The Venerable Geshe Lharampa Jampa Chodak as Vajravidarin, the Buddha of purification, washes away the evil thoughts and deeds during the Ceremony of Light at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Tibetan monks held a “Ceremony of Light” Thursday evening, bringing Buddhist culture and practices to a Salem audience.
The event is part of a Sacred Earth and Healing Arts of Tibet Tour for the monks from Gaden Shartse Monastic University in southern India. Monks led the ceremony at Unity of Salem, sharing their beliefs and practices to inner peace and compassion.
The Venerable Geshe Lharampa Jampa Chodak as Vajravidarin, the Buddha of purification, gives a blessing while holding the diamond scepter at the conclusion of the Ceremony of Light at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)An attendee at the Ceremony of Light admires a brocade portrait of Vajravidarin the Buddha of purification at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)The Venerable Geshe Lharampa Jampa Chodak with Lobsang Wangchuk as he exaplins the Ceremony of Light process at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)The Venerable Geshe Lharampa Jampa Chodak holds his prayer beads at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Lobsang Wangchuk points out the various chakras that the Buddha of purification has to the audience at the Ceremony of Light held at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Lobsang Wangchuk shows the dough effigy symbolizing the impure thoughts that will be washed away in the Ceremony of Light held at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Kunchok Tenzin hands out small pieces of dough to the audience for people to hold and pour their negative energy and pain into during the Ceremony of Light at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)The Venerable Geshe Lharampa Jampa Chodak prepares to assume the form of the Buddha of purification at the start of the Ceremony of Light while Lobsang Wangchuk explains the transformation process at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Audience members hold their pieces of dough as they meditate on ridding themselves of negative energy and pain during the Ceremony of Light at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Kurt Garcia-Ottens prays during the final blessing given by the Venerable Geshe Lharampa Jampa Chodak at the conclusion of the Ceremony of Light at Unity of Salem Church on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
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Laura Tesler has lived in Salem, Oregon for 20 years and is originally from Flint, MI. Laura has been an underwater photographer for 15 years, and is an avid scuba diver. Topside, she has been taking photographs since age 12, and currently works on assignment for the Salem Reporter, and full time purchasing land for fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley. Laura attended Oregon State University, and has traveled extensively all over the world and the United States.
