Contact: slk18@duke.edu
Sponsor: Buddhist Community at Duke, GPSC, Duke Religious Life
Where: Goodson Chapel, Divinity School Building
Why:
Admission Free!
About Ravenna — Ravenna Michalsen is one of the few full time American Buddhist musicians with ambitions to start an “American Buddhist music movement.” Ravenna trained as a classical cellist for 14 years, and turned to voice and song writing in college. It wasn’t until a retreat with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in 2002 that the combination of dharma and music occurred. As of 2009, Ravenna has successfully released two albums, Bloom and Dharmasong, both essentially devotional albums: sadness, joy and anger are combined with utter openness and acceptance. Many feature prominent figures from Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, including Yeshe Tsogyal, Machig Labdrön, and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.
What is Dharma Music? –- Dharma is a Sanskrit word meaning "the teachings of the Buddha", "the way things are" or simply: "that which holds us back". The Tibetan word for dharma is "chö", which can be translated as: "to heal", "to restore" or "to repair". Dharma music then is music that turns the mind toward the teachings of the Buddha or that which holds us back from harmful action.