Lotus Mandala Sacred Dance
Step into the Dimension of Light, Sound, and Vibration!
The Tara Mandala Danceis an Ancient Practice of Sacred Dance, Moving Meditation, and Prayerfor the Female Buddha Tara. This practice Generates Powerful Energies for Personal, Spiritual, and Planetary Transformation.
Heal the world of greed, war, and ignorance! Fill the world with wisdom, compassion and power! Manifest your full human potential!
Early History of the Tara Dance This form of the Tara Mandala Dance came from an ancient text of the 21 Praises of Tara. This specific text is part of a cycle of teachings called, “A Mind Treasure of the Profound Depths of Tara, A Ritual Mandala Offering Adorned with the Essence of the Two Accumulations” from Orgyen Dechen Chokjur Lingpa. At the request of her Tibetan lama, Sonam Tenzin, Prema Dasara, founder and Spiritual Director of Tara Dhatu, reshaped the text so that it could be sung in English. A musician, and singer of the Tara Mantra, Jeff Munoz, assisted her. In 1985 Prema choreographed the dance using her training in Odissi Temple Dance. She later discovered that Odissi Temple Dance had been a Tantric Buddhist dance 1400 years ago. Prema collaborated on the choreography with gifted dancer, Lauryn Galindo, whose dream-vision of a golden spiral inspired the spiral configuration of the dance. His Eminence, Tai Situ Rinpoche, made Prema Dasara Dance Master of this sacred lineage practice in 1995. The dance has received the blessings of numerous Tibetan Buddhist lamas including His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. For more history of the Tara Dance visit www.TaraDhatu.org
About Tara Tara is a female deity, the Feminine Divine, the Goddess of Compassion in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Tara is said to have been born from the tears of the lord of compassion, Avlokiteshvara. Tara is a female Buddha, mother of all the Buddhas, and is considered to be a wish-fulfilling deity. She is known for her swift protection and swift response to the prayers of her children. Tara is particularly unique in that, upon attaining enlightenment, she chose to remain in a female body. As an enlightened being, Tara could enter the state of Nirvana, total bliss, but instead, she has chosen to remain in this world, in order to end suffering. Tara has vowed to stay with us until each and every sentient being has attained enlightenment.
“Tara, the Feminine Divine, the most famous female deity in Tibetan Buddhism and a mother dedicated to protecting her followers. From nomads to scholars, all Tibetans are profoundly devoted to her.” – Bokar Rinpoche
About Marie Elena Gaspari: “I am dancing open
the heart of the universe,
One laughing, golden step at a time.”
Marie Elena 2009
Marie Elena Gaspari is a gifted Wisdom Teacher. She is an instructor for the Creative Arts, Intuitive Arts, and Sacred Arts. Marie Elena is a published author and an award-winning poet. She is a Reiki Master and her Intuitive Arts services include Astrology, Tarot, and Rite-of-Passage. She is a Ceremonial Leader of the Sacred Feminine Mysteries. Marie Elena holds a M.A. from Naropa University, and a B.A. in Anthropology from U. Mass., Amherst. Marie Elena is a Tara Dhatu Level Three Teacher of the Tibetan Buddhist,Twenty-one Praises of Tara Spiral Mandala Dance. She is the founder of The Lotus Mandala, the Northern Michigan branch of Tara Dhatu. Marie Elena has danced the Tara Mandala since 1994. She was one of sixty international dancers chosen to participate in the Tara Dhatu 2001Tara Dance Peace Pilgrimage to Dharamsala, India, at the invitation of H. H. the Dalai Lama. Marie Elena’s twenty-two years of Dance experience include studies with California Bay Area teachers Bonney Meyer, Shukria, Mahea Uchiyama, Luisa Teish, Sharifa, and John and Marina Bear. Her international dance teachers include Prajwal R. Vajracharya, Prema Dasara, Anahata Iradah, Ardella Nathanael, Laura Shannon, and Elizabeth Artemis Mourat.
Marie Elena’s introduction to Tibetan Buddhism began in 1992. She took refuge with Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche, of Ewam Choden, in 1998. Her Tibetan Buddhist empowerments include Chakrasamvara from H. H. Sakya Trizin, and White Tara from H. H. 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Drodul Trinley Dorje. She received Naropa Vajra Yogini and the Twenty-One Praises of Tara from H. E. Jetsun Kusho Chime Luding. She received the Green Tara, Red Tara, Gold Tara, White Tara, and Blue/Black Tara empowerments from Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche. Marie Elena was born and raised in Massachusetts, spent twenty-five years in the California Bay Area, and in 2012, moved to Northport, Michigan. Marie Elena continues her Tibetan Buddhist studies at Omena Karma Kagyu. OM TARE!
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