EVENTS
MYSTIC MOUNTAIN
An Untold Legend of the Lost Kingdom of Tibet
A film by Tsering Dhondup
Friday, October 6th at 6:00pm at the Auburn Placer County Library meeting room
350 Nevada Street in Auburn, CA.
Saturday, October 7th, at 6:00 pm at the Nevada County Madelyn Helling Library,
in the Gene Albaugh Community Room, 980 Helling Way in Nevada City, CA.
The director of Mystic Mountain will attend both screenings.
Mystic Mountain is a fictional drama about a young Tibetan warrior searching for his deceased father’s body who finds himself entangled with a deadly sorcerer.
“Mystic Mountain” was filmed high in the Himalayas in the Mustang region of Nepal, an area whose surrounding environment and village architecture (as well as many fascinating local faces) evoke the rich cultural history of Tibet. Originally, this area was part of the kingdom of Tibet and many Tibetans live there. This incredibly beautiful and historic place provides a incredibly dramatic backdrop for this epic story.
Tsering Dhondup, writer and director of “Mystic Mountain” was born in Lhasa, Tibet, and fled over the Himalayas with his father to India. Recalling the experience, he says, “In order to take my mind off the dangers that lurked beneath each step of the formidable Himalayan passes, my father told me a story so terrifying and riveting that it haunts me to this day! Mystic Mountain is the story and also the rope that held me to life and helped me cross the Himalayas as a child.”
He currently lives in San Jose, California. He currently works as a translator of Buddhist teachings. He wrote and directed Mystic Mountain, a film version of the story his father told him, both because it’s a compelling psychological thriller, and “to help preserve the Tibetan language and enrich Tibetan oral storytelling.” Mystic Mountain was filmed in Nepal, close to the Tibetan border, where the often brooding landscape itself is a powerful presence. Anyone fascinated by the lore, the legends, and landscape of Tibet will enjoy this intimate glimpse into a land of mystery, legend, stark beauty, and people who live from the heart.
The film is 86 minutes. The filmmaker will be present at both screenings to answer any questions.
Copy and paste the link below to watch the trailer on YouTube
https://youtu.be/hy00IEFCxiM?si=ouks2jZE-wtD3xEM
For up to date information on the Monks' tour of North America
visit https://www.sacredartsoftibettour.org/
The Monks' tour will return to Northern California in January 2024
The Monks will be in Placerville January 1st - 20th
The Monks will be in Grass Valley, January 21st - February 11th
The Monks will be in Auburn February 12th - 29th
The Monks will be making a sand mandala. Mandala means literally "that which extracts the essence." There are many different types of mandalas used by Tibetan Buddhists. They can be created in either two or three dimensions. The ones on the monks' tour will be two‑dimensional sand mandalas. These are without doubt the most creative, labor‑intensive, and concentration‑intensive of all mandalas created. The ones provided on the tour will require between 75 and 125 hours of effort, completed by several monks at a time. Each sand mandala represents the architectural layout of the entire palace of a specific deity. This year the Monks will create a Green Tara Sand Mandala.
Gaden Shartse Monastery
Gaden Sharste is at the forefront of the revival of Tibetan Monastic education, with more than 1600 resident students, teachers, scholars, and spiritual practitioners. More than 70% of the members are between the ages of 10 and 25 and 80% of these were born in Tibet. To this day, young monks arrive at the Monastery weekly from Tibet, seeking shelter and education. Due to the success of the academic program and the quality of the teachers at the monastery, Gaden Shartse has established a reputation as being the leader in the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies.
After the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese in 1949, 48 surviving members of the College fled south across the border into India. There they settled in army tents in a remote jungle area that was about a night's journey from the city of Mysore. Slowly they built a mud and bamboo thatched dwelling in which the monks ate, slept, studied, debated, and prayed together. Many died from sickness and exhaustion; others survived but remained ill and bedridden. Those who survived became very resourceful, teaching themselves how to farm the land by means of trial and error. In 1972, three years after settling, their fields were green with their first successful crops. Fifteen Tibetan children from the local Tibetan refugee camp enrolled in the newly founded monastery, funded by the selling of the produce. A simple everyday routine was set up, combining education with physical labor. A rudimentary teaching staff of Tibetans, well‑versed in history and Buddhist teachings, was established.
Today an in‑depth education are offered in all aspects of Buddhist philosophy and practice is the focal point of the academic program at Shartse. The duration of the monastic program is 24 years. The students interact with their teachers on a daily basis. Accommodation, food, and instruction are all free and are provided by the monastic administration. Shartse offers complete basic courses in Tibetan History, Literature, Poetry, Grammar, English, and Mathematics, which are studied as prerequisites for the more advanced courses of Elementary Dialectics, Buddhist Logic, the Prajnaparamita (the study of Wisdom/ the Heart Sutra), Madhyamika Philosophy, Vinaya (Ethics), and Abidharma (Epistemology).
Purpose of the Tour
The 2023 Tour from Gaden Shartse Monastic University will arrive in the West soon and we look forward to sharing the Buddha's teachings, seeing and
visiting our new and old friends and touring the varied locales, climates and customs.
The Primary Purpose of Tour is to present the Tibetan Perspective of the Buddha's teachings, numerous Empowerment's, Lectures, Mandalas have been in
preparation for months to make this possible.
Secondly, Gaden Shartse needs to maintain the University Temples, classrooms, library. texts, kitchens, food, grounds, and fields. If we were to guess $2.00(USA) is needed to maintain one monk for one day and that includes a small weekly stipend for necessities, then this represents vast sums of money, for over 1000 monks, everyday. We wish and want you to come stay with us and share our life. It has been suggested Gaden Shartse needs a guest house in Bhodgaya for transiting monks and students. This is still in discussion.
To be of service to the world community by nurturing peace, harmony, compassion, and tolerance.
To raise funds to preserve Tibetan culture and educational supplies, teachers, buildings, maintenance, and outreach at Gaden Shartse Phukhang Monastery
in the Tibetan Refugee Settlement at Mundgod, India.
