A Tibetan monk works on the creation of a sand mandala during a visit to Stockton University’s campus in 2016. A group of monks from Drepung Gomang Monastery will return to campus starting on April 7. Photo by Susan Allen/Stockton University
(GALLOWAY, NJ) -- A group of Tibetan monks from Drepung Gomang Monastery will spend a week on Stockton University's campus starting Monday, April 7 and running through Friday, April 11, 2025 as part of a cultural visit titled "Healing Through Mandala."
The Tibetan monks will participate in several activities on campus, beginning with an opening ceremony on Monday, April 7 in the Campus Center at 10:30am. During the ceremony, the monks will begin to create a sand mandala. According to Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, mandala symbolizes the Buddhist cosmos.
Their work will continue at the end of the week during a closing ceremony on Friday, April 11 in the Campus Center where the monks will destroy the sand mandala to symbolize the transitory nature of all phenomena. The event begins at 2:30pm.
Two Tibetan monks destroy a sand mandala that was created at Stockton during a visit in 2016. Destroying the mandala symbolizes the transitory nature of all phenomena. Photo by Susan Allen/Stockton University
All events, including the opening and closing ceremonies, are open to the public and will take place in the Campus Center Grand Hall on Stockton’s Galloway campus. The work on the mandala will continue throughout the week.
The monks will also host several other events that are open to the public, unless noted:
* April 8 at 2:30pm in the Campus Center: The monks will help participants to draw the mantra of compassion on pebbles.
* April 9 at 7:30pm in the Campus Center Event Room: The monks will perform a Tibetan traditional dance during the Phoenix Night Market hosted by Stockton’s Asian Student Alliance.
* April 10 at 8:30am in the Campus Center Theatre: The monks will perform a tea offering ritual, the history of tea in Tibet, and a Tibetan tea tasting. At 5 p.m. select students and local community members will participate in a Tibetan cooking class at the Townsend Residential Life Center.
Stockton University is ranked among the top public universities in the nation. Our more than 9,000 students can choose to live and learn on the 1,600-acre wooded main campus in the Pinelands National Reserve in South Jersey and at our coastal residential campus just steps from the beach and Boardwalk in Atlantic City. The university offers more than 160 undergraduate and graduate programs.
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