Prayer Festival of the Goddess TaraMay There BePeace and Prosperity For AllFor centuries the great Tibetan monasteries have held Prayer Festivals, called Monlams or Drupchens.  As part of a cycle of prayer and practice, the monastics present to the community gloriously costumed and masked dancers, enacting their sacred commitment to protect and attract well being for all in their care.In 1986  His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche, one of the greatest meditation masters of our time,  witnessed the first development of the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara. He predicted that the choreographer, Prema Dasara,  would eventually teach this dance internationally. He said that there would be a festival each year devoted to Tara and that it would be a profound blessing, much like the festivals of dance in the great monasteries of Tibet.Great Lamas of all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and His Holiness the Karmapa have made sincere requests and prayers that the dance continue to be offered as much as possible as a prayer for peace and for the well being of all. To fulfill these wishes and the vision of her teacher, HE Tai Situ Rinpoche, Prema Dasara and her organization, Tara Dhatu is committed to developing a Tara Monlam…..a Festival of Prayer to Tara. It will be based on the Chokjur Lingpa sadhana, The Four Mandala Offerings, that is the basis of the original Tara Dance.The entire sadhana will be danced and sung, the praises will be offered in dance form 12 times. During this festival there will be practitioners who will keep Tara’s mantra, chanting day and night for five days. The public would be welcome to attend and participate in the chanting, or just witness the dancing.There will be several mandalas of dancers.  We have found an excellent mask maker who is willing to make 22 masks for one of the mandalas. Her name is Lauren Raine you can look at the quality of her work  www.laurenraine.com.We will be looking for help making the costumes for the masked mandala.The current focus is to find the perfect venue for this event. There should be some center for residence for the dancers that will come from all over the world to participate. It should be near or in a city so people can come and be in the atmosphere as observers. It should have an indoor space big enough for four mandalas of dance, an area for the musicians and chanters and room for audience to sit around the outside of the mandala space.How Can You Help?We are now forming committees to work on fund raising, publicity, and all the myriad needs an event of this size has. Let us know if you would like to participate in any way.Contact Eana Rose, one of the event coordinators.I am inviting you to help sponsor a dancer. We will bring dancers from all over the country and the world to participate in this sincere offering of prayer and promise.
May our sincere aspirations to share Tara’s blessings and inspiration bring benefit to allOm Tare!!!