Khaita Joyful Dances - interview with Adriana Dal Borgo

An Interview with Adriana Dal Borgo at Dzamling Gar, February 11, 2015

The Mirror: Can you talk a little about the origin of Khaita?

Adriana: In November 2011 at Meriling, in the north of Tenerife, Rinpoche discovered on Youtube a lot of very courageous songs sung and written by young Tibetan artists living in China or Tibet.

One song in particular called ‘Denba’, meaning ‘the truth’ (n. 5.10 in the collection ‘Message of Tibet’), expresses the heart of their message in a very poetic way [the words to ‘Denba’ are published at the end of the interview].

So Rinpoche started to write down some of the songs, copying the words one by one from each video, and listening to many songs to choose those more suitable to his purposes. The small group of us who were present in these fortunate circumstances tried to follow Rinpoche’s singing, but none of us knew Tibetan so we just had to hum!

In order to make the songs more accessible to all of us, Rinpoche decided to transcribe them with the system of drayig so we could follow the words and sing with him, after he had explained the meaning of each. And this is how it all started.

You can imagine the enormous amount of work involved in writing down not only the texts of the songs but also the pauses, indicating with symbols the melody and when some vowels of the words were longer, even the vocalisms, both in Tibetan and in drayig! From that moment on, most of the Master's daily routine was dedicated to this.

The house was non-stop music, from the very early morning when the Master would wake up and start working, listening and transcribing the songs until late evening when we would sing. During the few hours of sleep, those melodies would continuously resonate in my mind. It was a strong experience.

When Rinpoche left Tenerife in December 2011, 42 songs were ready to be studied and sung. A couple of months later in February 2012, at Tashigar South, Rinpoche presented the first collection of 60 songs, divided into six groups of 10 songs each.

At the same moment dances started to accompany the singing as it came very naturally to me to start to move. At first we did the simplest dances. At least now it looks like this but not at that time when it took some hours for Luda and me to figure out one of the basic steps of all Tibetan dances – right, left, right, and up!

We started with the circle dance ‘So ya re lo’ (1.3.9) then ‘Ala la mo se’, 2.9 from the 1st Vol., and ‘Dendrel Sanbo’ (1.8), the ones that it was possible to learn from the video. Imagine 10-15 people dancing in a relatively big living room, around the big table, between armchairs, paying attention not to break lamps or windows or not to hit each other in our first not so harmonious gestures.

This group of enthusiastic, sometimes surprised but definitely devoted Khaita pioneers spent many hours around the Master, basically right after lunch until late evening, and so it became the main daily activity.

Singing and then dancing together was a great way to practice and overcome limitations and expectations.

Mirror: What is the meaning and how do you see the value of Khaita?

Adriana: Last year, at the beginning of 2014, Rinpoche and Rosa were looking for a name to give to all the dances that up to that moment we were calling ‘Tibetan modern dances’. The point was to find a short expression that could open to new horizons, recognize the value of everything Rinpoche was doing and take into consideration that all this starts from Tibet and the Tibetan language, but, at the same time, show that our aim - promoting harmony within the individual and between people and their environment through dance - goes beyond protecting and supporting a single culture. This is why, for example, in Khaita's performances or videos, we don't use traditional Tibetan costumes very much but rather costumes that we make ourselves, in general colorful with ornaments such as belts or bracelets with different colored ribbons, using our creativity and capacities.

So the name ‘Khaita’ manifested and also the symbol: the infinite knot, golden and shining, on the planet earth. Khaita means ‘Harmony or Melody of the Space or of the Sky’ although usually we say  'Harmony in Space’. The key words ‘harmony’ or ‘melody’ is easy to understand in a general sense. Then, as practitioners, it assumes a deeper meaning. [See Rinpoche’s words at the beginning of the interview]

When we have this knowledge, when we harmonize our condition, then it resonates outside, without borders between inside and outside.

This symbol of Khaita means that the uninterrupted, infinite flow of energy, without obstacles, the flow of love like melody pervades and manifests in all our hearts and throughout the earth through songs and dances. We can read and explain this in many ways and aspects.

Mirror:  We understand that Rinpoche is making some changes to the way he has organized the Tibetan songs. Originally there was a collection of 108, but now he is preparing a group of 180. Could you tell us about this?

Adriana: At the beginning there was this first collection of 108 songs and a second collection of 72 songs. The first collection has already been translated and published in the book “Message from Tibet’.

