by Masha Yung
Why Khaita? Why did Rinpoche emphasize Khaita and dedicate so much time and power to Khaita? It is hard to believe that such a great Master of Dzogchen was focused on singing and dancing Tibetan songs.
Rinpoche is Buddha. There is no doubt about it. In the clarity of Buddha, his compassion and wisdom are boundless and are indeed universal. In Vajrayana we always pray for Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma to liberate all sentient beings from samsara. This particular teaching of sound and movement, as any other practice from a Dzogchen master, could be used to liberate all sentient beings from samsara. This is the greatest idea of Shakyamuni Buddha and, of course, Rinpoche’s. There is no sense in this samsaric condition to care only about one specific culture, Tibetan or any other; it would be too selfish for Buddha. It is as if you have a big beautiful house with five floors and a garden with fountains around, and you take care only of one small room, you paint the walls in there, and check the cracks on the ceiling so they do not appear. What will happen to this beautiful house in twenty years if one has such a limited attitude? It will fall apart, there is no doubt about it.
For that reason, Khaita Dance cannot only be about one culture. Khaita Dance is a very powerful practice of liberation, a practice of the evolution of energy from samsaric delusions and circling thoughts to the happiness of dancing and singing. Dance and sound gradually purify our channels and redirect our way of thinking so we become able to experience in a different way.
How do we liberate from thought and samsaric delusions? In one of the videos Rinpoche says that when we practice Khaita the melodies and tunes appear in our mind during the day. This means that they substitute thoughts and in that way our energy evolves mind to some other state or other dimension of mind. It could be a dimension of happiness, joy and dance; it could be a dimension of sound and movement; it could be any dimension you choose, but for sure it is not the dimension of samsaric circling desires.
One may think that there are many other practices to be present and to develop. Why Khaita? Khaita is so precious because everyone can at least sing, better to also dance. Every human being can participate in singing or dancing. So the more we dedicate to Khaita, each time we put a small offering to the liberation of all sentient beings by becoming centers of liberation so that not only Rinpoche’s disciples can be happy and liberated, but all connected beings. It’s up to us how much to bestow on this greatest teaching of Buddha.
It’s nice to speculate about Khaita; what it is and what it is for. Maybe it’s like Guru Yoga? Who knows? When we sing A we remain present and need to keep this presence, especially at the moment of death so as not to continue in this bardo state. Who knows what will happen when we follow the melodies of Khaita, where they will lead us in this boundless mandala of liberation of all human beings. But for sure following Khaita melodies we are following Rinpoche.
Photo: P Fassoli
