Ladakh Trip in 2011

With the monks safely back in the monastery it is now time to start planning the visit to Ladakh for next summer. Based at Thiksey Monastery just outside Leh, we will be taking a group of 12 people to visit the monasteries of the Indus Valley, travelling to Zanskar where we will do a short trek along the river to Phugtal Monastery, and returning to visit Disket Monastery and the beautiful Nubra Valley. Dates are still to be finally confirmed, but likely to be leaving UK around 27th July, so that we are in Ladakh to coincide with the visit of HH the Dalai Lama for anyone who might like to attend one of the days of teachings. Details are now up on our website at www.tashi-lhunpo.org.uk, Ladakh Trip. Please do get in touch if you might be interested in coming along.

Nearly at the end...

The final few weeks of the tour have been a whirlwind of activity, involving a huge number of minibus-miles (Salisbury-Kendal-Salisbury-Reading-Hexham-Halifax-Manchester-Salisbury). We haven't yet done the annual mileage count, but we seem to have covered quite a lot of ground in the past three months. Now, with just one more fixture to go, we are beginning the final stages of clearing everything away in readiness for the next tour, checking over the costumes and instruments for damage and doing a stock-take of the shop items to see what we need to re-order. We still leave time for the occasional 'treat' though - and the most successful to date was undoubtedly our visit to Lord's Cricket Ground - the 'Cathedral of cricket' as our guide reminded us - and somewhere as important to those of us who live in India as Tower Bridge itself! We had a wonderful private tour, accompanied by Brian Thompson, a Member of the MCC, who had set things up for our visit. As well as the ground itself, the Ashes, the Pavilion, changing rooms and that extraordinary egg-shaped Media Centre, we also saw a game of Real Tennis being played. In fact Keith, our guide, told us that it was the first time that he had seen a game stop so that the players could peer through the viewing window and take photographs of the people watching! At the end of our official tour, Brian kindly took us around the Indoor School too, so we had a really marvellous day out, and certainly something to tell the rest of the monks about on our return.

Woodford Valley Primary School

Just back from a day in Woodford Valley Primary School, where we had a lovely time. We spent the morning on hands-on workshops, where everyone had a go at butter sculpture, prayer-flag printing, sand mandala-making, dukar wheel making and learning some Tibetan language. We finished up with some of the mudras (hand gestures) from the prayer of Kunrik. After lunch, we gave a short performance to the whole school, including some of the dances and chants, as well as having a brief visit from Singhe the Snow Lion at the end. The children presented Kachen Lobzang Tsultim with a very beautiful Thank You card - written in Tibetan! We look forward to being back in the school for a full performance on 29th September at 7pm.

News from Home

While we are away we still get news from the Monastery, and it was wonderful to hear about His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit last week. His Holiness often says that Tashi Lhunpo Monastery is His Monastery - and he has taken special responsibility for it over the years. Now with the new Assembly Hall project a reality, thanks to His generous support and encouragement, the monastery has a secure future to look forward to. Work on the new temple is due to begin next month - more news as it comes.

Twenty-one Tara Retreat

The retreat at Hazel Hill Wood began on Tuesday with a small group watching the opening ceremony of the mandala. Hazel Hill Wood is a spiritual retreat centre just south of Salisbury. Its 70 acres of beautiful mixed woodland is maintained as naturally and sensitively as possible to protect the many aspects of its diversity. The beautiful Tara sand mandala is coming along well, and more people are joining as the weekend approaches. The destruction ceremony takes place on Sunday at 3pm. For more information contact Agatha on 07973 280943.

Sold out at the Royal Opera House!

A busy few days since our return from Edinburgh with a lovely visit to Devon (Brixham Theatre) where the sun shone and we had a lovely performance and very comfortable stay with old friends Cecila and Martin Potten in their lovely house overlooking the harbour.

Back to Salisbury and then to London for our big date in the Opera House as part of the Deloitte Ignite Festival. But first to important things! All our groups main ambition on coming to the UK is to see Tower Bridge. To get there, we travelled on a boat down the River Thames, alighting at Tower Pier, and fulfilling all ambitions with a number of excellent photographs. After a very good Italian lunch, we then re-embarked and on reaching the South Bank again, took a flight on the London Eye, by which time the skies had cleared and we had good views over the whole of the city in soft, evening light.

