Maine, USA | June 14-15, 2025
Bonpo Protector Deity Dance
(Cham tib.)
Join Geshe Tenzin Gelek and Dharma Bodhi as Geshe Tenzin teaches the practices of the famous healing & protector deity of the Bön tradition – Yeshe Walmo.
Join Geshe Tenzin Gelek and Dharma Bodhi as Geshe Tenzin teaches the practices of the famous healing & protector deity of the Bön tradition – Yeshe Walmo, an emanation of Sipai Gyalmo (Supreme Wrathful Protector) and Sherab Chamma (Mother of Wisdom) combined.
You will receive the Abhiśekham of Yeshe Walmo, her mantra and imaginal practice. Most importantly for this retreat, you will learn Her “Cham” or sacred invocatory ritual dance.
When performing the Cham, the performer identifies with the essential energy body of the deity through the specific movements related to that deity. Specific hand gestures (mudrā skt.),...whirling, stepping and jumping movements, facial expressions, costumes and strong rhythmic music all combine to place the Cham practitioner in a light trance to be able to “host” and invoke the deity’s presence.
The deities invoked by performing their Cham can be used for healing, as an oracle, or as a valid and traditional way for you to practice what is called Deity Yoga in the Way of Water. In Deity Yoga the practitioner creates the experience of the enlightenment of the deity in their own body, speech and mind, so that the practitioner can stabilize their own enlightened presence.
This makes the Cham practice a uniquely physical method of meditation and Deity Yoga. In Tibetan culture, the common word “dance” is not used for the stylized movements of the Tantrik deity dances. The correct word for the dance-like movements and music used to invoke a specific deity’s presence is - Cham.
Geshe Gelek learned sacred Cham and the musical pieces that accompany each Cham under the direct guidance of the 33rd Menri Trizin Rinpoche, Dharma Bodhi’s and Geshe Gelek’s Tsa Wei Lama (Heart-Teacher Tib.), and the previous worldwide leader of the Yungdrung Bön Tradition. Geshe Gelek is very knowledgeable and adept at the sacred arts, and pours himself into his teaching. This will be a unique and wonderful experience for practitioners looking to have a body entry-point method of practice.
*Students learning this Cham of Yeshe Walmo will qualify to attend the “Cham of the 9 Sisters” (Emanations of Yeshe Walmo) - a retreat that will be offered in the future. These are 9 shorter Cham to invoke the complete array of Yeshe Walmo’s emanations, each of whom have a specific siddhi and virtue display.
DAILY CLASS SCHEDULE
To Be Announced
ACCOMMODATIONS & LOCAL TRANSPORTATION
You will need to organize your own accommodation, transportation and meals during the retreat. Please check out the resources below to help plan your stay.
DATES & LOCATION
June 14-15, 2025
Northport, Maine, USA
The exact venue address will be sent to you after completing your registration.
COURSE FEE
$210 USD*
*At checkout, use the full name, e-mail, and mailing address of the person registering for the retreat. (Payment details do not have to match.)
For 20% off teaching fees, enroll in 3 or more In-Person Retreats from the 2025-2026 schedule.
20% off Retreat PackageAbout the Teacher
Dharma Bodhi (Kol Martens)
Dharma Bodhi began practicing yoga at seven years of age. In his teens he moved into practices of Chan Buddhism and Daoism received through his Chinese martial arts teachers in New York. After completing his chiropractic degree he studied in an Oral-Practice Tradition of Non-Dual Śaiva Tantra, taking initiation into one of the Daśnami Orders of practice from India. In 1996 he complete ācārya training under his Śaiva gurus. This training emphasized traditional Kundalinī Hatha Yoga and a progressive system of Meditation, along supportive studies in ritual/pūjā and yoga texts. Since graduating as a Śaiva ācārya, he took refuge with a great master of Bönpo Dzogchen meditation, and studied with him by taking multiple trips per year to his monastery in India for a period of 8 years. He studies both Dzogchen meditation & yoga (trul khor), and Dzogchen preliminary and advanced texts. Both his Śaiva and Dzogchen masters gave him the task of teaching these systems stripped of the unnecessary aspects of the cultures and languages they are found in. His Dzogchen master also gave him the task of translating two Tibetan texts. One of which is finished and the other is in process. He now lives with his wife, Sahaja Dakinī, and their two children in rural Maine, USA. He is developing a practice hermitage in the wilderness of Maine and a European teaching center on the border of Italy and Switzerland.
