EMBODIED HEART SUTRA:
Sacred Buddhist Dance of Nepal
A weekend with Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya
February 7 - 8 2026
IN-PERSON AT PURE LAND FARMS TOPANGA, CALIFORNIA
गते गते पारगते पारसंगते बोधि स्वाहा
gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā
This retreat invites participants to explore the Heart Sutra through sacred movement and embodied meditation. In Charya dance, we translate the profound teaching of emptiness into physical experience allowing insight to arise through the body, not just the intellect. Through flowing movement, stillness, gesture, and mantra, participants are guided to sense how form and emptiness are not separate, but continuously interwoven. Prajñāpāramitā, the feminine embodiment of wisdom, is invoked as a living presence expressed through clarity, openness, and fearless compassion.
Taught by Prajwal Vajracharya, a 35th generation Buddhist priest and master dancer of the Charya Nritya tradition, a unique Newari Buddhist tradition from Nepal dating back over a thousand years that uses the physical body as a vehicle for liberating the mind.
REGISTRATION:
10% off early bird pricing until Jan 6th 2026
Non-Residential Registration
Non-residential weekend includes full weekend teachings plus lunch on Saturday and Sunday
Program 10am - 6pm daily
Residential Registration
Residential registration includes full weekend teaching, two nights accommodation (Friday and Saturday) in your accommodation of choice, and three meals a day.
Check in Friday 3 - 6pm
Check out after program on Sunday at 6pm or option to stay over Sunday and check out Monday before 12pm (please select ‘add additional night’)
View accommodation options and pricing below:
ABOUT YOUR TEACHER AND THE TRADITION
About PRAJWAL VAJRACHARYA
Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya is a 35th generation Tantric Buddhist priest from Nepal and ritual master of the Charya Nritya dance tradition and other ritual forms. Prajwal began his training in Charya Nritya, the dance aspect of Newar Buddhism, from the age of eight, receiving formal instruction from his father, the Buddhist scholar and ritual master Ratna Kaji Vajracharya. Prajwal Vajracharya is now the foremost teacher, practitioner, and performer of the tradition. He is a veteran of several world tours. He teaches beginning and advanced students around the globe. He founded Dance Mandal in 1996, and the Foundation for Sacred Buddhist Arts of Nepal to preserve and expand this rare ancient form of Buddhism and its related traditions.
INSIDE THE MANDALA: A SHORT FILM
About Charya Nritya
Read Buddhist Global Door article about about Prajwal Vajracharya and the Nepali Charya Nritya Dance tradition by author and dance journalist, Karen Greenspan here: