Praise & Movement:
Embodying the Awakened Ones
Weekly Course with Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya
Part One: Embodying the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas
Saturdays September 19, 26, October 3, 10
Part Two: Embodying the Dakinis
Saturdays October 17, 24, 31, November 7
Time:
11am | Los Angeles
1pm | Mexico City
2pm | New York
7pm | London
8pm | Rome
This course is offered live on Zoom.
Each class will be recorded and shared with registered participants of the class.
The recordings will be available to watch at any time.
Join Prajwal Vajracharya for a special weekly course in praise of the enlightened ones through prayer and movement. Each week Prajwal will introduce one sloka (Sanskrit verse) in praise of a particular Buddha, bodhisattva, or dakini, and the accompanied physical movements and gestures that express their enlightened qualities of wisdom, compassion and power. By learning to humbly honor and praise these supreme beings, we can slowly also recognize that their qualities and energies exist within us and all beings, and begin the process of actually embodying and expressing these qualities in a genuine way through our own unique bodies, voices, and minds.
This course lays the groundwork for the practice of Charya Dance.
Part One: Embodying the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas
Part one of the course focuses on the male manifestations of awakened energy and wisdom. Each week we will learn about a different Buddha or bodhisattva (“hero”), invoking them through verses of praise and inviting their qualities into our own embodied experience through movement and mudra.
Part Two: Embodying the Dakinis
Dakinis are the Tantric goddesses, or feminine embodiments of enlightened energy manifesting in a multitude of forms, both peaceful and wrathful. In Vajrayana Buddhism, it is said that without the blessings of the dakinis, progress on the path is impossible. Part two of our course brings us deep into connection with this enlightened female principle, giving us a glimpse of the ultimate freedom and bliss that it represents.
About the Teacher
Prajwal is a priest of one of the Vajrayana Buddhist lineages of Nepal and a ritual master both of the Charya Nritya dance tradition and other ritual forms performed by the Newar Vajracharya lineage. Prajwal began his training in Charya Nritya at eight years old, receiving formal instruction mainly from his father, the Buddhist scholar and ritual master Ratna Kaji Vajracharya. Prajwal Vajracharya is now the premier teacher, practitioner, and performer of the tradition and is a veteran of several world tours with beginning and advanced students around the globe. He founded Dance Mandal: Foundation for Sacred Buddhist Arts of Nepal to preserve and expand this rare art form and its related traditions. With the survival of this sacred ritual dance threatened by modernization, Prajwal, at his father’s wishes, has dedicated his life to bringing this unique Buddhist heritage from the temples of Nepal to the world, while adhering to its original purpose as a profound spiritual practice.