Class features Tibetan religious songs, texts

In a quiet part of Bloomington, set far back from Snoddy Road, is the Tibetan Cultural Center. Though the location is almost hidden and one could easily miss the turn, the surrounding land and exotic architecture make the setting quite peaceful.\nThe variety of events the center features is nearly as extensive as the grounds. Thursdays offer meditation sessions while Sundays offer dharma teachings. The center also offers cooking classes, yoga classes, a class on Tibetan medicine, and until December, Professor Gedun Rabsal's class on the Songs of Marpa.\nRabsal, a visiting lecturer, teaches Tibetan language out of a book called "The History of Tibetan Literature." \n"The book does not give Marpa the recognition he deserves," said Rabsal. "It highlights the work of Milarepa, who was a student of Marpa."\nRabsal had read a lot of Marpa's works, but his teaching at IU provided insufficient opportunities to expose students to this fascinating subject. When the Tibetan Cultural Center contacted him about offering a class at the center, Rabsal said he would be happy to teach a class on Marpa's songs.\nAccording to www.Wikipedia.com, Marpa Lotsawa (1012-1097), born Marpa Chökyi Lodrö in southern Tibet, mastered Sanskrit and went to India to study with the Buddhist masters, who taught him dharma, roughly translated as the principle of living in accordance with divine will. The Indian teacher Naropa gave Marpa a number of writings and declared Marpa his spiritual successor. After this, Marpa returned to Tibet, where he is still revered for his work and translated them into his native language.\nThe public responded to the Tibetan Center's remembrance of this scholar. One attendee was IU senior Ben Schrage, who has read "The Life of Milarepa."\n"I was interested in learning more about Marpa," said Schrage. "I decided the class would be a good way to do that."\nHe had signed up online to receive newsletters from the cultural center and one of the recent notices informed him of the class. \nThe songs, sung in a chanting style, are very poetic — the language invokes emotion and brings imagery to the reader's mind. The songs, however, also had a very important purpose: they were used by Marpa to teach lessons to his students. Every song started off with a stanza to motivate the students and then continued on with the lesson.\nOne particular song tells how Marpa gained his knowledge and became enlightened, as well as the hardships he endured to become a great teacher. His students benefitted greatly from their teacher's toils without having to make the same difficult journey. However, Marpa still reminds his students that they must do some of their own work: at the end of his song, Marpa begs his students, "Think of how difficult it is to obtain the Dharma; please do not be lazy, but practice." \nThough Marpa's songs were written in the 11th century, there were no written copies of them until the 15th century. The songs are still very highly regarded. Many students took great care to memorize them and made sure they were handed down in their original form until they were finally written down.\nIU's HPER school offers several classes on meditation and classes on the literature of meditation are offered by the Indian studies department, as well as others. Not only does this class combine both meditation and meditation literature, but it offers students the chance to practice firsthand what Marpa instructs in his songs.\nFor students interested in world literature, this class offers students the chance to study not only a new genre of literature, but also literature from a different culture. Rabsal said these opportunities give students a genuine chance to expand their horizons.\n"Everyone who is part of the center is looking forward to doing things," Rabsal said. "They are looking forward to sharing the culture and spreading the peace message."\nClasses on the songs of Marpa are offered 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays at the Tibetan Cultural Center. For more information, call 331-0013 or visit www.tibetancc.com.