The Gyuto monks performed chants at the Toad Hall venue in Glastonbury to mark the 100th anniversary of the Tibetan declaration of independence in June 2013.
Photo: independent.co.uk
A group of monks from the Gyuto Monastery, the abode of the Karmapa, took the stage at Glastonbury last month after signing a deal with Decca records, once the label of the Rolling Stones.
The performance coincided with the year of the 100th anniversary of the Tibetan Declaration of Independence. The Gyuto monks are based in exile in Dharamshala and the group’s oldest member Lobsang Tsering, 78, was among 80 monks who fled Tibet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the wake of the 1959 uprising.
The monks were impressed by their first experience of Glastonbury. Ngawang Namdol said, “It has the same kind of high-octane spiritual energy you get from being in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. There is a good energy here” and a fellow group member commented that they did not mind the rain as it is considered lucky in Tibetan culture. The Dalai Lama endorsed the performance, saying “The work that the Gyuto monks do in the West has my full support.”
They have recently finished recording a new album “Chants: The spirit of Tibet” at their monastery in the Himalayan foothills. Their UK producer, Youth, has worked with Paul McCartney, U2 and Depeche Mode among others. He said: “To me they seemed like they were in the engine room of the world, diligently turning these huge invisible karmic wheels with their voices and mantras”.
The last time the Gyuto monks performed in the UK was at the Royal Albert Hall in 1973. Over the years they have played at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and toured with US rock-band The Grateful Dead.
They claim that listening to their guttural chanting has the power to repair brain cells and bring you closer to enlightenment.
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