Exiled Tibetan Monks from India Visit Evansville, On Tour for First Time Since Pandemic

Seated on the floor in a deep red wrap, Buddhist Monk Kalsang Gyatso is using a sand funnel called a chakpur, to carefully apply vividly colored sand to the complex piece of art they're creating on the floor, called a mandala.

They’re been at it for four days. It’s detailed and vivid and hard to believe it’s drawn with sand. It’s circular with concentric lines representing various world religions, at the center is a group of animals they call “harmonious brothers” depicted above the globe.

“The purpose of making this mandala is for world peace, and all religions come together and work for world peace,” said Lobsang Mangussra the spokesperson for the group. It’s almost the end of their four-day stay in Evansville, hosted by St. Lucas United Church of Christ.

This is part of a five-month tour around the US. They’ve actually been coming to Evansville since 2011, but this is their first time since the pandemic.

So far the monks have been in Milwaukee, Iowa, St. Louis, Chicago, Tennessee, Kentucky and Bloomington, The Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center. Staci Jennings of the Center, said they also are going to North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Colorado.

The point of the tour is to share the rich Tibetan culture, promote world peace, “and also like the teaching of Buddha, which is based on the lovingkindness and compassion and happiness,” Mangussra said.

It’s also to financially support their Tashi Kyl refugee monastery in India with 120 monks that they house and educate.

To this end they have a shop set up in the church hallway with banners, artwork and coppery singing bowls.

Aside from the sand art there were also meditation classes at various locations around town, a stop at the children’s museum and Tibetan dancing and cooking classes.

Mary Stoermer is with the church, and coordinated volunteers for the events.

“You know, I'm 72 years old. Never in my life, did I ever think that I would be able to do this,” she said. “I got to cook with the monks yesterday and that was just such a neat thing … I am so glad that I have been able to experience this and experience the peace that had come to me through this.”

She thinks the monks’ message of peace and sharing their culture has made an impact during this tour, with about 65 attending the fundraising dinner and closer to 300 visiting them at the church.

After painstakingly creating the sand mandala, the monks have a specific ritual to dismantle it. The image is built starting from the inside out, and they disturb the sand, drawing lines through the images from outside in.

Mangussra said it’s done to demonstrate the Impermanence in life.

“In this world, how beautiful and how strong, nothing is permanent. So is the message of being impermanent.”

Cecil Martin has been coordinating these local visits since 2011.

“… so just little by little people are meeting them and having time with them and understanding a little more about what is going on in the country of Tibet, and why they're in exile in India, and then why they're coming to the United States to raise funds and to share their culture with people.”