A revered Buddhist teacher from Bhutan in the Himalayan Mountains is visiting Salem through Sunday for a series of ceremonies, public lectures and private consultations.

His Holiness Ngawang Tenzin is of the Drukpa Kagyu Lineage, the major Buddhist lineage in the Asian country. He sat for teaching under a number of great Buddhist masters and now is considered a great scholar and teacher himself.

He has been working this week on a sand mandala, the “Buddha of Compassion,” at the sanctuary of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 5090 Center St. NE, Salem.

He will continue on the sand mandala from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. Spectators are invited to view the 4-by- 4-foot work in progress and recite prayers for world peace, harmony and compassion.

The goal for the week has been to chant 100,000 mantras for peace.

From 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, he will teach on the Buddha of compassion and how people may obtain happiness and purify negatives tendencies.

The sand mandala will be dismantled in a dispersion ceremony from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Half the sand will be placed in small packets for the health and healing of those who attend and half will be offered as a blessing in the Willamette River at Riverfront Park.
Source: http://www.statesmanjournal.com