Khenpo Lama Pema Wangdak will kick off human Karma Chain of “telephone” on the High Line on Saturday morning
The High Line
Under the Standard, New York
848 Washington St. at 13th St.
Saturday, April 30, free, 11:00 am
www.rmanyc.org
www.pen.org
karma chain slideshow
In conjunction with the seventh annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, the Rubin Museum is sponsoring a rather unique game of “telephone” Saturday morning on the High Line, revolving around the idea of karma. Karma, which means “cause and effect,” is a lot more than just trying to influence how you’ll come back in your next life; karma is basically neutral, what’s happening now, based on innumerable conditions created by previous actions. We are all creating karma right now, at the same time, impacting future events. On Saturday morning, what will probably be a very large number of people from all walks of life will descend on the High Line and form an extended human Karma Chain across a significant portion of the elevated park, set on the old abandoned railway lines on the West Side. At one end of the chain, Khenpo Lama Pema Wangdak — teacher, founder of the Vikramasila Foundation, and creator of Bur Yig (Tibetan Braille) — will whisper a sutra, a verse from the teachings of the Buddha, to the person next to him; that sutra will then be verbally passed down the line, person to person, across three city blocks as it makes its way toward the anchor at the other end, author Salman Rushdie, chair and founder of the festival, who will announce both the starting sutra and what it transformed into. It should be another fascinating and fun one-of-a-kind event of the sort that the Rubin is becoming known for, a gathering that should provide good karma for all those involved. Registration is free and open to the general public and must be completed by 10:45 am on the High Line under the Standard at Washington & 13th Sts.