Dancing for Peace

Our time here thus far has been so full. We arrived in McLeod Ganj late on Friday night, the 19th of October. We began rehearsing first thing on Saturday for our dance offering at the Tibetan Children's Village (TCV). Prema originally planned for us to dance in four mandalas, but with the cancellations due to the world situation, we only had enough dancers for two and a half mandalas. Also, Prema felt that our Tibetan dancers were not quite ready to dance in the mandala, as it is more complicated and involves dancing alone, which none of them really wanted to do. Many of them could only dance with us some of the time, and in the mandala they're less replaceable. So, she decided that we would dance in two mandalas, a dorje formation, with two crescent moons of protectors. The Tibetan women would all dance as protectors, along with some of the western women who would alternate between the mandalas and as protectors.

For the first ritual dance at TCV, I offered to dance as a protector since I had already been working with the Tibetan women. Prema asked me to lead one crescent moon of protectors, while Donna led the other and Felicity and Janet led their mandalas. The mandalas were named "Wisdom" and "Compassion" after Tara's primary qualities. The Tibetan women danced with us for the first time that Saturday afternoon. Many instant bonds were formed between these beautiful Tibetan women and the pilgrims from all over the world. All were eager to prepare for our TCV offering.

Saturday evening, forty more women from the Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) arrived for dinner. TWA originally formed as an alliance of women working to help Tibetans imprisoned in Chinese occupied Tibet. Now they do that and much, much more. These women came from all walks of life. Many work at TCV as teachers or other staff. TCV is an orphanage for Tibetan children, and these children live in "houses" that are like large families from infancy to graduation. A large number of the "house mothers" from TCV also attended our dinner.

There were a number of other women, and a few men to meet the men from our delegation. We took turns around the entire room introducing ourselves and the places we represent. This was marked with laughter and tears. So many expressed simple gratitude that we can come together, while others were merely in awe at how many countries were represented. When Mei Tse Ling introduced herself as a representative of her Chinese heritage, tears and murmurs of appreciation filled the room. Despite the Tibetans' history with the Chinese government, they still appreciate very much a Chinese delegate who comes to dance for peace.

We then shared a meal together, filling our bodies with nourishment while we filled our minds and hearts with companionship and sisterhood that crosses all racial and national boundaries. Personally I have had the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with a radiant woman named Tsumo. She is a dentist, and she has taken much time out of her schedule to dance with us. I feel so blessed for her friendship.

On Sunday we rehearsed more for our dance offering at TCV. The Tara Dhatu pilgrimage in 1998 danced the full mandala for the TCV anniversary, and while it was appreciated, the director of the school asked us to shorten it this time due to time constraints. We had only fifteen minutes, so we offered a shortened combination of the mandala dance and the dance of the qualities.

After more rehearsal on Monday, most of the group went to Men Tsee Khang, the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute. A more detailed report of this will be sent as written by Amy Emrich-Selby, another of our pilgrims.

Then, finally, on Tuesday morning, we danced for and with the Tibetan people. We woke up bright and early to prepare. The ladies were all a flurry of crowns, hair, makeup and glitter, all preparing to look outwardly like the manifestations of Tara we already are. We traveled in our small busses to TCV and changed into our costumes. Then we helped our Tibetan dancers dress. It was so lovely to see each other so beautifully adorned. The silk brocade of our costumes was handmade in Varanasi, and the tailoring was done here in McLeod Ganj (with much urging of Donna Dancing Turtle, our costume devi). We were all such amazing emanations of Tara.

We then watched and listened as the honored guests arrived. The Venerable Samdong Rinpoche was the primary honored guest. He was quite recently elected prime minister to the Tibetan Government in exile. Prema expressed how glad she was to be able to honor him with the dance again. In 1998, he traveled to Varanasi to see the Praises of Tara in dance. The other honored guest was Jetsun Pema, the executive director of TCV and the younger sister of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She made a point to welcome all guests in English as well as Tibetan, which we appreciated.

After some cultural presentations, we made our way onto the huge field. The sun glared down on us, and at first I felt so small in that expansive place. Then we began the practice, and Tara's presence swelled through us, filling all space. We danced. I guided my crescent moon of protectors as Donna did on the other side. The two mandalas spiralled with beauty and grace. When we completed the practice and exited the field, many of the Tibetans watching sang the mantra with us, full of smiles and appreciation. We had finally begun what we really came so far to do, sharing Tara's dance with her own people. What a blessing!

In Love and Peace,

Jessica Zebrine