Then Rinpoche started to make another collection of 180 with most of the songs, but not all, from the first two volumes, and some new songs. This new collection is called ‘Mekhor’ and is a term connected with astrology. It includes three groups, each called ‘Metreng’ and each with 60 songs, so there will be ‘Metreng 1’, ‘Metreng 2’ and ‘Metreng 3’. This will be a new collection. We are still learning to sing most of the new songs and don’t have any translations of them yet so it will be some time until the new collections are published.

Mirror: How does Rinpoche decide on a song, is there certain criteria?

Adriana: Rinpoche follows three principles when choosing a song:

- the meaning of the words, which should be profound and interesting (in the preface of the book ‘Message from Tibet’ he explains the main topics of the lyrics;

 -the melody;

- the singer, his/her dedication, where he/she come from, how he presents himself and represents the song, so the third criteria is mainly about the singer.

Mirror: Can you tell us how the choreography for the dances is done? Does Rinpoche choose the songs? What if someone wants to try to choreograph something?

Adriana: The process of choreographing the dances is very interesting.

Continuing the story and going back to 2012, in some videos the dances were not complete, we could see only partial movements so the next 'step' was to build a complete choreography from those sequences. At Tashigar South, Rinpoche asked us to work on dances such as ‘Nas Qenbo’ (1.3.5), ‘Naco Bod-la Ga’ (1.3.6) and a few others. I tried to understand the principle of the movements and create a reasonable and pleasant sequence. For me it was a completely new activity but I quickly started to enjoy giving shape to a song and developing it.

In some other dances, Rinpoche himself guided me in creating the choreography, indicating precisely which movements corresponded to the different parts of a song.  ‘Pu Yana’ (1.6.3) is one of these dances, in which the Master found a very interesting movement, lasting just a few seconds in the video that reminded him of a precise movement of Vajra Dance.

In others dances, such as ‘Draxis’ (1.11.8), and ‘Draxis Nima’ (1.8.3), Rinpoche suggested some of the basic movements, but most of the dances of the first period, the first two years, were created together with the Master. This is also why I think it's important to learn all their details well, especially the mudras, in order to keep as much as possible the first original movements without losing our Master's precious indications.

Back to history, the competition  "Merigar Under the Stars", beginning in September 2013, also came about from Rinpoche and Rosa’s suggestion and the whole Dzogchen Community seriously started to dance! The first round of the competition was successful thanks to the moving efforts, dedication and collaboration (even though at the beginning many people asked why we were doing this) of people coming from all the countries belonging to Merigar East and West and Kunsangar North and South. There was so much love in all this! And so much potentiality!

Immediately after, for the first time Rinpoche asked us to create from zero a choreography for a song, ‘Ema Lha Gyallo’. (1.1.5), that didn't have a dance yet. Tsering and Topgyal on one side and Svetlana Vainine and Tzvetan Aleksandrov (who collaborated a lot as part of the Merigar West team in the competition), on the other, created two nice dances.

After this, a long series of dances were choreographed. Rinpoche expressly asks for some of these. For other dances, for me it works like this: when I find a song that I like in particular for the rhythm and that gives me inspiration, I start to move following the melody and finding shapes. I enjoy the process of creating because it opens a space inside, too.

A general principle we follow when creating a new dance is to translate some of the images of the songs into movements and mudras. This is what Rinpoche has asked from the beginning. The 'how', depends on the individual person. When one of us (when I say ‘us’ I mean the group of dancers who follow the process and participate actively, not only dancing but also supporting all work that is behind it) decides to create a new dance, we inform each other, to avoid more versions of same song being created, as happened the first time.

Of course every dance, before being presented publicly, must receive Rinpoche's approval. The Master often suggests or slightly modifies some movements. And of course if someone wishes to work on a song, they are very welcome to do so! They should simply follow the previous principles.

Mirror: How many dances are complete?

             

Adriana: Up to now there are more or less 95 dances. At one point Rinpoche said that we would have 180 songs and 90 dances but we have already surpassed those numbers. We're very active!

Mirror: How do Tsering and Topgyal's dances differ from yours and how are they similar?

Adriana: You should ask the dancers this question because they can see from outside as my perspective is relative.

The dances evolve continuously and I see big differences between the beginning of our work and what we do now. But as I said, it's not only Tsering and Topgyal or myself, we have choreography coming from many of the dancers: some Russian practitioners have created quite a few beautiful ones, as have the Polish and the Dzamling Gar team, while other dances come from the USA. There is space for our creativity and it's so interesting and rich to see different talents and styles manifesting. I encourage others to open to this possibility.

