The Sacred Protector Dance
(extracted from the Book "Relative world, ultimate mind" by H.E. Tai Situ Rinpoche)

The Mahakala dance is performed for several purposes, the first being meditation. The dancer meditates according to the Mahakala puja as it is described in the liturgy and performs a particular part of the puja as he dances. Those in the audience who know the prayers and are advanced practitioners participate mentally along with the dancer, who is literally performing the practice through the art of gesture, dance, and chanting. Those lay people who are unable to follow the rite participate by receiving the blessing of the puja, which assists them in overcoming their obstacles. By participating with the right attitude, even though they are unable to perform the meditation, they receive the protection of Mahakala. This type of religious rite also blesses the environment, turning it into the mandala of the protector Mahakala, the protected, purified space of Mahakala. The dance defines this space vividly for the participants and audience.

Sacred dance requires a great deal of preparation. The head dance master called the champon is usually some one who has spent his life perfecting his art. It takes years for a dancer to become proficient. The monks who perform must learn the pattern of movement and gesture, which must be synchronized with the other aspects of the puja in progress: the music, chanting, the meaning of text, and the visualization. The dancers closely follow the text of the Mahakala puja, which is derived from the tantra, the texts on practice.

Costumes art also designed according to the descriptions in the texts and traditional Tibetan iconography. The colours and types of brocade robes; the hand-made masks of protectors, animals, and other figures visualized in the puja; and the symbolic paraphernalia used in the dance are not haphazard but come form an ancient religious and artistic tradition.

The pattern of steps in each dance and the sequence of dances conform to the arrangement outlined in the text. The fist dance blesses the ground in preparation and invokes the Great Protector. It is performed by the champon, the dance master, who is dressed in the "black hat" costume of a tantric. The next dance dramatizes the coming of Mahakala and retinue and welcomes the deity. Here the figures representing Mahakala, Mahakali, and the minor protectors and animals in the retinue emerge in colourful masks and brocades. After that is a dance depicting Mahakala vanquishing negativity. The obstacles are represented by a small effigy that the dancers symbolically destroy using ritual implements that signify the particular weapons attributed to Mahakala. After overcoming the defilements the visualization is dispersed into emptiness. The next dance is an offering of gratitude to the protectors, and the concluding dance is one of praise and glorification of Mahakala. Other dances depicting the Masters of the Cremation Ground, the deities of the 4 directions, the deer and other sacred animals, or the protectors are often included in the program.

Sacred dance functions on many levels at once. It uses the movement, music, colour, time, and space to act out a drama on the physical level, while at the same time including a profound and subtle mind practice. Sacred dance is another method of unifying body, speech, and mind to express and experience ultimate truth. The coordination of mind training, or meditation, with the physical world is the essence of this practice.