Back to the minibus and to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, to find that the performance (in the Paul Hamlyn Hall, formally the Floral Hall) had been sold out some time ago. The staging was extraordinary - a series of trees hanging from the ceiling on which were projected a moving light show. Difficult for us to appreciate from 'backstage' but I suspect very effective from the audience. What an amazing building! We brought all our costumes up to the hall in Europe's largest lift, designed to fit a pantechnicon with all the opera sets etc. What a pity we couldn't have brought the minibus up in it too! The performance was greatly appreciated by audience members we spoke to, and we felt very privileged to have performed in such a space.

Home again...

After ten hours on the M6 and M5, we returned home on Sunday and have been spending the last few days reorganising ourselves before the next part of the tour. The weather has been kind, so the washing machine has been working overtime, and drying clothes has been easy in the sunshine. We are going swimming this morning, and then packing to leave for Devon tomorrow, where we hope the weather will stay glorious for our two days at the seaside! Ttickets for the performance in Brixham are selling well - no doubt helped by our 'Best Ten Gigs' billing in The Indpendent entertainment guide last Saturday, which also mentioned our 'astonishing' new CD, due to be launched on Sunday alongside the performance in the Royal Opera House. Exciting times!

The sun shines on the Labyrinth

A beautiful afternoon welcomed the monks and a number of others to the Edinburgh Labyrinth this afternoon. Rev. Di Williams, Edinburgh University Chaplain, welcomed the monks and explained about the walk into the centre of the Labyrinth in George Square. It really was a moment of peace and calm within our hectic schedule of performances in the Fringe.

We were also inundated with press photographers, who took hundreds of photographs before the walk began, so perhaps we will find something published tomorrow in one of the papers.

A review of the performance...

The Power of Compassion

Monks from the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery

Compassion is the Essence of Buddhism. It is said that the Buddha taught 184,000 different spiritual practices, yet said that only the Way of Compassion is complete in itself, leading to nirvana. Tibetan Buddhism has evolved many ways to develop and express compassion, using music, chanting, dance, drama and silent meditation. The Monks of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery came to Edinburgh to share their traditions with us, and give us a flavour of these discoveries and their monastic life, and they did just that. Although it may seem a lot to be included in an hour’s performance, the experience was effectively timeless.

Although I use the term ‘performance’ it was far more than that. It opened and closed with prayer, and each item was clearly and helpfully introduced so that we knew what was happening. The whole experience was poised somewhere between entertainment, education and spiritual experience, embracing the best of each. The music was strange yet hypnotic, with the dungchens (long horns) the drum and cymbals providing the perfect background to the dancing. The costumes and the masks were colourful and exotic, and the audience experienced through them the reality of the deities and beings portrayed, with the dancer’s movements a part of the dance of the universe itself. The chanting was deep and sonorous, and the silent meditation when it finished enfolded the whole audience, and made us wish that it could go on much longer.

These dances and rituals are far more than entertainment. They are a precise process, the fruit of centuries of spiritual exploration and discovery. For example, the chanting of Kunrik (the All Knowing) is accompanied by hundreds of intricate hand gestures (mudras) , each one recognising the presence of a particular spiritual being and acknowledging their help. Particularly moving for me was Trueso, a healing ritual, and as a contrast, the energy of the masked dances and the insight into the practice of debate, a speciality of their monastic tradition, and very different from anything I have ever seen before.

For me, The Power of Compassion as presented by these monks was an elixir that touched the mind, the emotions, the senses and the very soul. I can only recommend that you taste it and see what it does for you. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Jim Pym, 9th August 2010

Launch of our new CD - Time of the Skeleton Lords

The official launch of our CD, recorded in the monastery in May, will be on Sunday 5th September at the Royal Opera House in London.  There is a link to the information about the CD at http://www.30ips.com/mailshots/tashilhunpomonks/tashilunpomonksTOTSL-2.html

One more week to go...