For me this is a crucial point: we're all practitioners, or aspiring to be, and we're not running a competition to see who does the best dance!

 We all participate in the process of manifesting Khaita Joyful Dances because Khaita represents exactly this, the harmonious flow of energy on the globe. We're all part of it, we collaborate to make it possible and keep it alive, overcoming all possible borders, separations, limitations.

This is what we're singing about, for hours every day!

Mirror: In the future will there be instructors or at least proficient people who can come and teach at local places?

Adriana: Yes, it will happen. There are already some expert dancers who hold short courses or sessions to share what they know. Probably soon there will be more dancers who can lead courses not only inside the Dzogchen Community but also openly, to an external public. We're preparing a basic structure for it.

Mirror: How do you see the future of Khaita and its development? How does Khaita benefit the Dzogchen Community?

Adriana: The full name that we use, Khaita Joyful Dances, includes all the meaning and benefits of this activity. The keyword ‘Joyful’ must be understood as an internal and deep state, different from the happiness related to positive circumstances.

If we look at the root of the word  'joy', 'gioia’ in Italian, 'gozo' in Spanish and ‘gaudio’ in Latin, it comes from a Sanskit term yuj (from which the word ‘yoga’ comes) and is generally translated as ‘union of the individual soul with the universal spirit’.




KJD is the way we are training to integrate our three aspects or existences in the state of presence to find this state of 'Joy'. We're very fortunate that we have the possibility to apply this at the Gars in the presence of our Master for a few hours every day. 

I believe it's a precious and powerful tool, an important method that is not at all traditional, even 'out of context'. The Maestro stresses very much the importance of this activity and to me it's important we all try to overcome our limitations and judgments, open our minds a bit and try to follow him without resistance. We can discover a lot.

One day, while entering the Gonpa for the usual appointment at 5pm., the Master said: “We live to be in the melody, not in paranoia like many people are”. 

Mirror: How do you see Khaita being used in the "world" for the benefit of people and society?

Adriana: When we sing, many songs talk about overcoming separation between, for example, different groups of Tibetans, or between different schools of Buddhism, as well as prejudices and conflicts between human beings. We sing about bringing peace to the world, respecting and protecting our earth, sending wishes of prosperity to all sentient beings, and protecting native languages. These topics are not limited to Tibetan culture but represent the heart of each culture and values that belong to all humanity.

We sing and repeat the songs many times like a mantra. When we apply these principles in our daily life, so that our intention becomes concrete and can influence a bit the world outside us, we work in the direction of evolution.

Khaita Joyful Dances have great potential and it seems to me that they are one of the ways that the Dzogchen Community can open and offer our knowledge and potentialities to the 'outer' public. However, when we explain KJD we don't need to talk about spirituality, sacred Teaching coming from a distant country, or about meditation. Sometimes these words might scare people or create resistance or prejudices. We can address people of all ages in a simple and direct way, sharing our experience and dancing together the taste of  'Joy', like a small seed from which a beautiful flower can blossom. 



Mirror: Please tell us about the origins of the Dzamling Gar song.

Adriana: We could talk a lot about Dzamling Gar song, however, it is important to say that at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013, on the occasion of the birth of Dzamling Gar, the words and the melody of the song came into his mind when he was very relaxed, in a moment of joy. We can find a translation of the song on the Dzamling Gar website.

What I'd like to stress is that it is a complete Teaching that includes, according to Rinpoche's explanation, the three aspects of Base, Path and Fruit, which correspond to the three parts of the Song.

About the dance, at the beginning we were with Dr. Phuntsog when we created the first part of the choreography. We danced the whole dance like this repeating the first part three times. But after a few months, Rinpoche said that we should change it. He had a vision or something in the day and had some suggestion about how to do the movement. First he wrote it down and then he explained to me how to do the second and third part of the song so that each movement corresponded to the Song. It was very interesting.

Mirror: Thank you very much

‘Denba’,  ‘the truth’ (n. 5.10 in the collection ‘Message of Tibet’)

“Mountain snow made of drops of nectar milked from the sky,

Limpid, clean rivers flowing in our minds,

The pure language of our fathers planted in our lineage:

These three are the real melody of the waters from the snow.

