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Prema Dasara

13th Century Nepalese Thangka of the Green Tara from the Kathmandu Valley. Currently, this is kept in the Cleveland Museum of Art

Prema Dasara is the founder of Tara Dhatu an international non-profit organization dedicated to the uplifting of humanity through music, dance, meditation, prayer, and service. The focus of education and presentation is on mind training, with the greatest influence being Tibetan Buddhism. Tara Dhatu emphasizes the feminine opportunity to achieve the highest levels of consciousness. In the Tibetan Buddhist world view, Tara is a central focus. She is the embodiment of wisdom and compassion, a benevolent guide and presence. Within Her practices she represents this potentiality latent within every sentient being.

Early Life and Education

'I must have danced out of my mother's womb,' says Prema Dasara, who began formal ballet training at the age of three. She soon abandoned the formalities to dance on her own as a personal expression in nature, like her idol, pioneer of modern contemporary dance, Isadora Duncan. She did not return to formal classes until she went to India in 1976 and became a student of Ramani Ranjan Jena. Ramani Ranjan Jena was a master of the Odissi style of Classical Indian Temple Dance, a student of venerable Mayadhar Raut, and won the presigous Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1987.

During the six years she spent in India she worked as an editor for the Theosophical Society, immersing herself in the study of comparative religion. To compliment her dance training she studied Classical South Indian Music. She studied Sanskrit to deepen her understanding of the Hindu Culture. Prema traveled throughout Asia studying sacred dance. She studied Charya, the ritual dance of Nepali Buddhists. She studied Tibetan Lama dancing at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, and sacred Balinese dance with the Queen of Peliatan in Bali.

In 1983 she settled in Hawaii where she became a student of the Tibetan Buddhist meditation master, Lama Sonam Tenzin.

The Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara

When Lama Sonam Tenzin was sent to the island of Maui by the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche in 1983, he realized the need to make the traditional Tibetan Buddhist practices more accessible to his Western students. He asked Prema for assistance and, together with devotional singer Jeff Munoz, they shaped the sadhana of the 21 Praises of Tara so that it could be sung in English. Prema could easily imagine the Praises danced. With Kalu Rinpoche's blessing and the assistance of Lauryn Galindo, another experienced dancer-practitioner, the ritual began to take form.

When His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche visited Maui to give teachings a dance celebration was offered to him by the women practitioners of the island and Prema's children and men dance students. Rinpoche was taken by the Tara Dance and shared his observations and suggestions. He was very moved by the depth of devotion expressed. He encouraged her to continue her sacred dance work which culminated in the creation of the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara , a group ritual based on the profound mind training practices of Tibetan Buddhism.

Dancing Tara for the World

Prema Dasara has traveled the world since 1986 teaching this dance and the accompanying meditations, and has been invited to present the ritual to many of the most accomplished Lamas, as described in the Spring 1991 Snow Lion News Letter. In 1996 Prema began touring the world, creating new works. She worked closely with Anahata Iradah, an accomplished musician and composer, senior mentor in the Dances of Universal Peace. Together, in October/November 1998, they guided a group of Tara Dancers, to India & Nepal. They went to support the Tibetans in exile, and to fulfill the wishes of one of Prema's teachers to bring the Tara dance to the Tibetan people.

Fifty dancers, musicians, and videographers from eleven countries of origin traveled with them to India and Nepal. Their first performance was in Dharamsala, India at the 38th anniversary of the Tibetan Children’s Village, presided over by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Led by Prema Dasara they danced for the entire Tibetan community. Later that day they had a private audience with the Dalai Lama where he presented a statue of White Tara to Prema to honor their dance offering. They offered performances of the Mandala Dance of Tara at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath and in Bodhgaya in front of the Bodhi tree where Buddha attained his enlightenment. They danced for the tulku of His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul in Nepal. They danced in the sacred shrine of the Kopan Monastery where the abbot asked Prema to teach his nuns the dance of Tara, a revolutionary request. The trip, including the visit with the Dalai Lama was documented in the video 'The Quiet Revolution, and the video 'His Holiness, The Dalai Lama Answers Difficult Question – Dharamsala, India 1998'[1] found on the Soundings Mindful Media Channel. Prema completed a series of additional videos from documentary film footage(), and lead other delegations on peace missions.

In January of 2001 she guided a delegation through the Ashrams and Temples of South India, and returned to India and Nepal in October, 2001 with a delegation of 88 women from all over the world to dance with Tibetan women in exile (ref/video). Tara Abbey, a monastery that was established for Buddhist nuns in the Kathmandu Valley taught classes in the Tara Dance with the intent to make it a part of their yearly communal prayers. Prema was also commissioned by the Kopan Monastery to develop music, dance, instruments and costumes to help create a tradition of sacred dance for the nuns.

