Dr Rabin Man Shakya
Portland, March 7, (Nepal Oregon News): The Covid-19 pandemic has had a far-reaching effect on so many aspects of community activities. On the one hand, coronavirus crisis has a negative impact on the community activities, but on the other hand, Covid-19 is being referred to as the "great technology accelerator."
Today more than ever, the Nritya Mandala Mahavihara is more active in the community organizing more virtual interactions, more chanting, more singing and more teaching, all in the zoom.
As a matter of fact, Charya Giti practice is one of the many important activities being carried out by Portland's Nritya Mandala Mahavihara.
Charya Giti is a complicated and esoteric classical singing and requires a lot of dedication and patience.
Charya Giti practice is organized every Friday at 8 AM in the morning in the zoom, and participants include people as far as from Hong Kong, Canada, Germany, Washington, California and Oregon and so on.
Charya Giti is performed and led by Joshua Proto, a Sangha member and an American Buddhist and participated by others in the zoom.
When you listen to Joshua's Charya Giti singing, it is so amazing and wonderful. Joshua sings Charya songs just like the Gurujus of Nepal. Sometimes, Charya giti is performed by devotees in Hong Kong too. As a whole, the program is set and managed by Nritya Mandala Mahavihara's Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya. As a matter of fact, Joshua is Prajwal's student.
Charya Giti is usually performed by the Newah Buddhist priests who are known as Vajracharyas or masters of the Vajrayana.
The Vajracharya Gurujus dance Charya Nritya in a state of deep meditative awareness in order to embody the living presence of the compassionate, peaceful and fierce divinities of the Vajrayana Buddhist pantheon.
Prajwal Vajracharya, who is a pioneering teacher of Buddhist Charya dance in the West, says:"The deities are described in esoteric Sanskrit songs known as Charya giti, which are sung as accompaniment to the dance."
Charya giti are sung in a variety of raga (melodies) and tala (meter) and are accompanied by cute little cymbals known as Taa and sometimes by Kanta Dub Dub (damaru).
Throwing light on the subtleties and intricacies of the Charya giti, Pundit Vajracharya said:"The songs begin with a flowing raga, followed by a more metrical section that includes description and praise of the deity and usually consists of changing verses and a fixed, repeating refrain."
Sometimes, a Dharani praise invocation, or Mantra, is inserted near the beginning or end, Prajwal added.
Prajwal went on saying:"Each dance embodies forth a different Buddhist deity, such as, Manjushree, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrayogini or Vajrapani."
However, Prajwal also said that the central purpose of the dance is to support the Vajrayana practice of deity yoga, or visualizing oneself as a deity.
This practice involves a mental process of seeing oneself as having the appearance, ornaments, inner qualities and awareness of the deity one is envisioning, he said.
Charya giti practice reminds me of various Buddhist rituals in Nepal in the past. Taking a trip down memory lane, when I was a young boy, I used to listen to some of the Charya giti performed by our Rev. Gurujus at the Aagan Chhen of the Ratna Mandala Mahavihara at Naghal Tole in Kathmandu. I just listened to them, I did not understand anything at that time because it was a secret and esoteric singing and Gurujus would not explain anything about it.
Now because of availability of the translation of the singing, I came to understand a little bit about it.
(Nepal Oregon News writer Rabin Man Shakya is a Newah journalist in USA)
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