The mala is a circular symbol that transcends the individual and cultural barriers to actualize the universal heart of realization and transformation. Please join an extraordinary opportunity to be part of a human mala of the heart, bringing the Yoga, Tantra and Buddhist communities together around the world in collaborative practice for peace. Experience a ritual festival bringing meditation, yoga, dance, and kirtan (chanting of divine name) in a seven-hour participatory cycle open to people of all backgrounds, experience, and age to affirm the power of unifying consciousness through sacred music, movement, breath, and intention. Set in the stunning mandala of Tara Mandala Retreat Center’s new Temple dedicated to the sacred feminine, this event is offered in conjunction with worldwide celebrations of the Global Mala project in over 50 countries, uniting the global yoga community from every continent, school, and approach to form a “mala around the earth” through collective practices based upon the sacred cycle of 108. The intention is to join thousands of planetary rituals that are raising consciousness on Fall Equinox and UN International Peace Day.

Donation: $27, $54, $108 to raise funds for the new Tara Temple.

Shiva Rea, M.A. is a yogini firekeeper, sacred activist, and leading innovator in the evolution of vinyasa flow yoga integrating the tantric bhakti roots of yoga, Krishnamacharya’s teachings and a universal, quantum approach to the body since she began teaching twenty years ago. As a global adventurer, she leads retreats and pilgrimages worldwide and has served as a creative catalyst to bring community together for conferences, festivals and actions for the environment, yoga and the arts including Yoga Trance Dance for Life, Moving Activism for 1,008,000 Trees, Yogini Conferences and the worldwide Global Mala Project.

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Tsultrim Allione, M.A., was one of the first American women to be ordained as a Tibetan nun in 1970 by the 16th Karmapa. She is the author of Women of Wisdom, a groundbreaking book on the lives of great female Tibetan practitioners. Her newest book, Feeding the Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict, (2008, Little, Brown & Co), connects the ancient knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism with the modern psyche, addressing the major issues of our culture and the roots of our suffering. Based on her pioneering technique using five steps to feed your demons, this book offers a system to transform our inner demons by nurturing rather than fighting them.

After four years as a nun, Tsultrim returned her monastic vows, married, and raised a famity. She earned a masters degree in Buddhist Studies and Women’s Studies from Antioch University. Inspired by the vision of a Western retreat center while living in the Himalayas, and seeing the need to create a place for the reemergence of the sacred feminine, Tsultrim founded Tara Mandala in 1993 where she is now the resident teacher.

Tsultrim is collecting the lineage of Machig Labdrön, the 11th century Tibetan yogini who founded the Chöd lineage. As a long-time Chöd practitioner, Tsultrim has studied Machig’s teachings for decades and taught the practices all over the world. In 2007, Tsultrim was recognized as an emanation of Machig Labdrön by Karme Dorje Rinpoche, the resident Lama of Zangri Khangmar in Tibet (see article on opposite page).

In regards to the recognition Tsultrim has recently said, “I think [the recognition] is to make this new phase of collecting Machig’s lineage more empowered. Recognition allows more energy to flow, and Machig’s blessings can manifest more fully. It’s a kind of mirroring from the outside, validating our heartfelt intention to reinvigorate and spread Machig’s lineage in the West. It also felt very natural. We will keep doing what we have been doing already, but the recognition creates an auspicious interdependence for the teachings.”

Tsultrim’s skill at teaching arises from her dedication to the Dharma and the ways she has brought Dharma to the challenges of everyday life. She brings forth the vibrancy of the teachings in a way that makes them germane for accomplished practitioners and those new to the path.