On Wednesday, August 25th, a group of Tibetan monks from Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling (GSTDL), A Center for the Study of Buddhism & Tibetan Culture in Long Beach, CA, visited students and staff at Red Mountain Sedona (RMS). This visit was a special stop during the monks’ Sacred Earth & Healing Arts of Tibet Tour, (https://www.sacredartsoftibettour.org) which was suspended in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Annually, the monks travel to Sedona to give a series of lectures, blessings, healings, and empowerments. Each stop of their tour culminates with the creation of a large mandala made of consecrated sand. Mandalas are symbolic representations of the universe and can also hold philosophical significance relating to impermanence and the enlightened mind.

Ryan McGinty, MS, Director of Operations at Red Mountain Sedona, arranged to have the monks include RMS on their 2021 tour schedule. As a mindfulness-based, young adult therapeutic program, Ryan wanted the community to have this educational and experiential opportunity.

“The monks are coming to Red Mountain to spend time with our staff and students,” McGinty said in an email. “Such an auspicious event!”

During their campus visit, the monks met with Red Mountain Programs founder, Josh White, MA, LPC, LCMHC, CGP, WPA who is an empowered teacher in the Zen tradition. The monks also gave a lecture and taught students to create their own sand mandalas using traditional tools.

About Red Mountain Sedona 

Red Mountain Sedona is a mindfulness-based, trauma-informed young adult “Launch” program, located in beautiful Sedona, Arizona.  Red Mountain specializes in helping young adults between the ages of 18-28, address the social, emotional, and behavioral issues holding them back from successfully transitioning into adulthood.  Through a truly holistic program that provides structure, individual, group, and family therapy, life skills training, recovery support and mindfulness-meditation, yoga, and martial arts instruction, Red Mountain Sedona helps students gain the stability and maturity needed to move forward in life.  For more information on Red Mountain Sedona call (855) 998-5272.