Into the last week of The Fringe, but far from slowing down it is now busier than ever.  We have a workshop at 9.30am, followed immediately by a performance at 11.30am, a spell on the High Street with our remaining flyers at 2.10pm, and a second performance at 4.30pm.  Tickets still available for most shows, although still selling well enough.  We are determined to take the Snow Lion out for another walk before we leave, so are hoping for ome sunny weather. 

Last night we were invited out to supper by Quaker friends we have met through the Venue 40 community - a really delicious dinner and (if only it hadn't been raining and cold!) a remarkable 'interfaith' garden in the middle of the city with plants and ornaments relating to many different faiths.

The Snow Lion visits the High Street

Tibet's national animal, the Singhe or Snow Lion, today visited Edinburgh High Street and met a number of people, including several small children, who seemed fascinated by him.  In fact, someone even gave him £1.10p to eat - so he now wonders if he can make a living this way in the future!  With his help, we managed to give out more leaflets in 20 minutes than we have managed in two days, so we are hoping that he will agree to come again before we leave Edinburgh.

His outing was followed by another sell-out performance in the Quaker Meeting House, which came at the end of a long day, with a workshop followed by the ceremony to destroy the Peace Sand Mandala attended by about 30 people.  Tomorrow we are back for our last performance in St John's Church, Princes Street. 

Walking the Labyrinth...

No review yet, sadly - but another full day at the Fringe, with workshop in the morning and a performance in the afternoon, with High Street leafletting in between.

On Wednesday we have been invited by Di Williams, the Edinburgh University Chaplain, to come to George Square to 'walk the Edinburgh Labyrinth' - an opportunity for a moment of peace and quiet amongst all the frantic activity of the Fringe.  Tashi Lhunpo monks already have an association with the Labyrinth as Di invited them to bless the ground before construction began in 2004.  Although we have a new group of monks this time, it will be good to renew the link.  If anyone would like to join us, we will be there at 2.30pm on Wednesday 25th August. 

Now we're on Facebook too!

Another day over and just over half way through our time in Edinburgh, although not yet half way through our performances...  Lovely lunch today with friends, and inspiration to get linked in to technology in a big way! 

Apparently there was a reviewer in the performance on Wednesday evening, so we are hoping to get a review printed at last, possibly tomorrow.  If it's any good, we will put it up on the blog! 

Edinburgh Evening News

We made the papers today with a picture in the Edinburgh Evening News!  The monks are pictured on the High Street in Shanak Costume looking dramatic although sadly the accompanying comment doesn't say that we are at the Quaker Meeting House for another week and a half!  Ticket sales for this week are looking good, and we are hoping for more in our third week, which we will launch with the Monday evening show in the Half Price Hut.  Please come and see us before we leave Edinburgh on 29th August.

Still in Edinburgh...

We are just at the beginning of the second week of our three week visit to the Edinburgh Fringe, and enjoying the better weather!   The sand mandala exhibition in St John's Church on Princes Street ended last weekend with the destruction ceremony on the hottest day of the whole tour, and the afternoon performance of the dances in the church went well, with full advantage being taken of the wonderful acoustic.  We will be back at St John's again for a one-off performance on Sunday 22nd August at 4pm - worth a visit!

We continue to work at Venue 40, the Quaker Meeting House, for the next two weeks.  We have a full programme of events going on, and hope for good audiences to complete our record of nearly being sold out each night.

This week from 16th to 21st August we are running morning workshops of the Tibetan monastic arts - sand mandala making, butter sculpture, prayer flag printing and Tibetan language.  So far the workshops have been for small, select groups, who seem to have enjoyed meeting the monks and having a go at these very specialised activities!

At 4.30pm there is a performance of Power of Compassion - the one hour programme of masked dance and sacred chant from the monastery in the theatre.  From Monday 23rd August onwards there will be a morning performance, beginning at 11.30am, in addition to the afternoon show.  This is preceded by a performance workshop starting at 9.30am, where you can learn a bit more about the monastery, the costumes used in the dance, the art of dialectical debate and the mudras or hand gestures used in Tantric prayer - a perfect introduction to the following performance!

Please come and visit us in Edinburgh if you can - and stay in touch through our website at www.tashi-lhunpo.org.uk