The Brahmaputra river binds our compassion,

Mount Everest holds our affection,

The Vajra knot of our commitment:

These three are the real melody of the waters from the snow.

Writings of joy and sadness on the face of the mountains,

Months and years of happiness and sufferings delivered to the rivers,

Our karma of pleasures and sorrows sung to tunes:

These three are the pure melody of the waters from the snow.

I am you and you are also me,

We are all one family,

We have the strength of being united and have a goal:

These three are the true melody of the waters from the snow.

I am you and you are also me,

We are all one family,

We have the strength of being united and have a goal:

These three are the true melody of the waters from the snow.

Originally published in The Mirror issue 127 March 2015 www.melong.com

The Kunselling Tales

A fun video made in Kunselling, during the recent Mandarava and Vajra Dance Retreat:

http://1drv.ms/1RjSDAF

Mandarava and Vajra Dance Retreat, Kunselling, June 2015 - Stephanie Mulholland

Previous to this retreat, I have been associating Kunselling with a sort of holiday-retreat place, but no more! This week of Vajra Dance/ Mandarava practice led by Cindy Faulkner was Intense! We had a full schedule, starting at 6:30 am with Mandarava chudlen, followed by an hour of Yantra Yoga.

Breakfast consisted of whole oat groats that had been in the slow cooker all the previous night, with stewed fruit, after which we resumed our practice in the Gompa; this time it was the full Mandarava practice, and then out onto the mandala we went for the dance of the Song of the Vajra...times 3!

Lunch and all meals were cooked and served by the wonderful Thomas Beaver and his lovely assistant Marie-Neige. We were offered the kind of food that is typically eaten while on a Mandarava chudlen diet; mainly grains and pulses with spices, but little salt, and no garlic or onions. We were also encouraged to eliminate caffeine, sugar and alcohol, which, speaking for myself, was of great benefit! Marie-Neige made a fresh tisane each day with herbs from the garden, such as Lemon Balm, Rosemary and Mint, as well as lots of fresh lemon and ginger.

After lunch was our 2 hour break, and then we were back in the Gompa for another Tun, including tsalung, and another Dance on the mandala. Cindy made the impossible seem possible, and while I still have a ways to go with my Kumbhakha training, the week's practices gave me a taste, of each of the tsalung exercises, as a basis for me to build on.

For me, it was a wonderful week of saying yes....yes to showing up to all, or most of the Tuns, and yes to a "pure" diet.  As a result, I feel like a new person; detoxified and with more inkling of how to do Mandarava practice. Dancing as often as we did, I think I now even have the whole Dance of the Vajra under my belt....now to relax with it all and integrate it into my daily life!

Tara Retreat at Kunselling - by Douglas Dharmasena

This was a seven day retreat led by Julia Lawless. Allowing myself an extra couple of hours to get lost, I headed for Kunselling on the afternoon of Friday the 5^th. of June. I had last been there about five years ago and was not very confident that I could find my way again.

                

Before I set off, I asked Tara for a little help and she obliged. I did not make a single wrong turn. Certainly a good omen and I was there early. A ready prepared meal was waiting, courtesy of Thomas Beaver who was going to be cooking for us.

In previous years, I had often wished that I could have made the time to receive Julia’s instruction. However, it was not to be until now. The retreat began later in the evening with a “Tara Ganapuja.” This was different and along the lines of a retreat in Delhi that Rinpoche had conducted a while back. The versatile Tom Beaver had naturally been present on that occasion.

The next day, Julia, in her relaxed style began by emphasising the universal compassion and path to realization that Tara offered. She explained the essential and main practice (tun) with special attention being paid to pronunciation and melodies. We then settled into a routine of four tuns a day. Two were collective and the other two, individual and personal.

Almost everyone that attended had some familiarity with the practice and this made for a rapid and smoother progression over the week. Indeed Julia felt that when compared to other retreats more time was spent on actual practice.

 Nick Segust coordinated proceedings with great assurance and dealt with general administration, sleeping arrangements and accommodation. Meals and catering were in the very capable hands of Thomas Beaver who was ably assisted by Marie Nege. Thomas surpassed himself with the effort that he put in. We were treated to delicious and wholesome meals even allowing for a few dietary idiosyncrasies.

 A valuable and hopefully productive seven days under Julia’s guidance ended with another ganapuja on Dakini day. The weather had been extremely kind to us and Kunselling stood in all its peaceful glory.

