunpo monastery will visit Berea Thursday - Saturday, April 15 - 17. During their three-day stay, the Monks will give two lectures on Buddhism and build a sand mandala in Hutchins library, and give a performance of sacred music and dances. All activities are free and open to the public.

Hosting the visit are Berea College’s International Center, Campus Christian Center, Hutchins Library, Buddhist Student Association, and Students for A Free Tibet.

At 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, The Campus Christian Center will host a welcome reception in the Fireside Room of the Draper Building, where College President Larry Shinn will officially welcome the monks to Berea.

The lectures are scheduled for Friday, April 16 at 11 a.m. One will be held in the Trustees Room of Seabury Center entitled, "Finding Happiness in Life," and a second on "Tibetan Buddhism" will be held in the Taylor Room of the Alumni Building.

On Friday April 16, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Phelps Stokes auditorium, the monks will give their main “Performance of Cham”, a monastic dance. The performance features sacred masked dances and music, healing chants, and richly ornamented multi-colored costumes.

The monks will begin building the sand mandala in Hutchins Library at 9 a.m. on Friday. A sand mandala is a carefully constructed design made up of millions of grains of colored sand. The sand mandala represents impermanence. Once the monks finish the construction of the mandala, they will hold a closing ceremony to spread the sand into flowing water so that it may travel the earth and bring well-being to the world.

In conjunction with the building of the mandala, the monks will hold two blessing ceremonies. The first will take place just before the monks start building the mandala. The second will be held after its completion, estimated to be late Saturday afternoon, just after the monks have finished.

One of the four great monasteries of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, the original Tashi Lhumpo monastery was founded in 1447 by His Holiness the 1st Dalai Lama. Since then, monastery has produced thousands of scholars in the field of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. In 1959, Tashi Lhunpo and the other monasteries re-established in South India under the direction of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The monastery has more than 250 monks.

Berea’s service to the Tibetan refugee community began in 1991 with an agreement developed by former College president John Stephenson and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, to enroll two Tibetan students each year. Stephenson visited Tibet in 1992, and in 1994, His Holiness made a visit to Berea’s campus. The first group of Tibetan students graduated in 1995. The Tibetan Student Exile Program intially covered a period of four years. Berea continues to serve this community by selecting the two most promising Tibetan students from the annual international applicant pool. This year, eight Tibetan refugees and one ethnic Tibetan from China are enrolled at Berea.

For additional information, contact Alison Garfinkle, Berea College International Center, at (859) 985-3451.