Preserving the Jonang-Kalachakra Tradition through embodied art forms

About this Program

The Embodied Sacred Arts Initiative is a visionary endeavor dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of the 1,000-year-old Jonang Kalachakra lineage. We believe that ancient wisdom should not be confined to “museum relics” or intellectual study alone. Instead, this initiative transforms profound spiritual truths into living, breathing pathways to liberation.  

This initiative helps to bring into balance the masculine and feminine aspects present in all humanity expression through sacred ritual, sound and form.  From the precise resonance of mantra to the monumental scale of sacred architecture, we provide practitioners with dynamic supports for global transformation.  We sponsor and support skilled practitioners and yogis from the Jonang tradition to collaborate and share essential aspects of their living heritage. This includes teaching sacred chanting rhythms, ritual music, hand mudras, and ceremonial dances—precise expressions of Kalachakra practice preserved for centuries. These exchanges are vital to maintaining the vibrancy and accuracy of the lineage’s ritual culture and ensuring its flourishing worldwide.

This program also includes many visual projects that serve as a “living library,” translating complex, abstract tantric philosophies into tangible forms that ensure the tradition’s precise iconography is preserved and not lost to time. By creating 3D mandalas, thangka paintings, stupas and statues, we provide practitioners with essential geometric blueprints for meditation and visualization, making the profound inner dimensions of the Kalachakra accessible to the physical senses.

Three Dimensions of Sacred Arts

Embodied Arts (Body)
These practices establish the body itself as a direct support for realization, allowing practitioners to develop familiarity with the path beyond conceptual understanding. Rather than relying solely on intellectual study, the body is trained to participate in the path through precise movement, posture, gesture, breath, and presence. In the Vajrayana tradition, the body is not separate from the path—it is an essential basis through which realization can arise. By engaging in these embodied methods, practitioners begin to internalize the structure and meaning of the teachings in a direct and experiential way.

This includes a spectrum of practices that support practitioners at different stages:

• Dzokden Kalachakra Yoga — a preparatory system open to all, training posture, breath, and movement to create the physical and energetic foundation needed for meditation and later-stage practices
• Meditation training in posture and embodiment — developing the ability to sit in stable vajra posture and maintain awareness within the body
• Elements of the Six Vajra Yogas (completion stage) — practices appropriate to the student’s level, supporting direct engagement with the subtle body as part of the path
• Sacred dance and ceremonial movement — in which practitioners embody the form of the deity, integrating visualization, movement, and awareness into a unified expression of practice
• Mudras and ritual gesture — precise hand positions and bodily expressions that carry specific meaning and function within practice
• Physical participation in ritual forms — engaging the body directly in offerings, ceremonies, and collective practice

Through these methods, practitioners cultivate stability, flexibility, and familiarity within the body itself. This prepares the conditions for deeper stages of practice and supports the integration of the teachings in a direct and experiential way. In this approach, the body is not separate from the mind, nor merely a support for it. Body and mind function inseparably. As understanding deepens, it is not only known internally, but also expressed through the body itself.

Sacred Sound (Speech)
These practices include chant, mantra, and sadhana recitation, which function as methods of enlightened speech on the path rather than symbolic or performative expressions. In Vajrayana, mantra is not ordinary sound. It is understood to be the speech of the deity itself—an expression of awakened awareness. The purpose of training is not merely to recite mantras or chant sounds, but to connect internally with the deity and allow that realization to be expressed through sound. This includes learning the traditional systems of chanting, melody, and ritual sound that have been preserved within the Jonang lineage. These methods are not arbitrary—they are connected with specific functions, contexts, and classes of beings, and are used for different purposes within practice. At the same time, this training is not about performance or external display. It is about developing the capacity for authentic expression arising from within practice itself. Sound becomes a form of direct connection—an expression of devotion, realization, and one’s relationship to the path.

This program supports both:

• Understanding and preserving the traditional Jonang methods of sacred sound, and
• Cultivating the ability to express mantra and chant from a place of genuine inner connection 

At the same time, as the Dharma takes root in different cultures, it must also be able to find expression through the languages, musical forms, and artistic sensibilities of those cultures. In this way, sacred sound is not limited to the melodies of ancient Tibet, but can be expressed authentically in ways that allow the Dharma to flourish globally—while remaining grounded in correct understanding and lineage.

Key initiatives include:
Finding Your Sacred Voice – Supporting practitioners to connect with mantra internally and express it with clarity and authenticity
Umze Training Course – Training chant leaders to uphold traditional melodies, rhythms, and continuity within group practice
Dzokden Sound of Dharma Library – A digital archive preserving authentic Jonang chanting traditions
24-Hour Global Mantra Recitation – An annual continuous recitation uniting practitioners in collective practice

Through these methods, practitioners learn not only how to chant, but how to use sound as part of the path itself—integrating speech with awareness so that practice is not something external, but something directly embodied and expressed.

Sacred Form (Visual and Physical Arts)
These include art, architecture, and ritual form-making:

• Thangkas, mandalas (2D and 3D), statues, stupas
• Temple and shrine design
• Torma and ritual objects

These forms serve as supports for meditation and visualization, providing the correct structures through which practitioners engage the teachings.

This program also develops large-scale projects that function as a living library of the tradition, making the inner dimensions of Kalachakra accessible through precise external forms. Just a small number of our sacred arts project have inluded:

• Shambhala Dharma Kings Thangka Project — depicting the Rigdens and future Shambhala rulers
• Physical, VR, and Holographic 3D Kalachakra Mandala — a large-scale, precise mandala for immersive engagement
• Designing the Kalachakra Temple (Austria) — housing a 24-armed Kalachakra statue
• Vajra Vega Wheel of Protection — digitally modeled for precision and accessibility
• Dolpopa’s Seeing Liberation Stupas — placed globally as supports for purification
• Unified Sangha Stupa at the Rime Institute (Australia) — A several meter tall stupa dedicated to global harmony
• Drolmi Kazug Fortune Palace (USA) — hand painted miniature fortune palace of Tara dedicated to the 21 Taras
• Healing Deity Statue Park (Australia) — a Rimé sanctuary of sacred forms filled with several meter tall statues for visitors to walk through and be inspired by their presence

These projects establish physical supports where the Dharma can be encountered directly.

Our Aspiration and Why This Matters

Our aspiration is to ensure that the Jonang Kalachakra tradition remains both authentic and fully alive. To manifest a Golden Age of peace and harmony, it is necessary to create not only inner realization, but also the outer conditions that support it. Sacred arts play a critical role in this by providing forms through which the Dharma can be encountered, practiced, and internalized. These arts offer an intuitive way of engaging the path. Through sound, movement, and form, practitioners develop familiarity that goes beyond intellectual understanding. At the same time, by preserving accuracy and supporting expression in the modern world, we ensure that:

• The lineage remains intact
• The methods of practice remain usable
• Future generations can encounter the Dharma in complete form

By bringing together traditional mastery and contemporary methods of creation, we ensure that this lineage is not only preserved—but continues to function, develop, and benefit beings in the present and future.