Global Harmony

Monks from the Drepung Loseling monastery will bring ‘The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Sacred Music/ Sacred Dance for World Healing,’ with multiphonic chanting, to Princeton.

By: Susan Van Dongen
   To a Tibetan Buddhist, intent speaks louder than actions or words. If you move through the world with harmonious intentions, without wish to harm, you walk the path toward enlightenment. Even catastrophe and inexplicable events bring the individual with pure intent closer to universal grace.
   Or, as they used to say in the ’60s, "Everything happens for a reason."
   For Yeshe Phelgey, a Tibetan monk whose parents were exiled during the 1959 Chinese Communist Revolution, the painful separation from his homeland has proved to have a higher purpose.

Dressed in radiant native regalia, the Tibetan monks perform a dozen or so dances and chants, invoking creative awareness, harmony, purification, wisdom and joy.

   "You have to thank the communist Chinese for chasing us from Tibet," says Mr. Phelgey, 36, a monk with the Drepung Loseling monastery. His fellow monks now travel throughout the United States and the world, performing a series of concerts that feature their extraordinary multiphonic chanting, instrumental music and dance. They also have been given the opportunity to spread their message of community understanding and global healing.
   "If it wasn’t for the Communist revolution, we’d probably still be back in Tibet, living away from the rest of the world, surrounded by sheep and goats," he says, philosophically. "The only reason we are out in the world, visiting the West, is because we were displaced."
   On June 9, the Monks of the Drepung Loseling monastery will bring their acclaimed performance, "The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Sacred Music/Sacred Dance for World Healing" to All Saints Church in Princeton. The event is presented by Richard Gere Productions and the Drepung Loseling Institute to benefit the monks and Tibetan causes.
   Gere has long been associated with Tibetan charities, promoting awareness of the Chinese government’s persecution of the Tibetan Buddhist minority. He is known for his support of the Dalai Lama, who was forced to flee Tibet and has become an exiled ambassador of peace.
   Wags sometimes poke fun at the Hollywood idol’s friendship with the holy man, but Gere is among a handful of Western artists and celebrities who have helped bring awareness to the endangered Tibetan culture, which leads a fragile existence in refugee communities in India and Nepal.
   Gere co-produced the first Sacred Music/Sacred Dance tour in 1988, which visited 130 cities throughout North America and Europe. Since then, audiences have been dazzled by the monks’ colorful, richly embroidered costumes and exotic instruments, such as the 10-foot-long dungchen trumpets.
   Their unusual music has been featured on the soundtracks to Seven Years in Tibet and Martin Scorcese’s Kundun, which focused on the life of the Dalai Lama. They have recorded two CDs and have shared the stage with Philip Glass, Kitaro, Paul Simon, Patti Smith and Natalie Merchant, among many others.

"You have to thank the communist Chinese for chasing us from Tibet," says Yeshe Phelgey, a monk with the Drepung Loseling monastery.

   The monks are known for their traditional Tibetan multiphonic chanting, where each man has mastered the ability to sing three notes at once. Thus, a single person creates a chord with his voice, mixing the deep sonorous bass notes with two higher octaves of overtones. The result is an otherworldly sound. At top volumes, the chant is almost like the roar of a stormy sea, or a tumultuous wind howling around a mountain top.
   Yet the monks possess such utter control over their voices, they can vary the loudness from this frightening intensity down to a whisper.
   Over the phone, Mr. Phelgey is soft-spoken and genial. He says modestly that American audiences "seem to like the chanting. The people really appreciate it, even first-time listeners. From what I understand they really feel something through the chant. It’s so unusual.
   "The chants are based on ancient texts of the great Tibetan Buddhist teachings. Whatever we chant is a piece of a prayer, which originally came from the great masters. Some words come from the Sutra, which are the words of the Buddha himself. Others were composed by Tantric masters and great lamas, so their meaning is really powerful."
   Audiences absorb these potent yet peaceful messages almost unconsciously and often emerge feeling a sense of transformation, like they’ve been part of something larger than their ho-hum lives. Following one concert in Palm Beach last year, listeners were surprised and delighted to see a full rainbow arching across the sky as they exited the concert hall and wondered if it was connected with the concert. After all, they had just witnessed a group of exceptional human beings conduct a chant to purify the universe.
   Dressed in radiant native regalia, the monks perform a dozen or so dances and chants, invoking creative awareness, harmony, purification, wisdom and joy. Many of the costumes — with their long, mop-like wigs and elaborate headdresses — pay homage to animal spirits. For example, the Snow Lion Dance shows the Tibetan reverence for the endangered animal, symbolizing the fearless and elegant quality of the enlightened mind. The Yak Dance evokes a different, more humorous kind of feeling and celebrates the cumbersome, rugged and playful beast unique to central Asia.

With all the troubles in the world today, the timing is ripe for their message of compassionate wisdom, Mr. Phelgey says.

   The history of the Drepung Monastery goes back to 15th century Lhasa, Tibet, where it was known as "The Hermitage of the Radiant Mind." After the communist invasion in 1959, 250 monks managed to escape and rebuild their institution in Karataka State, south India. Now there are more than 2,500 monks in the re-established Drepung Loseling monastery.
   The Institute in Atlanta was established in 1991 and is affiliated with Emory University. On May 12, 1998, this historic association was inaugurated by the Dalai Lama as a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
   Mr. Phelgey was born in India and joined the monastery at age 11. He speaks very little about the rigors of the monastery, and wishes more to talk about his duties as liaison between the facilities in Asia and Atlanta.
   "The monastery decided to extend this program to benefit other cultures in other parts of the world," he says. "They sent me here to help with the North American seat of the monastery and to help organize the tours, as well as to assist with the educational fund. We also run a center where we present (Tibetan Buddhist) teachings to the western audience.
   "I like Atlanta very much," Mr. Phelgey says. "The climate is much like that of southern India. I lived there for such a long time, I am used to the intense heat."
   It might seem like a situation comedy plot to place a Tibetan Buddhist monk smack dab in the American South, but Mr. Phelgey says he hasn’t undergone too much culture shock. He had some preparation for American life from watching movies and touring with the group.
   "I was surprised, though, that Western people are so very open to other cultures," he says. "I very much appreciate it. When I lived in India, people didn’t take part in or get involved in cultural events from other nations."
   In Buddhism, instead of life ending and the soul going to heaven or hell after death, one accumulates lifetimes of lessons, or karma. A soul re-enters and continues to take on human incarnations until all the lessons — good and bad — are learned. Therefore, a ride on the karmic wheel is like a merry-go-round. The universe brings us up and down, again and again, but eventually around in a perfect circle to where we are supposed to be.
   Without the war, the exile and the hardships, the Tibetan Buddhist monks would still be tucked away in the exquisite but isolated monasteries of Lhasa. Perhaps the widespread international interest in Tibetan culture is a fulfillment of karma or destiny. With all the troubles in the world today, the timing is ripe for their message of compassionate wisdom, Mr. Phelgey says.
   "That’s why every thing we do, every step we take and every movement is so important."
   The Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery perform The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Sacred Music/Sacred Dance for World Healing, All Saints Church, 16 All Saints Road, Princeton, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $15. For information, call (908) 245-5933. On the Web: www.mysticalartsoftibet.org