(Photos by Diana Aubrey)

Kumbhaka Course with John Renshaw in Kunselling - by Ewa Michalec

The Kumbhaka course led inspirationally by John Renshaw was a fully immersive and broad-ranging course, covering Yantra yoga, sometimes combined where necessary with other yoga traditions, Ayurveda, Chinese and Tibetan medicine, western science, herbs, neurology and anatomy.

During the five-day course John explained to us how the body works, gave us information on health, diet, movement, exercise and breathing techniques. His teaching approach was very open, encouraging us to find our own way, see everything as useful, open our minds, and accept our limitations. So everyone could take something from the course and experience personal development, whatever their age and level.

During the yoga John adjusted positions to suit all needs and physical limitations, and some of us experienced more physical balance and greater clarity of mind as a result.

We were well looked after by Dariusz whose fantastic cooking carried us through each day. In the evening we enjoyed each other's company in the sitting room by the fireplace and some of us ended up dancing with free movement, helping to release tension and free our minds. There were no limitations in the dance, only our bodies with music and space. This gave us an opportunity to travel as far as we could.

I can fully recommend it to you, especially if you haven't been on a course led by John before -- thanks to his very wide knowledge and sensitive, open-minded teaching it was a fantastic experience.





Photos by Dariusz Piwonski

The London Retreat - by Jon Kwan

It was in October 2013 that Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche last gave a retreat in London. A year and a half later and Rinpoche returned last weekend to the Irish Centre in Camden to bestow upon the participants Ati Evolution teachings. It was a sell out!

It was a true joy to hear Rinpoche teaching again with such clarity in his characteristically powerful and unmistakable style. There were both new and old students and it was clear by the end of the retreat that everyone left with a palpable feeling of having learnt something new.

Rinpoche taught, as always, with reference to all the vehicles within Tibetan Buddhism.  He touched upon the various views according to the different paths of Sutrayana, Vajrayana and Dzogchen and the various subsections within them. He spoke about the passing of time and impermanence and spoke at length on the first statement of Garab Dorje and the importance of experiencing and then remaining in the the state of contemplation.

Rinpoche elucidated the importance of everyday presence and gave the example of life being very similar to driving a car. If we drive a car and become distracted we crash. 

On the final day Rinpoche generously gave the lung and some explanations for numerous secondary practices that are used in the Dzogchen community. Practices that can help to reduce negativities, increase long life, improve our capacity as practitioners and many more.

However as always he reminded us that the number one most important practice is the practice Guru Yoga and if we have time the Song of Vajra, and above all do our best.

There were wonderful demonstrations which many students old and new got involved with; Vajra Dance on the Saturday, Yantra Yoga on the Sunday and two sweaty sessions of Khaita Dance on both days. A truly joyful time!

Fundraising thrived at this year’s retreat. Due to the great kindness of donations the ASIA stall was a hive of activity with many people donating as much as they could in exchange for goods from Nepal in order to fundraise for Nepal. Donation buckets were literally overflowing with coins and finally Rinpoche, having donated his very own pendant with Özer Chenma and the Longsal symbol embossed on either side, all meant that £4,500 was raised for Asia. A truly outstanding amount that will be used directly to help the people of Nepal. This seemed to me to a mark the truly compassionate activity of all that attended the retreat.

There was a comprehensive presentation showing some footage and the architectural plans for the new London Centre. There was a lively and competitive auction that raised a whopping £4,903 to help fund the next stage of this vital and historic project.

  

With the London Centre emerging, it was wonderful to witness the depth of love that the community has for the Master, the collaboration of the team, the support and dedication of so many community members, from the UK and abroad, seen and unseen.

Thanks again to everyone involved for your efforts to enable us all to receive these precious teachings and most of all thank you Rinpoche.

Photo by Clive Arrowsmith

Photo by Raf Portas

Jim Valby's Santi Maha Sangha Retreats - Peter Robinson

When I booked myself into the Santi Maha Sangha retreats with Jim Valby, 5 days in London and another 5 in Kunselling this spring, I wasn't quite sure what to expect…

Having scanned the list of possible topics for the London retreat; Three Aspects of Dzogchen Transmission, Four Aspects for Understanding Primordial Knowledge, Five Marvelous Aspects of Primordial Knowledge, Five Principles of Primordial Knowledge, Five Necessary Capacities for Primordial Knowledge, Six Unlimited Principles of Primordial Knowledge, Ten Ways to Obstruct Primordial Knowledge, Sixteen Methods of Direct Introduction, I found myself faced with the difficult decision of whether to try to take notes in some vain attempt to keep up or instead to just sit and listen in the hope that that at least some small part of it would be absorbed.