Today, Experiencing Human Potential Through Sacred Music and Dance

The nuns at the at Thrangu Monastery, which is located in Lumbini’s West Monastic Zone, (a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal), continue to dance the' Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara'. The Thrangu nuns have performed this Tara dance for many important occasions at their abbey as well as abroad .

In 2021 during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Prema's Tara dances moved online, with daily Zoom practices, attended by people logging in from places as far away as Brazil, Canada, and New Zealand. Karen Greenspan, a New York City-based dance writer who joined the morning practice online, wrote in Tricycle Buddhist Review 'As I begin the practice, I sense that moment of infinite potential and possibility. Then I plant my feet on the ground, and I dance and sing with a resounding Om Tare!'. Prema continues to create dance rituals. Prema teaches with humor and clarity. She leads anyone who participates in her work into an experience of their own potential, and teaches simple clear methods of developing this wisdom in their day to day life.

In addition to inspiring and uplifting through sacred dance, Tara Dhatu has also initiated many works of charity.  In support of the Tibetan Refugees they have developed means of sponsorship of nuns, monks, children and senior citizens, contributing to the welfare of the Tibetan people at a sustainable, grassroots level. They sponsor several small businesses to help a Tibetan Refugee family and a Nepali family support themselves. They have provided funds to support an economically challenged family in Rio de Janeiro, and provided dance training for a community in the far north of Brazil. They sent support to Nepali groups suffering from a massive earthquake. They sent support to Maui after the devastating wild fires destroyed an entire city. They sent support to students after the floods in South Brazil.

Prema is considered a profound bridge between the East and the West and is committed to uplift and inspire all who work with her, encouraging each person to manifest their highest potential. Using the vehicles of sacred song and dance, Prema has traveled throughout the world in dedicated service to humanity.  Participants in her workshops benefit from her many years of study and practice on the spiritual path. Her joy, exuberance, and friendliness draws everyone who works with her into heartful participation. Prema, working within the Tibetan Buddhist Mind Training tradition, and invoking her special connection to the great Mother Tara, opens the vision of interconnectedness and the power of wisdom and compassion.

The Opening of TaraLing Retreat Center, Pirenópolis, Brazil

Discuss Tara Ling !!... Opening, Tara Dance Monlam – Festival of Prayer and Consecration of TaraLing Pirenópolis, Brazil, pictures, videos

Writings

• Forward. In J-Z. Gray, The Wisdom Within – A Guide to Tara Wisdom Cards. PRISMagical Press, 2022.
• The Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara. In H. Blum (Ed.), Dancing with Dharma: Essays on Movement and Dance in Western Buddhism (p. 164). McFarland & Company, 2016.
• Dancing the Goddess Tara: Praise Her, Embody Her, Discover your own Perfection. In J. Leseho, & S. McMaster (Eds.), Dancing on the Earth: Women's Stories of Healing and Dance (p. 66). Findhorn Press, 2011.
• Dancing Tara - A Manual of Practice How To Live The Dream. Kanaio, Hawaii. Tara Dhatu, 2010.
• Profound Path. Kanaio, Hawaii. Tara Dhatu, 2008.
• Chapter Title. In I. J. Stewart, Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance: Awakening Spirituality Through Movement and Ritual. Simon and Schuster, 2000.
• Dancing The Heavenly Abodes – A Manual of Dance Instructions. Kanaio, Hawaii. Tara Dhatu, 1999.
• Wind Horses - Songbook, Coloring Book for Children. Kanaio, Hawaii. Tara Dhatu, 1990.

Audio

• Dakini Meditations
• Dancing the Heavenly Abodes
• Mandala Dance of Tara
• Medicine Buddha
• Meditations and Prayers to the Goddess Tara
• Ocean of Love
• Tools for Tara Practice (3 CD set)
• Vajrasattva
• Wind Horses
• White Tara Six Shields
• Zooming With Prema - #51 presentations
• Anam’s Prayer to Tara
• Calling Tara From the Heart
• Mandala of Red Tara

Video

• 21 Days 21 Taras  
• 21 Taras: Our Journey Through Life
• Calling Tara From the Heart
• Dance the Goddess
• Dance the Qualities of Tara
• Medicine Buddha
• Quiet Revolution
• Tara Tames the 8 Fears
• Tara's Chest of Treasures
• Zooming With Prema - #51 presentations
• Vasudhara: Gold Tara
• White Tara 6 Shields