Cham: Sacred Lama Dance to Remove Obstacles for the New Year
Room: Grand Lobby, 1st Floor
The Cham dance is a sacred Tibetan Buddhist performance that symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. Cham dance is believed to balance shifting spiritual energies and to remove obstacles for viewers, there by increasing harmony, Good Fortune and Peace for all living beings.
Cham master Lama Ugen Rongdrol Palden will perform sacred cham dance, Tulku Dawa Gyalpo Rinpoche and Tashi Chodron museum educator, Mindfulness meditation teacher and expert on Tibetan culture will share the symbolism of Cham dance and how it is performed all over the Himalayas, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, india and beyond during Loser, “Lo” means “year”- “Sar” means “ New’ The Tibetan New Year. 2152 Wood Snake Year. Celebrated from Feb 28-March 14th in 2025. It begins with family and friends gather to cook Delicious traditional food like momos(dumpling), Khabseys ( cookies) and visiting each other. From the 8th day sacred ritual Cham dance and dharma teachings are offered daily at the monastery. On the 15th day , a grand finale Cham dance will be witnessed by thousands of monks, nuns and lay people through out the Himalayas. Come celebrate Tibetan New Year!
Lama Ugen Rongdrol Palden is a master of Cham dance (Lama Dance) of Palyul lineage in Tibetan Buddhism. He is often called as "Cham-pon” Cham master by his Cham students. He performed Cham dance all over the world including many times here in New York. He went to Namdroling Monastery, Founded by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, currently has around four thousand monks and nuns, the 11th Throne holder of the Palyul lineage. There lama Ugen studied many forms of Vajrayana rituals and became especially well known for his skills in sacred Cham Dance.
Lama Ugen Rongdrol Palden was born and grew up in India. He was chosen by H.H. Penor Rinpoche to learn the Palyul Cham from the most senior Cham masters in Palyul mother monastery in Tibet in early 1980’s thus becoming the Palyul cham lineage holder. He has since then taught cham dance to many hundreds of monks in India and served His Holiness Penor Rinpoche for over three decades, and traveled with him all over the world including United States, the Palyul Summer Retreat in Upstate New York, where he has performed lama dance during summer retreat since 1998. Lama Ugen led sold out adult Cham classes at Rubin Museum - The art of healing through movement during the "Becoming Another Mask exhibition" He was also part of Om chanting and solo Bardho Thodrol recording during The World is Sound exhibition. Helped create Sand Mandala demonstration all over the world including here in New York. Performed Cham dance including Block Party Cham Dance in 2017 that was witnessed by more then thousand attendees.
He is currently one of the two resident Lama of Palyul Guru Lhakhang, New York Palyul Dharma Center in Queens.https://www.palyulnyc.org/npdc
Tulku Dawa Gyalpo Rinpoche is the founder of Palyul dharma center in Toronto Canada. Rinpoche is born and raised in south India. He was recognized as the reincarnation at very young age. When he was 6 years old he was enthroned and he entered into Namdroling Monastery under the guidance of HH Penor Rinpoche . He graduated from major buddhist education and received lots of important teachings.
Rinpoche is the Spiritual teacher and founder at Palyul Pema Mani Center located in Toronto Canada.
Tashi Chodron is a mindfulness teacher. She is one of the first women of her generation in exile to receive the entire teachings of the Vajrayana path directly from HH Penor Rinpoche (one of the greatest masters of the 20th century) including Ngondro—preliminary teachings, Tsalung and Dzogchen, the pinnacle of the Buddhist teachings. As the Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador at the Rubin Museum of Art, Tashi has taught Awakening Practice and Awakening Wisdom Experience mindful meditation classes, and educates university students and adults through gallery tours and classes on Himalayan Arts and Culture.
She taught the Awakening Practice at Kripalu in partnership with NY Yoga and Life Magazine for many years and curated a monthly program on Himalayan Art and Culture called “Himalayan Heritage” at the Rubin Museum of Art. She also lead virtual sessions with Tibet House New York, the Center for Adults Living Well @ the YMCA, and hosted meditation sessions for children since the pandemic, and led a meditation session on the 21 Feminine Attributes for UN Women’s USA.
Tashi is the founder and current director of Voices of Tibet, an organization dedicated to conducting interviews with Tibetan elders to save their stories for many future generations and to educate the world about Tibet. She is also a board member of the UN Women’s USA NY Chapter.
