Dancing Tara: A Manual of Practice

Introduction

The Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara is a ritual dance based on a traditional Tibetan practice. The dance was created by myself and a group of western dharma students. It is now an international expression of devotion and empowerment spanning five continents. It has been blessed by the highest authorities of Tibetan Buddhist practice, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the 17th Karmapa. It has been praised by great meditation masters in all the lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.

I have been the primary developer and teacher of this dance since 1985 and I take full responsibility for any mistakes or misunderstandings you may find in this book. I have written this specifically for my students who have asked me for a reference to the teachings I have shared for the last twenty five years.

For me, this is a sacred calling. As a small child I offered to serve the Divine. I had no idea of the circuitous path upon which I would be led, but nonetheless, my wish has been granted. Truly, the blessings and benefits in my life through this dance have been and continue to be, immeasurable.

As in any Tibetan Buddhist practice, there is a specific goal and a method to achieve that goal. I have had the privilege of studying with great lineage masters and have a sense that throughout the journey of working with this dance, Tara Herself has been the main guiding light.

Though I have tried to illustrate the profound view and method of Tibetan Buddhist tantric teachings as I understand them, I have done so in a non traditional manner.

From the beginning of the dance, most of the dancers have had minimal understanding of the complex terminology and ritual determinations of Tibetan Buddhist psychology. My endeavor has been to render things in a colloquial fashion, in order to make these teachings accessible. I use uncommon words to describe traditional practices and ideas. And, I use common, technical terms in uncommon ways. For those who have been immersed in Tibetan study, I beg forbearance.

My life has always been oriented towards the alleviating of suffering and an exploration of the sublime capabilities inherent in the human experience. It has been obvious to me from an early age that most of our suffering is caused by our attitude. The question, of course, is how do we change what appears to be so solid and fixed — our personality, our perceptions?

I find the Tibetan methods of dealing with these issues brilliant. At first, I was overwhelmed by the complexity. But, as I engaged more fully in study and retreat, I started to see what appeared to me to be the intrinsic meaning, the purpose behind the rituals. I realized that many people had a world of experience that could be clarified by the Tibetan perspective if there was a language that they could access. So, my effort has been to bridge these worlds.

The Mandala Dance of the Twenty-One Taras has been the means given to me to work with this goal. It has allowed me to place the basic view of Tibetan Buddhist practice within a context that could be experienced by the uninitiated. Dancers come to the practice with no idea of what it is about. They leave feeling uplifted and empowered. Many of them express a willingness to engage more deeply in the work. They have kept me penetrating the teachings more profoundly, in order to guide them.

The text that The Dance is based upon comes from a gomter, a hidden mind treasure, revealed to Chokjur Lingpa, a Tibetan Yogi. He reported that while in retreat Tara appeared to him and said, …. it is so, it is so, it is just so. And then, She revealed a method of practice that is called the Four Mandala Offerings. The outer practice is performed in most Kagyu monasteries throughout the world every morning. For an experienced practitioner, it can be done in less than an hour.

When Tibetan teachings came to the west, lamas discovered that many of their students did not have the time or inclination to do these lengthy practices. Many sadhanas were reduced to the bare minimum in order that the students could maintain a constant contact with the practice, which is essential for any accomplishment. This Tara practice of Chokjur Lingpa was reduced to a ten minute practice for western students.

This is the practice that I was given by Lama Tenzin of the Maui Dharma Center. He requested that I rearrange the words so they could be sung in English. I did this and, in the doing, the dance appeared.

At that time, I knew very little about Tibetan Buddhist practice. I was a Hindu Temple Dancer. I created the dance from that platform as a gift for Lama Tenzin. I did not realize at the time that the 21 Praises of Tara was one of the most well known and beloved prayers of the Tibetans. Like the Lords Prayer in the Christian faith, it is taught to children and chanted by everyone throughout their life.

Tara is the ‘Mother’ of the Tibetan people. In their mythos, Chenrezig, the Lord of Compassion appeared in the land of the snow mountains as a monkey. Tara appeared as a rock demoness. The Tibetan people were born out of their union.

In the scriptures, She is the Mother of the Buddhas. All wisdom rises out of Her oceanic nature. She is Prajnaparamita, She is Vajra Yogini. She is every woman who displays wisdom mind.

There is no concern too great or too small that cannot be taken to Her requesting intervention, blessings and guidance. There is no Lama that I have met so great that he does not keep Tara in his pocket. They have often ‘confessed’ to me that it is one of their primary practices.

The dance has been an ongoing source of revelation. The first time it was performed, there was a strong response from the audience and the dancers. Many approached me with tears rolling down their cheeks. The dancers wanted to dance again. Audience members wanted to join the dance.

Under Lama Tenzin’s guidance, I went into retreat and in that austere setting I began to realize the incredible brilliance and profundity of Tibetan Buddhist method and practice.

Each time we danced, another facet of the deep meaning of the practice opened before me. This process is not over. It is Tara’s blessing. It informs my students and it will continue even when I am gone.

In this book, my goal is to give the tools needed to engage meaningfully in the practice. Although I describe the dance movements and the meaning of the mudras, this practice can be done seated, in meditation.

It is what we do with our mind that counts. The movements of the body and the chanting of the verses are designed to drive us deeper into the essential meaning and the psychological action of the practice. In these practices, we are giving a message to the deepest part of our mind to reveal its treasure. If we do it consistently, like rocks upon the shore of a mighty river, eventually all resistance to the truth of our inner nature is overcome and the treasure of our true nature is revealed.

May you and all beings be benefited by this sincere rendering of Tara’s precious practice. Every time you see this book, hold this book, or think about the teachings in this book, may it be a cause for countless blessings in your life.

