All my life I knew my mother’s sister was beautiful and exotic, a dancer in India and Hawaii, and completely out of reach. We had a photo of her in the hallway, and occasionally we got small cards or notes, but mostly she was a myth. Even her name, Prema Dasara, was unusual and mysterious.
As a young adult, after my spiritual path diverted from that of my parents, I chose to reach out to my aunt. I felt a longing for a spiritual connection with someone from my family, from my roots. I sent a heartfelt plea to a stranger’s E-mail, and through cyberspace I formed one of the deepest connections in my life.
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Prema and Anahata were scheduled to be traveling near me that fall (1997), and Prema invited me to join her in the Tara Dance workshop. As I was intensely connecting with Goddess spirituality, I seized the opportunity. During that first workshop, I had a tremendous spiritual experience. I had never heard of Tara and honestly had never had much interest in Buddhism at all. I learned and grew so much. However, once the workshop was over, I categorized it as a “special occasion” which had no real impact on my daily life.
After three years of visits and “special occasion” Tara workshops, I had time to process the information. It was as if Tara’s blue lotus blossomed in my life. The Tara Dance became a central part of my spiritual practice. I made a commitment to the student/teacher program and the 2001 pilgrimage to India and Nepal. While in my masters’ program at Florida State, I wrote my masters’ thesis Dancing as Tara about the development of the dance and its intercultural implications. I learned so much through this study, about the dance, about Tantra, and about the thousands of amazing women and men this practice impacts. I had the tremendous opportunity to meet 65 of these women on pilgrimage, and was entrusted to share the experiences through an E-mail list to our friends and family at home. In 2002, I was offered a position on the Tara Dhatu council, on which I’ve gladly served since then. In 2004, I had the opportunity to attend a Tara Retreat in Brasil, and I found so many blessings in seeing how this dance translates beyond language.
I have also undertaken a personal study and meditation of Tara and the Tarot and have created a prototype Tarot deck (including full major and minor arcanas) which I use for meditation and divination. While I have been searching for the right artist to work towards publishing this deck, I have also had opportunities to share my insights into the connections between Tara and the Tarot on several occasions. The prototype deck is available on a limited basis by request. |
My spiritual path has journeyed through Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, modern Paganism, Unitarian Universalism and samplings of various other spiritual paths. I have traveled the world seeking spirit, performing dramas in Hungary, Malawi and Venezuela, studying culture in Papua New Guinea, and dancing for peace in India, Nepal and Brazil. Now my energies are focused closer to home. I am currently pursuing a PhD in theatre at Louisiana State University, focusing on spiritual performance and gender representations, and continuing in my studies of Buddhism, Hinduism, and religion in an academic setting. I am the Director of a complex and diverse program for children and youth at the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, where I also run a very successful Harry Potter summer day camp.
In 2002 I married the love of my life, Rhye Gray, a genuine seeker of spirit who also dances Tara with me. He has danced as a protector of many mandalas and sees the practice as a vital part of his own spiritual path. This dance has been a beautiful sharing for us, and we have woven aspects of the dance into our spiritual practice. In December of 2007 we are expecting our first child, and s/he has been dancing with me through the pregnancy thus far. Tara’s lotus continues to unfold, bringing manifest blessings with each moment.
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