Wendy Wood

PLACERVILLE, California (InEDC) Dec 23, 2022 — Tibetan Buddhist Monks Culture and Arts Tour Visits Placerville celebrating 20 Years with the Gaden Shartse Monastery in the Sierra Foothills.

• The Sacred Arts of Tibet Tour of Gaden Shartse Norling Monastery will be returning to Placerville for its 20th year, January 2nd through January 14th, 2023 at the historic Federated Church https://www.eldoradofederatedchurch.org/ 1031 Thompson Way, Placerville, CA 95667

• Buddhist Monks will create the 8 Auspicious Buddhist Symbols mandala representing the creation of positive potentials. This mandala can be used externally to help in successfully benefiting others in auspicious ways. The symbols are the umbrella, yellow fish, vase, lotus, white conch shell, glorious peu, banner and Dharma chakra.

• Placerville Friends of Tibet will be honoring 20 years of support from the Placerville and Sierra Foothills community, organizers, partners, and the Gaden Shartse Monastery.

• The tour will kick off with a special Community visit and blessing of the new building at MORE morerehab.org – a fully inclusive community organization that empowers people with disabilities ro enhance their quality of life on January 3rd, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.; 399 Placerville Dr, Placerville, CA 95667

• The sand mandala creation culminates with a closing mandala dissolution ceremony on Saturday, January 14th @ 4:00 p.m.

The Sacred Arts Tour of Gaden Shartse Norling Monastery will be returning to Placerville January 2nd through the 14th, 2023. Since 2003, Placerville Friends of Tibet has hosted this arts and culture tour and will be ushering in 2023 with a 20th Year Commemoration. Along with the monks of Gaden Shartse Monastery located (in exile) in Southern India, who know and love the Sierra Foothills and surrounding communities, the tour is deeply grateful to the founders, organizers, community, and partners that have made this possible over the years.

During the tour, the Monks will share their arts and culture, Tibetan perspectives on the Buddha’s teachings, offering empowerments, astrology readings, healings, and blessings for individuals, families, businesses, pets, and the community at large.

The opening ceremony and Dharma talk explaining this mandala will begin on January 2nd, 6:00 p.m. The public can view the daily progress of the sand mandala from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The sand mandala creation culminates with a closing mandala dissolution ceremony on Saturday, January 14th @ 4:00 p.m.

This event helps support Gaden Shartse Monastic College, which is situated in the remote countryside of southern India. It was founded in 1969 as an effort to re­-establish one of the great monastic traditions of Tibet—the Gelug tradition followed by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.  A small group of elder monks and fifteen young boys, all of whom had managed to escape the destruction in Tibet, settled on land given to them by the Indian government in Mundgod, Karnataka.

Today the college is at the forefront of the revival of Tibetan Monastic education, with more than 1600 resident students, teachers, scholars, and spiritual practitioners.  More than 70% of the members are between the ages of 10 and 25 and 80% of these were born in Tibet. To this day, young monks arrive at the Monastery weekly from Tibet, seeking shelter and education. Due to the success of the academic program and the quality of the teachers at the monastery, Gaden Shartse has established a reputation as being the leader in the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies.

About Us:

Placerville Friends of Tibet is a group of dedicated volunteers who, since 2003, have committed their time, energy, and resources to sharing the culture of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism with the communities of El Dorado County, the Sierra Nevada Foothills, and the greater Sacramento region. This group is an incubator partnership with Arts & Culture El Dorado.