Lecture Tours

Introduction To Tibetan History and Culture

Our lectures cover Tibetan history, from the very first Dalai Lama to the present-day struggle for freedom. We start with an in-depth explanation of The Tibetan flag, which is composed of five colours, each representing a different element: red for fire, yellow for earth, blue for air or sky, green for water, and white for space.

Sadly, this flag does not fly over our country at the present time, which leads us on to how we maintain our Tibetan traditions in exile.

Constructing a Sand Mandala

The sand mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition which symbolises the transitory nature of things.
A mandala is a system that maps mind and consciousness like a psychological diagram.
All of our experiences are part of our own personal mandala, or web of our own consciousness.  
The word mandala derives from the Tibetan word kyilkhor, kyil meaning "center" and khor meaning "fringe."

It is a group or collection of something that is interlinked from the center out to the fringe.
As part of the Buddhist canon, all things material are seen as transitory. A sand mandala is an example of this, in that once it has been built and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are finished, it is systematically destroyed.The mandala sand painting process begins with an opening ceremony, during which the lamas consecrate the site and call forth the forces of goodness. This is done by means of chanting, music and mantra recitation, and requires approximately half an hour. The event is visually and acoustically striking.

Historically, the mandala was not created with natural, dyed sand, but granules of crushed coloured stone. In modern times, plain white stones are ground down and dyed with opaque inks to achieve the same effect. Before laying down the sand, the monks assigned to the project will draw the geometric measurements associated with the mandala. The sand granules are then applied using small tubes, funnels, and scrapers, until the desired pattern over-top is achieved. Sand mandalas traditionally take several weeks to build, due to the large amount of work involved in laying down the sand in such intricate detail. It is common that a team of monks will work together on the project, creating one section of the diagram at a time, usually working from the center outwards.

The destruction of a sand mandala is also highly ceremonial. Even the deity syllables are removed in a specific order, along with the rest of the geometry until at last the mandala has been dismantled. The sand is collected in a jar which is then wrapped in silk and transported to a river (or any place with moving water), where it is released back into nature. For this reason, the materials in a sand mandala are always biodegradable, and, in keeping with the symbolism are never used twice.

Chanting and Music

Here, an invocation.

Tibetan Buddhist chant involves throat singing, where multiple pitches are produced by each performer. The music is particularly renowned in the west for its two forms of multiphonic singing known as jok-kay (low tone) and bar-da (high tone). In both forms, each of the main chantmasters simultaneously intones three notes, thus each individually creating a complete chord. The Tibetans are the only culture on earth that cultivate this most extraordinary vocal ability.

This tradition is also known as “overtone singing” because it is accomplished by means of learning to make it accord with the natural overtones of the voice. In effect, the body is transformed into an efficient overtone amplifier.

Music and Dance

Tibetan sacred music and dance are not composed in a mundane manner. Rather, each piece was born centuries ago from a mystical visionary experience of a great saint or sage, and has been transmitted from generation to generation in an unbroken oral legacy.

The secret ritual dances of the Tibet's Buddhist monks are part of an elaborate and intensive ritual initiation that lasts anywhere from one day up to two weeks. The dances are performed for deep emotional, psychic, and spiritual purification. They are mysterious, as although we are able to observe the form of the dance, we are unable to see the deep spiritual cleansing that is occurring for the practitioner. However, an enormous sense of peace and quiet can overcome the spectator.

Religious Instruction

Tibetan symbols and rituals, whose ultimate purpose is to mobilise the bodhicitta (aspiration to attain enlightenment in order to free all sentient beings from suffering) in the individual, generate not only cognitive considerations but also encompass subjective meaning for the spiritual, emotional and sensual spheres.

Healing Practices

In the Tibetan medical tradition, the concept of well-being takes into account the full dynamics of mind, body and spirit to achieve an effective and comprehensive healing strategy.
Buddhist medicine in that it utilizes three types of therapeutic intervention: medicinal entities, the power of mantra (a creative, repetitive sound) and the power of meditative stabilization.

Tibetan healing traditions focus on the interconnectedness between the cosmos and the being. Harmony and balance are believed to be essential for health and well-being. Balance among the physical, psychological and spiritual elements of human existence is health.
Iconography, music, chants, mantra, symbolic objects such as prayer wheels and prayer flags, mandalas  and visualizations are utilized to access the source of healing power.