Ritual Sounds

Experience of the transformational power of sound in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, guided by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche.

The exhibition The World Is Sound features ritual instruments and mantras performed by Tibetan Buddhist monks from the Namdroling Monastery in Mysore, India and the Palyul Retreat Center in upstate New York. This evening program is a rare opportunity to see and hear these monks live. Lama Rabjee Wangchuk, Lama Jigme Tenzin, and Lama Jigme Kunsang demonstrate ritual objects such as the cymbals, damaru (two-sided drum), conch shell, ja ling (flute), vajra and bell, and more, as Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche explains the symbolism and use of each instrument.

After the demonstration, Khenchen Rinpoche and the monks will lead a twenty-minute segment of the powerful Chod ceremony, utilizing the ritual instruments and mantras. This ancient tantric Buddhist ritual is believed to offer physical, emotional, and spiritual healing by cutting through the listener’s ego to purify destructive emotions. The audience will be invited to participate in the chanting of mantras as part of the ceremony.

This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of HARMAN. Major support is provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and Rasika and Girish Reddy. The Rubin also thanks Preethi Krishna and Ram Sundaram and contributors to the 2017 Exhibitions Fund.

About the speaker

Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche was born in 1954 in southern Tibet and fled with his family to Bhutan and India in 1962. Entering a monastery at the age of ten, he was enthroned as a khenpo, or professor, in the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism by Pema Norbu Rinpoche. Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso has received all of the major lineage empowerments and transmissions of the Nyingma School. His open, direct, and thorough style has made him an effective teacher in the United States, Taiwan, and Chinese communities in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. At the Rubin he has been featured in talks and workshops, including Living Mandala experiences.

Image Credit

Photo by Filip Wolak.