In the Dzogchen teaching, Vajra means our real nature, the true condition of all phenomena. The Dance of the Vajra is an important method that uses sound and movement as a means to integrate the three aspects of our existence – body, speech and mind – in the knowledge of our real nature.
The Dance of the Vajra is a cycle of dances forming a special and effective practice for restoring and purifying the natural state of our whole being, allowing us to evolve to our real potential and naturally develop clarity and compassion toward ourselves and others. It benefits and rejuvenates us by harmonizing our physical, mental, and emotional condition.
Twelve practitioners, six females and six males, dance together on a large Mandala of five colors, representing the correspondence between the internal dimension of the individual and the outer dimension of the world. The slow, coordinated movements as we softly sing and practice awareness together produce an experience of deep relaxation and a calm state of mind and help us integrate with the circumstances of the outer environment.
In the Dance of the Vajra That Benefits Beings, the dancers are accompanied by the music and chanted syllables of the Mantra of the Six Spaces of Samantabhadra, the primordial Buddha, symbolizing our real nature.
The Dance of the Vajra That Benefits Beings can be practiced by anyone who wishes, and as long as its origin and integrity are always acknowledged and respected it can be used as a method to enrich any spiritual path.
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is a renowned scholar and is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest living masters of Dzogchen, the essence of Tibetan Buddhism. He first introduced the Dance of the Vajra to his students in 1990. It is now practiced in various places and centers of the Dzogchen Community all around the world.
The Dzogchen Teaching is not a philosophy, or a religious doctrine, or a cultural tradition. Understanding the message of the Teachings means discovering one’s own true condition, stripped of all the self-deceptions and falsifications that the mind creates.
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
The Dance of the Vajra is associated with the International Dance Council, CID UNESCO, the official umbrella organization
for all forms of dance in all countries of the world.
Presented by Dance instructor Lorraine Gaultier.