2012-2013 Sacred Arts Tour

The mission of the 2012 Sacred Arts Tour:

• The monks sincerely wish to communicate a message of peace, wisdom and compassion to heal our anxious minds in these troubled times;
• The monks are eager to introduce the arts and culture of Tibet to North America;
• The monastery wishes to generate funds for the food and medical supplies that are necessary to support the nearly 2000 refugee monks who call the South Indian monastery in exile their home.

Monastery:    

Since the inception of the Drepung Gomang Monastic University, this important Tibetan and Buddhist learning center has produced many eminent Buddhist masters.  The focus of Gomang Monastery teaching is philosophy, specifically logic and debate.

Each year approximately 150 new monks arrive at Drepung Gomang from Tibet, Tibetan Mongolia, Russia, and Tibetan settlements in India.  Many of these monks are destitute refugees from Tibet; other monks come to Gomang to study Buddhist philosophy and dialectics since this education is not available to them in their home countries.

History

Drepung Monastery was founded in 1416 near Lhasa, Tibet.  In 1959, before the invasion of Communist China, the Drepung Monastery has more than 10,000 monks, 5,500 of which were Gomang.  Only about 100 monks managed to escape with His Holiness the Dalai Lama when he fled Tibet in 1959.  They first lived in Boxa, North India, and then moved to Mundgod, Karnatake State, South Indian where they rebuilt the Drepung Gomang Monastery.  There are nearly 2000 monks living at this monastery today.

Tour Goal:

To help ensure their survival, The Drepung Gomang Monastery, in cooperation with the Drepung Gomang Institute, its sister organization in the United States, worked to create this 2010 Sacred Arts Tour to spread a message of compassion, the raise awareness of the Tibetan cultural, religious arts and prayer, and to raise funds for the monastery’s food and medical needs.

DREPUNG GOMANG 2012-13 TOUR MONKS

FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE SCHEDULE, please go to  www.gomang.org