A group of Gyuto monks from India, renowned for their deep harmonic chanting, will perform at the Great Lakes Library on August 12, 2010. “We are truly blessed to have them perform here. They are used to performing in big venues like the Opera House or Sydney [Australia] Town Hall,” said Jule Wood from the Marpa Buddhist Centre in Tuncurry.
Like other monks they seek enlightenment but chose to pursue it through this special form of chanting and, along the way, inspire others. They also practice the creation of mandalas which are sacred diagrams involving circles and other geometric patterns representing the universe. They are like a "tool" for meditation.
To produce their unique, penetrating sound the monks must "season" their throats. One way of doing this is by swallowing knotted string and slowly pulling it back out again. “We would liken it to the sound of a didgeridoo,” Jule explains. More>>