I am sure that anyone who has considered taking the SMS base exam and read through the Precious Vase will be familiar with the feeling of vertigo that such a daunting and detailed list can generate, so abandoning all hope (and some fear) I opted for the latter.

Jim Valby has quite an animated style of presentation which put us at our ease from the start, and despite addressing a full room, it felt like he was chatting with a dear friend that he'd known for many years. His use of stories and humour while explaining hard to grasp ideas tended more towards demonstration than explanation, and his anecdotal style had a way of injecting life into some of the potentially drier philosophical ideas.

Jim's unique insight into the teachings and his extensive experience within the history of the community enabled him to share his broad perspective, and although we covered most of the points on the numbered list of topics in some detail, with his apparently endless energy throughout, Jim kept everything interesting, varied, and gave an incredible depth of explanation without ever losing the wider perspective.

The subsequent retreat in Kunselling was more practice oriented, focusing on purification through the various yanas while working with transmission, and it was here we got to spend even more quality time with Jim, who even outside of the talks was often sharing his fascinating stories and insights. It truly was a pleasure to spend that time with him for the whole 10 days.

In the end, what was in fact quite a structured and detailed course, dense in ideas and potentially difficult topics was transformed into something clear, straightforward, and dare I say, fun!

(Photos by Raf Portas)

(Photo by Mike Farmer)

Kumbhaka Course with John Renshaw in Kraków

Dancing through night and beyond - kumbhaka course with John Renshaw - by Dominika Nika

Some want to live long, some want to live wild. John Renshaw is a walking proof you can have both, and his classes will teach you how. We spent a wonderful weekend learning kumbhaka in Kraków -Tashiling, on the first sunny days of Spring. This was actually the most broad-minded course we have ever had. We learned that absolutely everything is useful - no limitations, no prejudice. John's knowledge of Chinese and Tibetan Medicine, Ayurveda, western science, neurology and anatomy, systems of Yantra Yoga, Bon, Ashtanga and Hatha Yoga, was combined in one purpose only - to teach us to work with our circumstances in more easy and effective way. He was using all possible means to help his students, and his attitude was contagious. In the end of the course, not following any tradition, all traditions were becoming useful to us, reaching beyond it's original potentiality. All of us had some experiences and developed our capacities. We also tried some moves and breathing on the dancefloor on Saturday night. After all, John Renshaw showed us you really can dance through the day/life cycle and beyond. 

The Bhutanese Cham: The Dance Goes On

Directly behind Tergar Monastery, where HH Karmapa resides in Bodhgaya, is Druk Ngawang Thubten Chokling, the monastery of the spiritual king or Shabdrung of Bhutan. Yangsi Shabdrung is eleven years old but he is still unable to travel freely outside the country. His parents, however, have travelled here with their second child, a boy of five.

A monastery without a rinpoche lacks magnetizing power and thus the place looks forlorn. But for three days of the year, during the annual Guru Rinpoche festival, it comes alive with the sound of traffic on the dusty pot-holed road that leads through a poor Indian village to the main gate. 

The Bhutanese arrive in traditional dress, crammed into cars, motor rickshaws and the new environmentally-friendly electric trolleys. The prayer flags fly, and the golden canopy comes out, transforming the temple entrance into a VIP seating area. To the right is a throne that awaits the arrival of the 17th Karmapa, who has been a regular guest here since he started the Monlam.

The Bhutanese cham is significantly different from the Tibetan, originating as it did with the visions of Jampal Dorje, the son of the founder of Bhutan, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, in the 17th century. The dancers have more flexibility, their movements are lithe and somehow contemporary, even feminine in style.

Devotees line both sides of the long playing field leading to the monastery holding white offering scarves: Bhutanese, Europeans and a significant number of Malaysians and Taiwanese. A procession greets the Karmapa's black car at exactly 10 o'clock.  Masked dancers sway, while jesters cavort, and monks in dark orange robes blow horns and gyalins. It just happens that the first glimmer of sun melts the fog at precisely the same time as the Karmapa enters the temple. Once inside there are three enormous statues: the Buddha, Guru Rinpoche and the first Shabdrung of Bhutan. He lights a butter lamp, chants a Mahakala prayer and blesses a new mask of Yamantaka before he takes his customary seat on the throne outside. The Khenpo, Tshokey Dorje sits beneath him talking to His Holiness almost continuously. As they talk, three clowns make floppy prostrations to the Karmapa, in jest. Another poses for a photo with him. The idea is to distract the crowd while the dancers prepare.

