To Dance with Dakinis: In Search of Self

Description

As with all of Dena Merriam's books, To Dance with Dakinis is a study of the universal law of cause and effect, how events in our life, our deeds, thoughts and reactions impel the process of rebirth. The story begins in 12th century Tibet, with a woman's search for the Goddess and the deeper truths of life. You meet ordinary people dealing with human suffering and you visit magical lakes and mountains. You also meet the great Mother, and through her dakinis, adepts, gurus, and loving souls who guide us life after life, without revealing their spiritual stature. Then we meet the great Guru Rinpoche, known to Tibetans as Padmasambhava. We will learn more of the spiritual history of Tibet and India and the deep interconnection of these two great civilizations.

The story unravels the threads that link together three lives. Through a crisis that Padma, our main character encounters, she is led to a Master who helps awaken memories of her previous life in medieval France and an earlier life in China, during which events were set in motion that led to the crisis she now faced.

This book recounts deeply touching tales of her experiences and learnings amidst the cultural settings of the times she lived in. In the process of her journey, great teachings are conveyed, teachings that we can apply to our lives today. Call it Life’s sense of humor or divine justice, that the person you resented the very sight of, becomes a dear relative in the next; an illiterate low-caste woman in one life is reborn as a queen; the unfulfilled love of one life comes to ultimate fruition in another one; and so much more. It may suddenly strike you that all our feelings of resentment, anger or pride are ultimately futile—and what a liberating realization that is! Life doesn’t forget anything – neither your good deeds and vows, nor your wrong deeds or thoughts that you tried to hide from all.

About the Author

Dena Merriam began working in the inter-faith movement in the late 1990s when she served as Vice Chair of the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders held at the United Nation in New York in the year 2000. She subsequently convened a meeting of women religious and spiritual leaders at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and from that gathering founded the Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW) in 2002, an organization chaired by a multi-faith group of women spiritual leaders. In 2008, Ms. Merriam was one of the founding members of the Contemplative Alliance, which later became a program of GPIW. The purpose of the Alliance is to bring together meditation teachers and practitioners in a collective effort to uplift and transform society, while caring for and honoring our Mother Earth.

For over 40 years, Dena Merriam has been a student of Paramahansa Yogananda and a practitioner of Kriya Yoga meditation. She is also a long time student of the great texts of the Vedic tradition. Ms. Merriam received her Master’s Degree from Columbia University and has served on the boards of the Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions, the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, The Interfaith Center of New York, the Manitou Foundation, The All India Movement (AIM) for Seva, Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association, and Seven Pillars. Ms. Merriam is the Chair of the International Advisory Committee for Auroville. In 2014 she received the Niwano Peace Prize for her interfaith peace efforts and holds an Honorary Doctorate in Peace Studies from Mahachulalongkornvajravidyadara University in Thailand. She is the author of My Journey Through Time, The Untold Story of Sita, Rukmini and the Turning of Time and, To Dance with Dakinis.

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