This June a Tibetan lama dance was held in Taipei for the first time. Many were attracted out of curiosity, but for believers the ceremony was an important spiritual event.

Just what is the lama dance? And what is its significance?

The lama dance was sponsored by the Nyingmapa Palyul Dharma Center of Taipei. Nyingmapa, which means Ancient Order in Tibetan, is the version of Lamaism popularly known as the Red Sect, in reference to the color of its monks' robes, as opposed to Gelugpa, or the Yellow Sect.

The Nyingmapa Center invited the Lamaist high monk Dhadje Penor Rinpoche to come all the way from India to perform the ritual, and he brought sixteen lamas with him.

The rinpoche's throne and the lamas' orchestra were situated on the right of the stage. The orchestra's instruments consisted of cymbals, drums, Chinese flutes, and a long Tibetan woodwind called a doong-chhen that the audience had never seen before.

Seated in his throne and ringing a sacred bell, the rinpoche recited incantations and performed magical gestures in time to the music and the movements of the dancers. He too was a part of the dance, representing the Lotus-Born Mahasiddha.

There are around thirteen different sects of Buddhism in China, among which Lamaism, or the Esoteric Sect, appeared rather late. It was introduced to China during the T'ang Dynasty (618-907), but it soon disappeared from the main part of the country and is prevalent today only in Tibet. It was the Lotus-Born Mahasiddha, or Pasdmasambhava, who is said to have brought the sect to Tibet from India in 747.

Later, before he dematerialized and left Tibet, he predicted that the world was entering the last period of kalpa and the Buddhist laws and treasures would be defiled by wars and the poison of human desire. To protect them in his absence, he hid them in the ground, the ocean, the cliffs, and the air, and predicted that they would be found and propagated by an adept of a later generation.

Over a thousand years later the mahasiddha selected the guru Chowang as the chosen adept.

One day Chowang was performing his daily meditations when he entered a deep trance. Harboring deep faith and piety, he found himself transported to Vajra Mountain in the Pure Land, where he saw the Lotus-Born Mahasiddha and was anointed by him, enabling him to preach the Buddhist Law.

Of course, the mahasiddha had achieved release from the cycles of reincarnation long ago. What Chowang saw was not his actual body but a radiant image which grew ever larger and ever brighter. Inside this ineffable radiance appeared innumerable satyadevatas or gohonzons, dancing and chanting in time to the music, declaring the various sacred laws.

As soon as the vision was over, the superior master recorded what he had seen and heard in detail. His instructions have been passed down over the generations as the choreography of the lama dance.

Ting Nai-chu, an actress who has studied the Esoteric Sect in some depth, points out that the lama dance cannot be performed by just anyone. Besides having mastered various preparatory disciplines, the dancers must have chanted to the gohonzon a sufficient number of times: around 700,000 to be exact.

For believers, being able to see the lama dance was not just a rare opportunity but a positive blessing and aid in their spiritual development. Folded hands, meditation beads, and lips closed in silent prayer could be seen everywhere around the capacity audience. Their expressions were solemn and reverent, as though they had found peace and harmony in the raucous cacophony of cymbals, drums, and flutes.

Whether one is a believer or not, it was not hard to feel, in that reverent atmosphere, the special characteristics provided by every religion--solemnity, universal love, and a sacred compassion for life.

The merciful intentions of the Nyingmapa lamas in holding the lama dance, to propagate their faith and promote social harmony, must not be slighted because of incomprehension or misunderstanding.

[Picture Caption]

Chanting incantations and performing magical gestures, the Dhadje Penor Rinpoche presided over the entire ritual.

Guardians of the dharma in Tibetan Buddhism often appear in the form of deer.

These instruments, called doong-chhen in Tibetan, made their first appearance on Taiwan at the ceremony.

The deer dance is designed to drive off evil spirits.

When the satyadevata is unable to move living things with mercy then it intimidates them with anger.

Guardians of the dharma in Tibetan Buddhism often appear in the form of deer.

These instruments, called doong-chhen in Tibetan, made their first appearance on Taiwan at the ceremony.

The deer dance is designed to drive off evil spirits.

When the satyadevata is unable to move living things with mercy then it intimidates them with anger.

When the satyadevata is unable to move living things with mercy then it intimidates them with anger.