Gyuto Monks

The Gyuto Monks of Tibet are concluding their year-long "Good Karma" tour of Australia with a two week residency at the Incinerator Arts complex in Moonee Ponds (Victoria), which finishes this Sunday 27 August. If you live nearby and haven't met the monks on one of their previous trips (or even if you have) I encourage you to head over and take in the vibe. There are usually one or two monks working on the large but intricate sand mandala that, once it is completed, will be swept away and the sand poured into the river (or sea) after a colourful procession on Sunday afternoon.

I attended one of their half-day harmonic throat singing workshops during their residency at Gas Works a few years ago. I found it impossible to produce anything resembling the rumbling harmonic resonances that the three instructor monks managed to make sound like a monastery full of throat-chanting wizards and it didn't really help when one of the monks -- coming over to observe my technique and provide technical advice -- pointed at my throat, shook his head vigorously from side to side, then pointed at my navel, nodded and smiled. In what was surely the most gratuitous bit of translation for the day, the interpreter explained: "Not from here (throat). From HERE! (navel)"

What was I supposed to do with THAT?

Then the monk laughed, eyes a-twinkle.

(Translation: "Muhahahahahahaha!")

I swear for the rest of that day and into the evening every aeroplane flying overhead, every fridge motor running in the background, every truck I could hear driving in the distance sounded like those throat-singing monks.

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Full details of the last few days of their program can be found HERE. This year's sand mandala will apparently look something like this:

[Image from www.tibet-initiative.de]