The Lineage

of the

Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara

Though the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara is based in Tibetan Buddhist practice, it is not a traditional dance. Tibetan Buddhist masters that I have consulted said there is no tradition within Tibetan Buddhism of the Praises of the Goddess Tara being depicted in dance form.

I am often asked about the lineage of the dance and how it arose. The dance belongs to Tara. She is the head of the lineage of the dance. Because I was inspired by Her and blessed by Her to create, embellish, perform, and teach this practice, I am considered the main authority on the dance.

I will tell you a bit about myself and the great masters who have encouraged this practice to blossom. I will write more extensively about this in my next book, Gift of the Goddess.

I have been involved in spiritual and religious study since a very young age. As a child, I was an ardent Catholic. In my early adult years, I explored the Hindu and Sufi paths before engaging in Tibetan Buddhist studies.

I have studied dance all my life. My preliminary training was in Ballet and Modern Dance. In India, I studied Odissi dance with the precious master of that tradition, Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena.

I lived for six years in India. During that time, I was the Assistant Editor of the Theosophist magazine. At the Theosophical Headquarters where I lived, I was able to engage intensively in the study of the ideals of theosophy; comparative religion, universal brotherhood, and the powers latent in the human mind.

Returning to the United States from India, I settled in Maui, Hawaii. Lama Sonam Tenzin, a close student of the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, had just been assigned to be the resident Lama of the Karma Kagyu Dharma Center on Maui.

In 1982 I received Refuge from Lama Tenzin.

The next year I received the Green Tara empowerment from His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche who was visiting Maui.

I began studying with Lama Tenzin and eventually engaged in intensive practice.

In 1984, Lama Tenzin asked me to work on some of the traditional texts, to reshape them so that they could be sung in English. One of these texts was the 21 Praises of Tara. My neighbor, Jeff Muñoz, used to sing the mantra of Tara. So, I took the text, re-wrote it using Jeff’s melody for parts of it and my own for the rest, and began doing this practice in English. Having a very restless mind and finding it difficult to sit for any length of time, I would walk the hills around my remote mountain home chanting this prayer, and in this way, quickly memorized the text. As part of the training in the Tara practice, I was taught to visualize Tara in front of us. The Tara that I visualized started to dance. And I danced with Her … as Her.

I thought this had to do with my personal training as a classical Indian temple dancer. The text of the 21 Taras is very similar to some of the traditional texts I had studied as a dancer in India. It was easy for me to imagine Tara dancing. And, having been trained to manifest the deity through Odissi dance, it was natural that I would dance as Tara.

In later studies, I discovered that Odissi had been a tantric Buddhist Dance 1400 years ago. It is very possible that the 21 Praises had been danced within the tradition of Odissi.

Because Lama Tenzin had often asked me to perform in his temple, I asked him if I could choreograph a dance using the Tara text he had given me to work with. He gave his permission. I thought it would be done by just a few trained dancers who had some background in Tibetan practice.

I approached my friend Lauryn Galindo, who is a professional dancer, and asked if she would like to collaborate with me. She told me that she had been dreaming of Tara dancing and said that she thought it should be a group of women. I asked her for more inspiration and she said she would dream on it. The next morning she told me she dreamt all night of a golden spiral and asked if it meant anything to me. As soon as she said those words I could clearly see the pattern of the dance.

We gathered a group of friends and put the dance together to offer to Lama Tenzin. This was in 1985. None of us were prepared for the power of the event. People in the audience were weeping. The dancers were in bliss. We immediately made plans to do it again.

I returned to India to complete a level of Odissi dance training. While there I was able to explore the tantric connection of Odissi and Buddhist practice. I sought out the blessings of several great Lamas. The Venerable Kalu Rinpoche gave the dance his blessing and told me Only good could come from this.

I went to Kathmandu to study Charya, a Nepali Vajrayana Buddhist dance. While there, I received encouragement from Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, His Holiness Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche and the great meditation master, Chatrul Rinpoche.

When I returned from India in 1986, His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche returned to Maui and we offered the dance to him.

After the dance he spoke with me at length. He told me that I would travel the world teaching this dance. I protested. I knew little about Buddhist dharma. He ignored my protests and went on to recommend costumes and to encourage a festival to be done every year in Tara’s honor. He told me to change the text if I needed to and in every way gave me his blessing. He said he had never witnessed such an experience of devotion through dance.

During the next four or five years we offered the dance to every great Lama that visited Maui to give teachings. Sogyal Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche of the Nyingmapa tradition; Tara Rinpoche of the Gelugpa tradition; His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul of the Kagyu tradition; Dagmola Kushog and Lama Kunga of the Sakyas; all gave their blessings and encouragement.

Under the direction of Lama Tenzin, I went into retreat. I studied everything I could get my hands on. How could I teach this dance if I didn’t know anything about the dharma?

In 1989 I went to Toronto to attend the Kalachakra given by His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. While making my plans to go, a resident of Toronto asked if I would teach the Tara Dance to her students. I brought the costumes and taught the Tara Dance for the first time outside of Maui.

During the empowerment, His Eminence asked me if I would go to Sikkim and teach Tibetan women the dance. I was able to fulfill that request in 1992, offering the dance in the courtyard of His Holiness the Karmapa’s Rumtek monastery with 14 Tibetan women and 20 children..

Every year I was asked to teach more and more, all over the states and in Canada.

In 1995, His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche returned to Maui and we danced for him again. Ten years had passed since he had first seen the Tara Dance. He told us that the dance had become not only a practice that was an accumulation of merit, but also an accumulation of wisdom.