PEORIA, Ill. – A trio of Tibetan monks have spent the week in Peoria to promote a message of peace.
Three monks from Bloomington, Indiana are being hosted at Bradley University as part of a cultural exchange with students and the Peoria community.
The main activity the monks spent the week doing was working on a traditional sand mandala featuring symbols of religions from around the world. The monks began constructing the colorful piece on Monday, building it grain-by-grain.
After its completion on Friday morning, the monks began a ceremony where they prayed for world peace, then began a destruction by swirling the sand together to place in a golden chalice.
Sara Conrad, an assistant professor in residence at Bradley who brought the monks to the Peoria area, says the ceremony is symbolic, noting it’s a reminder that nothing is permanent.
“Even things that we work very hard on, it’s okay to let them go,” Conrad said.
One of the monks in Peoria this week is Tenpa Phuntsok. Phuntsok says it took a little bit of time for people to warm up to them, but his biggest takeaway is the kindness the students and community showed them.
“First, little bit we don’t know each other, and we are monk and they are just student from here, and maybe kind of [a] little bit shy,” Phuntsok said. “But when we approach, and be transparent, and be humble, and be open mind, and everything go well.”
The monks this week also viewed a performance of the Peoria Ballet, and hosted the community at the Universalist Unitarian Church.
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