The Guru mTshan brgyad 'chams: Conclusion. In my description of the dances, I have included reference to the interpretations given of the imagery and the movements. For example, the dance of Padma 'Byung-gnas (see above) can be said to indicate the Guru's primordial Buddha nature, and the gestures of his uniting the ritual implements of the vajra and bell can be presumed to refer to the indivisibility of 'means' and 'wisdom', the vajra and bell always carrying these connotations in VajrayAna ritual. Even ordinary lay Tibetans are familiar with much of this general VajrayAna symbolic language and also with many of the stories of Guru Padma's activities and his ''eight aspects''. In case anyone was lacking such familiarity with the mythical accounts of Guru Padma, the monastery's visiting mkhan-po made a lengthy speech detailing some of the stories, when the dances were completed. However, to fully appreciate the significance of this ritual symbolism, two further points need to be made.

First, the ritual expressions frequently carry several levels of interpretation simultaneously. In the specific case of the Guru Padma dances, the ''aspects'' portrayed are associated both with actual events in the life story of the historical Guru - sometimes with more than one ''event'' 36 - and with some particular aspect of meditative realisation. The dance of Padma 'Byung-gnas represents the Guru's birth, and also the awakening of primordial Buddhahood. The various levels of interpretation add to the forcefulness of the imagery, one level enriching another. rDo-rje Gro-lod, for example, is associated with an incident in the Guru's life when he forcefully subdued hostile forces in the cave of sTag-tshang (Tiger's Den) in Bhutan.37 This event is seen as an important part of the process of his bringing the human and divine residents of the border country between India and Tibet under his control, in preparation for his entry into and subjugation of Tibet, such that Buddhism could be firmly established there. rDo-rje Gro-lod is also a name received by the Guru when he meditated and taught DAkinIs in a fearful cemetery in Khotan known as ''Erection of Worlds'' ('Lo-ka brtsegs': Padma bKa'i-thang Chapter 33). Moreover, he can be meditated upon as a wrathful yi-dam deity, complete with a divine palace, maNDala and so on. The Rewalsar monks in fact perform daily and more elaborate monthly ritual practices, in which they envisage rDo-rje Gro-lod's form and maNDala, and after various preparatory rituals, recite his mantra and identify with his physical, vocal and mental expressions. In watching rDo-rje Gro-lod's dance, knowledge of the various mythological dimensions of his character enriches the imagery of rDo-rje Gro-lod as an aspect of Enlightenment who can be meditated upon to accomplish the VajrayAna transformation.

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