Charya Retreat

Dates and Timings: 29 May – 05 June

         9:00am – 12:00pm

Teacher’s Bio: Punya Sagara

Punya Sagara was born and raised in Kathmandu. She met the Buddha Dharma at the age of 16 when she took refuge with Tulku Urgyen who gave her the name Punya Sagara. She has practiced Buddhism for many decades under the guidance of eminent teachers like Ven Rana Rinpoche, Ven Karma Thinley Rinpoche, Ven Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, late Ven Urgyen Rinpoche, and late Chobgye Trichen Rinpoche. She first encountered Charya Nritya in college and received formal transmissions of the Charya lineage primarily from Ratna Kaaji Gurujyu and Ratna Gurujyu. For the last 20 years, she has been teaching Charya to students in Kathmandu and beyond. In 2018, under the auspices of the Khyentse Foundation, she conducted a Charya workshop in Berlin. Punya Sagara has focused on integrating Charya with her Buddhist practice. For her, Charya is more than an art form; it is meditation in action and an aid to her Buddhist practice.

About Charya:

Charya, a traditional dance form of Nepal, is a Sanskrit word which represents the activities of the great Mahasiddhas and can be incorporated into our day-to-day lives, executed through simple mundane chores. So, to put into practice or apply the realized wisdom in our activities is charya. In other words, realized wisdom applied in daily life is charya.

Since the 7th-8th century AD, the names of many Mahasiddhas have been linked with the Charya Giti-songs and Nritya-dance. It is from these Mahasiddhas that the charya songs and dances were composed and which are found to be mentioned in the Buddhist Dharma literature.