Blessings continue to multiply for the Tara team here in Dharamsala as preparations continue for the delegation.

This past Saturday the five of us had an opportunity to have an audience with His Holiness the Karmapa. Prema and Anahata told us some of the background of how the Karmapa is the spiritual head of the Kagyu tradition, much like His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual head of the Gelugpa tradition. Since Prema's lineage is through the Kagyu tradition, His Holiness the Karmapa is of special interest to the Tara Dance Delegation.

First we met with the General Secretary to request teachings and empowerments from the Karmapa for the entire delegation. We also hoped to schedule a dance specifically for him. The secretary said it was possible that we may be able to accomplish our requests, to have the opportunity to take Refuge, receive a Green Tara empowerment and teachings from the Karmapa as well as dance for him, but we may have to come back on four different days since his time is very limited. Right now he himself is receiving many teachings and has many other obligations. We waited in the reception area a while longer, talking some with the security officers, most of whom had seen the last pilgrimage videos on local television recently and were very excited about the dance. Word came back from the General Secretary that the Karmapa was quite eager to see the dance, and in fact had cleared out an entire morning for us to dance for him and receive the other blessings and teachings. This was an unexpected boon, as it means we will not have to make the journey as a group more than once but will be able to dance for and receive so much from this powerful being.

Our small group was then taken in for an audience with the Karmapa. He is only seventeen years old, but being the seventeenth in his line, he is very old in his wisdom. He radiated with beauty, especially when he smiled. He blessed each of us with our kataks, and then listened as we made some simple requests for prayers. Prema spoke to him about the delegation of women coming from around the world, and how since the political climate of the world is so chaotic, we specifically needed prayers for their safety traveling to meet us, the success of our delegation, and a safe return home. Both the Karmapa and his translator expressed great concern for the state of the world, especially right now. However, he also encouraged us, "Remember, the past is the past. Learn from the past, but look forward to the future." He promised to pray for the safety of the delegation. He also told us he was especially looking forward to seeing the dance in honor of Tara because Tara is a very personal Goddess to him. "Hold diligent to the practice to find freedom," he told us. Anahata also asked for prayers for her upcoming video project, "This Precious Human Life" which he agreed to give. We could not take pictures, or even take notes on his words, because due to security we were not allowed to bring anything in with us except kataks. However, just being in the Karmapa's presence was such a blessing to us all.

After leaving the Karmapa, we ate lunch and walked around Norbalinka, the Tibetan Institute for Arts and Handicrafts. The grounds are spectacular, with little waterfalls and pools, meandering paths through flower and rock gardens. The workmanship of the artists and artisans was quite fine, and we enjoyed looking at the artwork. We are arranging to dance at Norbalinka the same day as the dance for the Karmapa.

We then briefly visited Dolma Ling nunnery, where Anahata sponsors a nun named Tenzin Trinnley. We met with her and she served us the traditional Tibetan butter tea, which was a first for a few of us. Tenzin was also being visited by some friends from her home village in Tibet, so we got to visit with them as well.

On Sunday we met for the first time with some of the Tibetan women who will be dancing with us. Tsering Palmo from the Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) has been an invaluable help to us in organizing these women. There were about six women who danced with us that first day, and they were quite eager to learn. We danced in a courtyard at the Tibetan Children's Village (TCV), and many children and others gathered around to see what we were doing. We attempted to teach them the qualities of Tara in Tibetan, as Prema and Anahata had them translated last year. This was sometimes amusing to them because our pronunciation was not quite perfect, but they seemed to appreciate our efforts. During one of the breaks over tea, several of the women expressed how much they liked the dance. They had always chanted the mantra, but the dance made it more meaningful to them personally. As we danced through the qualities, each time we reached the mantra of "Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha," their voices rang out with a slightly more traditional Tibetan sound. It was beautiful.

When we arrived to teach the second night, we expected to have the same number of women. We were gladly surprised at the more than twenty women who arrived. Most of the women from the first night invited their friends. This time we danced inside a classroom, but there were still faces of children and adults at the windows watching. There were women of all ages, from young to older, both from TCV and from other parts of town. Many of them were interested in dancing with us as long as possible, not just at the TCV anniversary celebration. Also joining us this evening was a young lady from Bhutan, who agreed to dance with our delegation, bringing the number of countries represented by our pilgrimage back to 21, which was our goal.

Our lives here for the past week have primarily focused on running errands, setting up meetings, and planning for the pilgrimage. However, we have each had some free time, and I had the opportunity to make friends with a couple who run a gem shop here in McLeod Ganj. At home my business is gemstone jewelry, so we had a lot in common right away. The young man is Kashmiri Indian, but his wife is Canadian, and after spending several hours talking with them in their shop, they invited me to join them for dinner in their home. Last night after the dance I walked with them to their cozy apartment, which is smaller than one room of my apartment in the U.S. We had a lovely dinner sitting on the floor (they had a special cloth to eat from, and a very interesting technique of eating without utensils, which I gladly learned). It was a festive dinner, though we were also watching the news on TV of America's second strike on Afghanistan and the worldwide ramifications of this. We talked about it for a bit, and then the young man's father, who is a devout Muslim, said that what matters is that we could come together for dinner like this. It was quite an international group that had gathered, between the two Kashmiri Indian men, the Canadian and American women, and another friend of theirs from Israel. We also represented Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and Paganism in that one small room. And we came together in peace and trust to break bread together, a time honored tradition in so many cultures. It was beautiful to me to see that while much of life has changed since September 11, so much remains possible. Peace is possible. Our delegation here is of value. We stand for peace. We dance for peace. We come together from all over the world for peace.

Bright Tara Blessings,
Jessica Zebrine