August 25 2003
Dear friends,

We cannot believe that four months have flown by since our arrival on Maui from Brazil. It has been wonderful to have a home, to enjoy our many island friends, to luxuriate in the beauty that surrounds us, to make steady progress on some of our big projects.

Today we leave for 3 1/2 months to share our special brand of dharma and dance and meet with all our beloveds on the mainland (USA & Canada)

However, I do feel the need to complete the story of our Brazil Journey. Like any dharma practice it was good in the beginning, good in the middle and good at the end.

So here it is....the last story of our Spring 2003 Brazil journey.

Bicho Do Mato

The last two weeks of our stay in Brazil crescendo-ed into a magnificent climax.

Sabira invited us to join her in offering a one week Dances of Universal Peace training based on the Hindu and Buddhist traditions at a magical retreat center in the mountains close to Rio.

Beloveds from all of the cities we had taught at came for this training and it became apparent that we had more work to do in Brazil. Dance leaders requested Anahata to give a systematic training in Dance Leadership and a committee was formed to arrange the first training week in April 2004.

Women from all over the country, Columbia and Portugal joined the Tara Dance Student/Teacher program and formed Tara Dhatu, Latin America complete with a most excellent Central Coordinator, Myriangela, to organize things. They got busy developing translations of the music and the teachings of the Tara Dance and asked that Prema lead a one week Tara Dance retreat in May.

The days flew by. Bicho da Mato Retreat Center is rustic but comfortable. A stream at the bottom of the property sported a delicious waterfall and we mermaids made good use of it. Meandering trails opened into fairy like dance spaces and flower studded vistas of the surrounding hills.

We ended the retreat with a day visit from the teachers of the local Waldorf School where we had taught a week retreat the last time we were in Brazil. The subject was Tara Tames the Eight Fears and everyone joined in the fun.

Cidade Maravelousa (City Marvelous)

Back in Rio each day was full to overflowing. There is a certain feeling of being on a wheel that just gets faster when we are preparing to leave a country. Anahata was in the recording studio every day completing the "Dances of the Tarot" CD. As we traveled about I tried to remember to bring my camera with me, to take some pictures of the lovely neighborhood we had enjoyed, despite the machine gun backdrop.

I visited Bozolandia, a fellow who made children's toys out of recycled material. Some friends took me to the Botanical Gardens.

We returned to Sitio Das Pedras to formally offer the Tara Dance. The precious Tara statue that Lama Zopa had painted was brought from her cave to center stage of the underground salon. Two Lamas from the local Karma Kagyu center came to witness the dance. Maria graciously offered the Central Tara position to Sabira who led with confidence and was granted Third Level teacher status.

Lama Sonam Tenzin was ecstatic after the performance. He repeatedly instructed us to rejoice in our good fortune that such a precious vehicle of the dharma was available to all of us. He truly felt the blessing of Tara and he encouraged us to continue to share the Dance as wide and as often as possible.

Our last formal event before leaving Brazil was to gather a circle of beloveds to do some Dances of Universal Peace on Corcovado at the feet of the towering statue of Christ.

As we circled up a couple of nuns watched us with respectful curiosity. A gaggle of teenagers from one of the favelas was on an outing, dressed in their school uniforms. They were entranced with the music. On invitation a group of them joined us, some dancing some just singing, all generating the best of good will.

Athemis, one of our dancers born in Amazonia confessed to us later...."I had given up with sacred dance, in the face of the world's troubles and our terrible problems here in Rio, I seriously doubted that we could make any difference. But as I looked at the faces of those children dancing with us, I heard the cacophony of the cities roar grow quieter. It was as if the city was listening to our prayers for peace and good will. And that even if it were just for a moment, the spirit of peace lay upon our land. Now I can keep on leading dance, knowing that indeed, we do make a difference."

The Christ statue just continued looking out, over the teeming city, over the sea with open heart and open arms. And we continued to dance.

Prema and Anahata

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