The Mystical Arts of Tibet

Part One (50 minutes)

• Photos

Nysensen - Invocation of the Forces of Goodness. With instruments and vocals, the monks invoke creative awareness within themselves and the audience.

Tentru Yultru - Purifying the Environment and its Inhabitants. Chanting, the monks hold up a mirror and draw into it the reflection of the world and its living beings. They purify these through sound and meditation, as symbolized by pouring waters from a sacred wisdom vase over the mirror.

Shanak Garcham - Dance of the Black Hat Masters. This ancient dance for the elimination of negative energies is in the style known as "drakpo" or "wrathful." The dancers' implements symbolize the transcendence of false ego-identification.

Taktsal - Intense Encounters of the Third Degree. Two monks engage one another in a process leading to the deeper levels and implications of spiritual experience.

Senggey Garcham - The Snow Lion Dance. In Tibet, the snow lion symbolized the fearless and elegant quality of the enlightened mind.

Part Two (40 minutes)

Durdak Garcham - Dance of the Skeleton Lords. To remind the world of the ephemeral nature of all things and of the liberating and balancing impact of an awareness of this reality, two monks appear as the forces of goodness manifested as Cemetery Lords.

Dakzin Tsarchod - A Melody to Sever the Ego Syndrome. This tradition of meditative music is considered among the most hauntingly beautiful to emanate from the Land of Snows. Its purpose is to release the mind from the ego-clinging habit.

Khadro Tenshug Garcham - Dance of the Celestial Travelers. Five dancers symbolizing the five elements and five wisdoms, together with three musicians, invoke the sounds and movement of the Celestial Travelers, mystical beings whose blessings strengthen the forces of life and light.

Sangso Shijo - Auspicious Song for World Healing. The monks send forth incense smoke, which the wind scatters in 10 directions as a subliminal force invoking peace, harmony and the ways of creative living.

• All information from www.mysticalartsoftibet.org.