According to Buddhist teaching, giving is an act that can transform and purify the mind.
On Tuesday at the ALANA Cultural Center, approximately 30 members of the Colgate community took part in a 2,500-year-old Sri Lankan Buddhist ceremony of alms giving called a Dana.
One by one, participants lined up to scoop a bit of basmati rice or raita, some lentil pilaf, or a piece of flatbread onto a plate and present it to one of five monks seated at a table.
Dressed in yellow, orange, or maroon robes, the monks, who had come from the New York Buddhist Vihara, silently ate their food while the participants sat quietly in front of them.
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Buddhist monks receive an offering of food during the Dana ceremony held at ALANA Cultural Center. (Photo by Andy Daddio)
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When the monks had finished their meal, the ceremony continued with unison and call-and response chanting, and a presentation of gifts to the monks. The chief monk, Venerable Kurunaegoda Piyatissa, delivered a brief homily, bestowing blessings on all in attendance
The rest of those gathered then partook of the South Asian repast.
"We offer food to the monks as an expression of our gratitude for their coming to Colgate and in respect to the manner in which, through their teaching and example, they bring blessings to others," explained John Ross Carter, who is the Robert Ho Professor of Asian studies and director of Chapel House and the Fund for the Study of the Great Religions.
The monks' visit was the second in a yearlong set of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of Chapel House, the spiritual sanctuary and retreat house on campus. In 1959, the first guests at Chapel House were Buddhist monks from Myanmar (Burma).
Melissa Nozell '10, an Asian studies major and a religion minor, said the ceremony revealed to her similarities between Buddhism and Hinduism, which she has studied in more depth.
"It reminded me of something in Hinduism called prasad, when people go to a temple and offer food to a deity. It's blessed, and then they take it and eat it. It's good karma, it's a blessing, and it reminded me a lot of that. I realized that there are even more parallels between religions than I knew."
Earlier Tuesday, the monks discussed monastic life with students in Carter's course The Path of the Buddha: Mahayana. In the evening, they conducted a Pirit ceremony of protection and blessings, chanting discourses from the ancient Pali canon while guests listened quietly, in a lounge at the O'Connor Campus Center.
Anniversary events next academic year include a concert by Music from China, a public lecture by the former president of the American Academy of Religion, and visits by a retired missionary-chancellor of Seinan Gakuin in Japan, and 15 people from the Eastern Theological College, Jorhat, Assam, India.