August 19-- NEW CANAAN -- After a tumultuous musical performance capped a night of Buddhist philosophy and music at Silver Hill Hospital, Tenpa Phuntsok sat cross-legged inside of a cordoned-off area where a world peace mandala was being carefully constructed from colored sand on the floor.
With a smile on his face, Phuntsok delicately tapped the side of a metal funnel called a chakpur to sprinkle minute amounts of pink sand in a straight line.
Sometimes we drop the tool into the sand or make a mistake, said Phuntsok, 25, a monk from the Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery in Dhera Dun, India.
The mandala had symbols of various faiths, including a crucifix, the Star of David, and the Muslim crescent moon and star to symbolize unity of mankind, Phuntsok said. Depictions of flowers, vases, wheels and geometric patterns also were worked painstakingly into the mandala over several days.
The mandala is a place of the deity or of God and goodness, Phuntsok said. It is the place of the Buddha.
Phuntsok was one of seven scarlet-robed monks from the Dhera Dun monastery who visited the not-for-profit psychiatric hospital, which is affiliated with the Yale University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. It specializes in treating addiction, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other illnesses. During the monks four-day visit, patients were invited to attend their lectures and performances.
It's not meant to be therapeutic in a significant way, but to let them take what they can from it, said Dr. Sigurd Ackerman, president and medical director of the facility. Anybody can benefit from learning about a different culture and orientation, and in Buddhism there seems to be a lot of overlap with our own beliefs.
The Sunday night event was open to the public for free. About 40 people attended.
The monks began the program with a ceremony to symbolically welcome the Dalai Lama to the gathering using Himalayan horns that produced a high undulating pitch, followed by chanting. Several of the monks performed the Tashi Shoelpa, a traditional Tibetan good luck dance, costumed in white bearded masks meant to symbolize long life and health.
At one point, Phuntsok translated for Geshe Palden, a monk who teaches Buddhist philosophy, as he asked the audience to consider donating to support the Dehra Dun monastery. It was built in the late 1960s after the Chinese Cultural Revolution that drove many monks from their native Amdo, Tibet, to India.
Our monastery is a very poor monastery..., Palden said. --¦ Our goal is to come here to provide peace, so that is why we build the sand mandala and teach about the Tibetan culture. We've been to many states, and people have been very generous and good hearted ... I thank them with all my heart.
One attendee, Mary Kate Torres, 47, of Shelton, said she began meditating six years ago to find some kind of spirituality and has since become committed to Buddhism.
It's been really important in my life, Torres said.
Another, Tim St. Onge, of Southbury, said during an intermission that he was happy to be around the monks if only for a brief while, noting they evinced an openness and happiness he seldom picks up among Westerners.
They're so simple and so joyful and willing to give of themselves, Onge said.
Onge, who grew up Roman Catholic, defined himself as a Christian contemplative who practices Christian Zen and meditates morning and night.
Zen gives you the embodied experience of awakeness and alertness and helps you to be more present and alert in each moment, Onge said.