The experience of welcoming Tibetan monks for a special blessing of Janet’s new downtown Austin salon was unforgettable. On July 1st, one month to the day of the opening of Janet St. Paul Studio for Hair and Beauty on 2nd street, Janet invited the Tibetan monks to hold a blessing ceremony. Surrounded by the team, friends, family and clients arriving for early morning appointments, the monks chanted blessings, held ceremonial beads, feathers and other beautiful objects and tied cords around the necks of all those who lined up to receive.
The blessing ceremony was a beautiful cultural experience that filled the studio with the sound, scents and textures of Tibet. It was an overwhelmingly peaceful, beautiful and colorful expression that was a profoundly meaningful experience for Janet and the team, as well as those in attendance. It has been four years since the monks visited Austin. When Janet learned of their ability to offer blessings to businesses, she was thrilled when they agreed to come to the salon.
The Tibetan monks were visiting Austin as part of a Sacred Arts Tour to bless the city, the people and raise money and awareness for their monastery. The monastery is home to thousands of residents. The Monastery provides everything at no charge: food, lodging, education. The Gaden Shartse Phukhang tour intends to share the Tibetan culture as well as the practices and paths to inner peace and compassion. One of the highlights of their visit to Austin was the creation of a sand mandala just down the block at the Austin City Hall. They also blessed Barton Springs.
Janet’s mission for the salon is to be of service to others in the highest form. The monks blessing ceremony was a very special event, where Janet remarked, “the presence of a love bigger than us all was palpable. I am so deeply grateful.”
ABOUT THE GADEN SHARTSE MONASTIC COLLEGE
Gaden Shartse Monastic College is situated amid lush green hills and jungle in the remote countryside of southern India. It was founded in 1969 as an effort to re-establish one of the great monastic traditions of Tibet. A small group of elder monks and fifteen young boys, all of whom had managed to escape the destruction in Tibet, settled on land given to them by the Indian government in Mundgod, Karnataka.
Today the college is at the forefront of the revival of Tibetan Monastic education, with more than 1600 resident students, teachers, scholars, and spiritual practitioners. More than 70% of the members are between the ages of 10 and 25 and 80% of these were born in Tibet. To this day, young monks arrive at the Monastery weekly from Tibet, seeking shelter and education. Due to the success of the academic program and the quality of the teachers at the monastery, Gaden Shartse has established a reputation as being the leader in the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies.
The tour and events such as these are fundraisers for the non-profit organization that provides free education, medical care, food and lodging to the members of the monastic college.
Learn More about the monks.
