If you attended last summer’s Lollapolooza tour, you may remember the

singing, dancing and trumpeting monks who opened the show with their

blessing ceremony. UT will be treated to a similar performance tonight at

the UC auditorium. Nine Tibetan monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery

will perform at 7:30. Their current world tour is entitled “Sacred Music,

Sacred Dances– the Mystical Arts of Tibet,” designed to promote healing

and harmony across the globe.

The Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950s destroyed much of the country.

The original Drepung Loseling Monastery was closed by the Communist army in

1959. Many monks were killed or placed in concentration camps, but some

escaped to India, where they have worked to re-establish their religion and

culture. Groups such as these tour the world to educate audiences about

their traditions and beliefs.

Tonight’s event is sponsored by the Knoxville Friends of Tibet and Losel

Shedrup Ling of Knoxville, a local organization of devoted and aspiring

Buddhists of the Tibetan tradition. This local group is affiliated with

Drepung Loseling, which is now located in Mundgod, India, and with the

American headquarters of Losel Shedrup Ling in Atlanta, Georgia. Other

affiliated monasteries are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and

Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The monks of the Drepung monastery have toured the world four times with

the blessing of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists.

The Dalai Lama suggested in the mid-1980s that the monastic elders make

their presence known in the world to contribute to world peace movements.

They have been received with enthusiasm nationwide. The various groups have

been hosted by several Christian groups, from Roman Catholics to Mormans to

Unitarians. President Clinton honored them with Arkansas Travellerships

when he was governor of that state, and they have been named Honorary

Citizens of New Orleans on two different occasions.