Faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends had the rare opportunity to experience the Asian arts when the Tibetan monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery visited Wittenberg, March 20-24, as part of a Wittenberg Series-sponsored weeklong residency.

The residency commenced with a ceremony in which the monks began the process of creating an elaborate Mandala Sand Painting. Construction took several days and required millions of grains of sand. On March 23, the monks then dismantled the mandala, sweeping up the colored sands to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists.

The monks then led a procession, accompanied by the public, to Buck Creek where the grains were ceremonially poured to disperse the healing energies of the mandala throughout the world.

A special performance, “The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing,” concluded the residency that evening in Kuss Auditorium of Clark State Performing Arts Center.

Hailed by The Washington Post as “a universal expression of the human subconscious,” the performance featured elaborate costumes, traditional instruments and unique multiphonic singing.

While on campus, the monks also spoke to classes and assisted with a special event remembering all those service men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq. A photo collection titled “Tibet: Magical Land of Spiritual Wonders” remained on exhibit in Thomas Library through April 17.