Buddhist Tibetan monks stop in Athens this week as part of their North American tour and will share with the city traditional art, cooking and dance.
Though this is the monks' third time in North America, it is their first visit to Athens, said Nancy Beres, Athens resident and organizer of the visit. The group of 11 monks is stopping mostly in large cities, which draw large donations, but Beres persuaded the organizer of the tour to bring the monks here.
We are probably one of the only rural communities they will see
Beres said.
While living in Indiana, Beres became involved with the Tibetan cultural center, an organization formed by the Dali Lama's brother who organized the tour. When she heard the monks were visiting to the United States, she called a friend from the center and asked that a stop in Athens be included in the schedule.
Because this is an unusual opportunity for both the monks and Athens, Beres will show the monks a full range of an Appalachia community. They will visit area farms, Ohio University and be welcomed into homes, churches and schools.
The monks, living in exile in the Gomang monastery in southern India, are using their tour as an opportunity to raise money for an emergency food fund, according to the monastery Web site (www.gomang.org). They were forced out of Tibet after the Chinese invasion in 1949, and support a school, orphanage, library and elderly home for exiled Tibetans. The money raised will go to create a savings account for the monastery, and in case of future financial hardship, the monks can draw off the interest to purchase food for the monastery.
Though this tour is taking the monks far from home, they are raising money in the traditional Buddhist way - accepting donations from the public in exchange for sharing their skills. The monks themselves do not own any processions or money and rely on gifts from the community to keep their monastery running, Beres said. 17
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Emily Patterson
