Blessed to witness Tibetan monks perform on Luing
Tibetan monks performed a whirl of colour and sacred devotion on Luing this week.
The Atlantic Islands Centre welcomed one of its biggest audiences yet, drawn to it by the promise of an unforgettable spectacle – and it did not disappoint.
The eight Tashi Lhunpo monks, exiled from Tibet, stopped off on Luing, three-quarters of the way round the Highland leg of the UK tour that has been selling out.
On a mission, the monks are fundraising for a new kitchen for their monastery after their patron, the Dalia Lama, advised them to eat healthily to help their studies. It can take up to 25 years to graduate to full-monk status, by that time 70 text books of scriptures have been learned by heart, practised through lively debates and hand gestures.
On tour, far from home and their monastery now in India’s Karnataka State, the monks, with their smoothvoiced narrator Jane Rasch from the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery UK Trust, open a door into their sacred and intriguing world.
While the rich colours of their silk dance robes and brightly painted masks were a joy to see, there was still a hum of heartbreak that struck a solemn chord with everyone witness to this most moving performance of chanting and tantric music tradition.
Exiled from their holy land, the monks have no idea of the whereabouts of their Panchen Lama, Tibetan Bhuddhism’s second-most revered leader after the Dalai Lama. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has been missing since 1995 when he was just six. Campaigners searching for him say he was taken captive by the Chinese government making him the world’s youngest political prisoner.
The Tashi Lhunpo monks tour the UK every two years, sharing their unique monastic culture. If anyone missed them on Luing, it will be well worth the wait.