It is the second day of the dance called Dungam, the dance of the wrathful deities of Lama Gongdu, a treasure cycle discovered by terton Sangye Lingpa (1314-1396).  Four dancers appear in the form of deer wearing stag masks with antlers to subdue all the evil spirits who try to destroy the dharma.  The next dance is performed by the charnal ground protectors called durda wearing skull masks.  They catch the spirits of the dharma obstructors and put them into a black triangular spirit catcher. In the final act they will take out their phurbas to liberate the spirits from evil karma.  In between there is a shift to a dakini dance, in which the movements of the dancers are flexible like swans, flowing from one graceful step to the next. It is in an elegant, well-rehearsed, confident performance.

On the balcony of the monastery, where another scene is being enacted, the Khenpo brings out a tray with some objects on it, among them a phurba used to destroy obstacles. The Karmapa blesses it. Soon afterwards at mid-day, the Karmapa stands up to depart while his devotees flock in singular pursuit. The Guru Rinpoche dancers barely miss a beat.

Sonam Dorje, the head monk confides: ''We rejoice that His Holiness comes here every year to bless our Tsechu. His time is very precious, yet he sacrifices it and sits here for two hours. We would like to thank His Holiness for guiding and taking care of us. No Rinpoche other than His Holiness Karmapa comes here to visit us.'' 

Naomi Levine: Author of The Miraculous 16th Karmapa - Incredible Encounters with the Black Crown Buddha.

Photos copyright of Kagyu Monlam. 

Bliss, Clarity and Emptiness – Kumbhaka Weekend

My only experience so far of Yantra Yoga has been a 2 day beginner’s course and since doing that weekend I have done very little practice. I am relatively new to Dzogchen and a lot of the practices are things that I am learning for the first time, so integrating what I am learning to daily life has posed challenges. I have to admit I went into the Kumbhaka weekend held last month in London with having done no practice, and very little knowledge/understanding of what it is and what it would involve - I didn’t leave the weekend the way I started it. I think it was Leo who said something along the lines of ‘this is like studying quantum physics without having studied physics 101’, and it definitely felt like I was learning very advanced practices.

The weekend was taught by John Renshaw at The Tara Yoga Centre near Old Street, 30 dzogchen community practitioners crammed into a very strange yoga space to learn Kumbhaka. John went through stages of explaining breathing, anatomy, chakras and lot of other things to get us ready for the actual practice. The first day was broken up with John talking, showing us slides and getting us to practice the elements that would come together for the main Kumbhaka. I will put my hands up, a lot of it went over my head but I don’t learn through intellectual understanding and I trusted that all that was being imparted would come together. It definitely did the next day, after a brief overview of what we covered yesterday the rest of the second day was dedicated to sessions of practice and discussion around our experiences and opportunities for clarifications.

I left Sunday evening having had an experience of bliss, clarity and emptiness. I slept Sunday night like a baby. The weekend was brilliant as a crash course in Kumbhaka; I have the foundations for personal practice and know my limitations and what I need to develop in order for me to be able to do kumbhaka more effectively. I went in with little or no expectations but left with a solid foundation for practice.

Wadud

Root Institute: An Elephant Meets a Spiritual Friend

The Karmapa's annual visit to Root Institute in Bodhgaya is a natural welcome to the beginning of a new year, like the first buds of spring. Orange and gold marigold flowers inside rings of offering bowls surround a dominant statue of Nagarjuna; and a chalk drawn mandala of auspicious symbols at the entrance to the temple awaits his footsteps.

Ragnini, an elephant, stands to the side of the mandala, richly caparisoned in the tradition of temple elephants, in a silver head-dress and a red embroidered tapestry on her back. Her trunk is adorned with painted symbols. The mahout on her back does not carry an iron pick as he used to do, and there are no chains on her ankles. She is waiting patiently, possibly in anticipation of the abundant fruit basket filled with bananas and apples which His Holiness bought specially for her and sent before his arrival.  Two years ago the elephants at Root were taken on an extended outer kora of the Bodhgaya temple and no doubt Ragnini's karma will ripen soon. Right now she is enjoying a respite from her work life as a captive animal. The hope is to buy enough land to let her and her elephant brother, Bodhicitta, live unchained.

