Buddhist monks remove negativity
SLIPPERY ROCK — Tibetan Buddhist monks aren't exactly a common sight in northern Butler County.
However, the monks of Gaden Shartse Monastery were all over the Slippery Rock area last week.
The monks regularly tour the United States to share ancient Tibetan rituals.
Last week, the monks performed a Tantric healing ritual at the Ginger Hill Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 174 S. Main St.
Lobsang Wangchuk, who was a monk for 20 years, said the monks often like to meet and work with different religious bodies.
“To see how we have the same goals on the planet,” Wangchuk said.
Nearly 70 people participated in the ritual, which is meant to remove negativity from people.
Normally, Wangchuk said, most people do not get to see or participate in this kind of ritual.
However, he said the monks demonstrate the ritual on tours out of altruism.
Before the ceremony, Jampa Phelgye, the monk who performed the ritual while Wangchuk explained it, spent 30 minutes clearing his mind and “taking a different form” to prepare for it.
Monks passed out images of Buddha to attendees. Wangchuk explained audience members should project the image from their forehead and imagine Phelgye as the Buddha.
Phelgye performed a ritual to turn water into “radiant nectar.” Phelgye then poured the liquid into a bowl, but Wangchuk said the audience should imagine he is pouring it on their foreheads, forcing the negativity out of their bodies.
Monks then distributed pieces of barley dough to the audience. Wangchuk instructed audience members to rub the dough on any part of their bodies where they feel negativity, imagining the negativity going into the dough.
Wangchuk told the audience to exhale onto the dough three times, visualizing any remaining negativity as black, smoky light going into the dough.
Monks then poured a few drops of the nectar in the participants' mouths. Phelgye swept the room with a peacock feather, and after, the audience put the dough in a bowl and spit the nectar in the bowl.
Finally, Phelgye performed a ritual to offer protection from future negativity.
“Literally, he's come in and cleaned your whole house for you,” Wangchuk said.
He advised the audience to do only virtuous acts from that day forward.
“Start a new life today,” Wangchuk said.
He encouraged the audience to continue similar rituals in the future using the image the monks distributed.One way to do that is to sit cross-legged and recite the mantra printed on the card and imagine radiant light coming down and cleansing the body.Another way, while taking a shower, is imagining Buddha coming out of the water, reciting the mantra and imagining negativity going down the drain.Heidi Friel of Butler brought her brother, Brian Kurtz, to the event. She had just started attending the church and was interested in seeing what kind of program the monks would put on.“I'm hoping to get some kind of peaceful feeling,” Friel said.Tom Bodie, pastor of Ginger Hill Unitarian Universalist Congregation, said the ceremony was quieting and peaceful.“I found the meditation extremely relaxing,” Bodie said.The monastery was founded in Tibet in the 1400s. Today, it is located in southern India and has 1,500 monks.Wangchuk said it takes 25 years of study to become a monk.Wangchuk said that the touring has three goals: to raise funds for the monastery, to educate people about Tibet and to spread wisdom.The monks also participated in a public philosophy lecture at Slippery Rock University on Oct. 10. During the day on Friday, they led SRU students, faculty and staff in a meditation program. Later that evening, the monks performed sacred dances and chants at SRU.On Saturday, the monks did an empowerment ritual at the Yoma Room Center for Wellness in Saxonburg, and on Sunday, the monks discussed Tibetan Buddhism and other topics at Ginger Hill.
