Phyllis Moses is one of our most senior Tara Dhatu teachers, a long time dharma practitioner, a respected yoga teacher, with a number of healing modalities as part of her offering to the world.
She writes…
A warm spell covered the PNW (Pacific Northwest) region this summer, and we were called to come together again at Forest Refuge for a local gathering to honor the Divine Feminine, the Dakini’s dancing in us and around us, and Tara’s loving Presence. This was a co-creation which began with myself (Phyllis M), Helen, Noelle organizing it, and on the day of, wound up including Alysha, and even Meadow on a visit from CA. We wove our day into a magical Dance of the elements. We aspired to dive into the energies of the five Dakini’s, exploring the clear and obstructed qualities of earth, air, fire, water, and space.
Honoring our dancing feet is an ancient practice. So the night before we gathered colorful flowers from the land to set in a large bowl for a foot washing ceremony at our gathering the next day, which was also Dakini Day!
Some women were meeting for the first time and yet as we shared our stories of how we connected to the Tara Dances, we realized all the interwoven threads of connection and mutual friendships that went back decades. We danced outdoors in the Pavilion at Forest Refuge, and amidst the warm summer air, we were graced by gently cooling breezes throughout the day. It felt like Tara’s warmth enveloping us.
Noelle, Meadow, and I each took a turn to guide the group through the Prayer of Motivation, Shantideva’s Prayer, and Refuge and Bodhicitta. Next, we called in the energy of the Dakinis and demonstrated some traditional Charya dakini mudras and forms with an offering of song and dance of praise to the Buddha Dakini Vajrayogini. We then were guided by Helen into some free form elemental dancing with some very evocative music inspired from the Baul and Bollywood culture! Transforming our obstructed emotions into the clear light of wisdom by calling on the Dakini’s of Space, Water, Earth, Fire, and Air ~ a continual pointing out of our human & sacred existence and how to best dance with all of that. Clearly a lifelong practice and remembrance of trusting guidance.
After a beautiful lunch, we had a procession carrying the Mandala mat (that was painted by Alysha years ago) of the 5 elements out to the pavilion while singing a call & response Tara mantra; until we were able to then hear the beautiful music of Emerson on flute and Helen on tamboura. After we bathed our dancing feet in a bowl of flowers picked from the land, we entered the mat and Alysha explained the different color families on the mat. We each went to the center altar with our hand collected offerings we had gathered from the land, inter-weaving outer and inner manifestations.
Helen and Alysha guided us with the Charya 16 offering Goddesses dance, which Meadow and I knew so we also danced it too, and then all the group joined in (an intimate group of 10 women ~ who each added their own particular Presence to create a fragrant offering bouquet). I then offered a short introductory explanation to the short 21 praises to Tara, and Noelle and Meadow also added in their wisdom and skill so we all danced together. Afterwards dedicating the merit to all Beings. Such a sweet earth based/elemental Dakini Day gathering that each of us felt reverberating that evening and next days, while also sending that Light into the world, with gratitude for the sangha to come together and revitalize our precious practices. Looking forward to next week, where I’ve been leading our monthly dance at the Portland KCC (Kagyu Changchub Chuling) center. May we continue to meet in Sacred Dance, song, and joyful hearts!
With deep gratitude, 🙏🏼🌺
Phyllis