The sound of sirens pierces the profound stillness, heralding the arrival of His Holiness.  As the door of the black Audi opens, Indian school children from the Maitreya School and Tara Children's Home established by Root, greet him with posies of flowers.  The head nun, Thubten Labdron,  beams a warm smile and presents a white offering scarf. ''Is this the fourth or fifth time I am at Root?'' asks the Karmapa as he settles comfortably on the throne.  ''Seven? I can't think how many; it doesn't matter. You all made lovely elaborate preparations for me. There is no need since I've been here so many times but thank you for that.''

This launches his talk on impermanence, inspired by a verse in the Diamond Cutter Sutra. We can see impermanence every day, but seeing and hearing about it isn't the same as incorporating it into our being. The first thought that changes the mind towards dharma is contemplating the precious human body, which we have right now.

Our body is a phenomenon that arises and perishes in a second. If we have a great task we need to fulfil, we have to embark on it immediately. It's not okay to procrastinate. If we're going to do something great, and we put it off for a few days there is no certainty we will do it.

Meditation on impermanence, he emphasizes, is not to cultivate a fear of death. The fear of death is natural, even to animals. It's to make us realise that with this bodily support we have a great task to accomplish and if we die before completing it, we will regret it.

If someone were to say, you have only one hour left in your life, what would you do? We spend most of our time doing all this busy work but we are relaxed about the things that are most important to do. We are not really aware what we need to accomplish. If we had only one hour left, we'd have to think about what we're going to do. If we think we have time, we will spend our lives being lazy and slothful.

The essence of meditating on impermanence is that it inspires us to use this opportunity by becoming aware of it and valuing it more highly. This will produce diligence. Such an opportunity to benefit ourselves and others will not happen again.

Rather than seeing impermanence as bad, we should see that it as positive. If things were permanent old situations would continue and nothing could change. Impermanence gives room for things to improve.

It's like music; sometimes the melody goes up, sometimes down.  If there were no change it would always stay on the same pitch. Change allows us to have beautiful melodies.

In every minute there is opportunity for change. This morning's misdeed we may regret and rectify by the evening. Everyone can follow the example of Milarepa who accumulated great misdeeds in the first part of his life and changed completely in the second part.

Take ownership of opportunity and strive hard to use it, he exhorted the audience. Habitual patterns lock us into believing we don't have the chance.  

We say the situation isn't right and we blame others. He or she blocked me. When there's a new government, we think we have a new leader who will effect change. We always look for someone outside to make changes.

What happens when things don't work out?

We think things always work for other people, rich people, but for myself, nothing works out. When difficulties come we give up.  Great beings have emerged from their difficulties. They used them as a source of learning, and then they became great beings. It's because of hindrances that we become great; we don't become a great being by living in comfort. If someone offers you a delicious meal, you don't need to be patient. If things are always good, we can't improve.

It is important for us to have difficulties in order to bring out who we truly are. Obstacles are our friends, not our enemies because they bring out our strengths.  If an expert karate or judo master has a mediocre opponent, he has no chance to bring out his powers. Only if they have opponents who are better do they have an opportunity to train. The biggest obstacle to change is pride. We think we're ok as we are. We need to win, to transcend, to be victorious and triumph over pride. If we are self satisfied, there's no opportunity to change.

In closing, the Karmapa praised the Maitreya school and the medical clinic for the benefit it brought to the local area. Thanking all the workers and supporters involved with these projects, he said,

This is the land of Magadha, the noble land of the Aryas, the source of wisdom, where all Buddhas awaken to enlightenment.  Twenty five hundred years ago the Buddha awoke to enlightenment in this place. In future, many great buddhas will come to guide sentient beings.  Many people from all over the world come here, so it is your responsibility to be an example and lead them to a good destination. Thank you all very much.

As the Karmapa leaves the shrine room he goes straight to Ragnini whose moment has come. He smiles as he feeds her the fruit from his hand and waves the last banana in the air before offering it, watching with delight as she curls her trunk playfully into her mouth. He then goes to the Nagarjuna statue and tosses petals in consecration. Behind him, the elephant is smiling. May this be the moment that liberates her from the chains of existence. 

Naomi Levine: Author of The Miraculous 16th Karmapa - Incredible Encounters with the Black Crown Buddha

Photos copyright of Kagyu Monlam.