Lhasang at the White House

On Sunday, January 29, as part of a special workshop “Creating Enlightened Society: From Sacred Outlook to Sacred Activism,” Acharya Marty Janowitz led members of the DC Shambhala Center in a lhasang ceremony as a practice of sacred activism in front of the White House. A traditional Tibetan practice of offering juniper smoke, a lhasang invites the wakeful energy of heaven down to earth in a particular place and rouses the energy of participants.

Acharya Marty Janowitz emphasizes that a lhasang invokes the energy of basic goodness in a particular place, while dramatically revealing his well-timed attire for the day’s activity. The Executive Office Building sits in the background. Photo: Kimberly Mantelli

 

Program participants circle the lhasang in Lafayette Park, just north of the White House, chanting the warrior’s cry—KI KI SO SO ASHE LHA GYAL LO. Center Director Gabe Dayley takes a turn adding juniper to the lhasang. Photo: Kimberly Mantelli

 

Carrying flags with the syllable KI and an assortment of percussion instruments, the Shambhala contingent continued its lhasang by circumambulating the White House. Here the group walks down 15th Street alongside the US Treasury building, due east of the White House. Photo: Kimberly Mantelli

 

South of the White House, Acharya Janowitz pauses the group and invokes the energy of the Perky Lion. Photo: Kimberly Mantelli

 

Returning to Lafayette Park north of the White House, Acharya Janowitz makes a final offering of juniper while invoking the Turquoise Dragon and inviting the group to engage in a final resounding proclamation of the warrior’s cry. Photo: Kimberly Mantelli