← Lhundrup Nyingje

All About Tara

Lhundrup Nyingje · 13 October 2007 · 3 h 45 min · Tse Chen Ling via Internet Archive

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  • 3:29

    And then what Chucky asked me to do is actually talk on the 21 Taras. Yeah. And so... There's actually a practice, there's not only one Tara, there's 21 Taras, and sometimes people say there's 108 Taras, I mean there's lots of different manifestations, and maybe I should say just a little bit about it before we start, which is that there's a few ways to look at Tantric practice. Now, I should probably define, within Buddhism there's different types of practice, and there's different ways you can classify it, but...

  • 7:25

    You can see, I mean, every time I open up my internet, it's like, get rid of your wrinkles, you know. It's like people are like, you know, big time suffering because they're getting old and instead of celebrating the fact they're getting wise, you know. So there's just like many, many... sufferings of the world.

  • 10:48

    Your mind is in a total state of peace. And not only that. It's like a completely loving, open-hearted mind that cares for all beings. And it's, I mean, if you've ever been around a Tibetan Lama, to just experience that total, unconditional love, it's just, it's just like, it's just amazing. You know, it's just like, wow, you know, it's like just so amazing. And that's what Buddhas have. They have this like, and not only that, they also have...

  • 21:08

    Because you need a certain amount of material comfort to be able to practice. And so that's kind of her specialty, is that if you have faith and devotion, To the path and have sincere motivation, then she's like the mother that provides and puts the food on the table. So people, like my friend Judy, whenever she would need a house, she'd do a Tara Puja and, you know, house would come.

  • 49:13

    So then what we do is we visualize in the space, probably behind me, there's a lotus flower appears. It's a mini-colored lotus flower. And on top of that is a moon disk, which means it's like, you know, not round like the moon is, but you know when you look up at the moon in the sky and it looks flat? So it's like a shining, flat moon. And on top of that sits Tara. And she's pretty much like a human being, except she's made of light.

0:00 I was asked by Chucky to come here today and do a one-day Tara practice. And I Report an error

0:11 love Tara, what can I say? This is Green Tara, and if you like today, I recommend getting one of these little books. And then you can continue to do the practice. Report an error

0:24 But I kind of don't want to talk too much because, you know, my kind of... Report an error

0:33 What do you say, specialty or particular thing with Buddhism is having the experience. Because my main teacher was Lamyeshi. He was the one who started this organization. And Lamyeshi's whole thing was, what's the point of a lot of words if you don't have any experience? You know, you really want to taste. Report an error

0:54 He used to always talk about tasting the chocolate. Report an error

1:01 So I thought that before we just go blah, blah, blah, that we would just get a little taste. And then, I'll keep the track of time. We're going to go until 12.30, so it's 11 to 12.30. And then we'll have lunch until 2. And so what I thought we'd do is maybe meditate for about 45 minutes. Report an error

1:24 And, you know, meditation is just like Qigong sitting down. So it's not like... We're just going to do some exercises with our minds and maybe become a little bit familiar with Tara. And then depending on the time, we might have a little break or I might just start to talk a little bit about why do we do this? Report an error

1:47 What's the point of all this? Why would you be interested in sitting down? You know, visualizing a beautiful green woman above the crown of your head. I mean, what's the point of all that? So I'll probably talk a little bit about that, and then probably it'll be lunchtime, and if it's not, I can answer some questions. Report an error

2:03 And then we'll have lunch, and then after lunch, we'll come back and do some more Torah practice, because this is what this day is about. But there's one thing that I also want to insert into today, which won't take very long because there's a lot of us here, which is reading the Golden Light Sūtra. And that's a practice that Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who's our fearless leader. Report an error

2:29 Has said is like the most beneficial thing we can be doing these days to stop the war in Iraq and to stop a war from happening in Iran and help the people in Afghanistan and what's going on in Burma and any place where there's turmoil and strife and particularly political strife that the Golden Light Sūtra. Report an error

2:50 Will help to pacify those difficulties. And so I try to read a little bit of it every day and I try to encourage everyone else to read a little bit of it every day. And we can read the whole sūtra in a couple of minutes with a lot of people because we divide the sutras 100 pages long and if there's 40 people here then everybody's going to read. Report an error

3:12 Like one and a half pages or something. So we might end up reading it twice. Whatever the math is, you divide 40 into 100. So two and a half pages. So we'll do that after lunch because after lunch it's like a good way to kind of like just bring us back together and, you know, because we'll be chanting and reciting, you know. Report an error

3:29 And then what Chucky asked me to do is actually talk on the 21 Taras. Yeah. And so... There's actually a practice, there's not only one Tara, there's 21 Taras, and sometimes people say there's 108 Taras, I mean there's lots of different manifestations, and maybe I should say just a little bit about it before we start, which is that there's a few ways to look at Tantric practice. Report an error

3:56 Now, I should probably define, within Buddhism there's different types of practice, and there's different ways you can classify it, but... One way you can classify it is into what they call Sūtra and Tantra. And Sūtra is the teachings that, I mean, they all lead the path to enlightenment and you actually cannot practice Tantra without having studied Sūtra. Report an error

4:23 Tantra is like a supplemental exercise that is a faster way to attain enlightenment because it employs what I'm talking about, these winds. When you study sūtra, they don't talk about the mind rides on the winds. They just talk about the mind. And we work with the mind directly. And what we're working with is learning to attain a mind that is completely calm and clear like the ocean and isn't full of worry or anger or hatred or desire or any of these what we call delusions or mental afflictions, emotional afflictions. Report an error

5:02 Because that's what causes us to suffer. And so in sūtra we learn how to create the cause to cease, that's the word cease, our mental afflictions. Because, well I guess I should say this too since there's brand new people here. The main thing that Buddha taught was what's called the Four Noble Truths. And this is a sūtra teaching. Report an error

5:25 And the first truth is that our lives are full of mental and physical afflictions. I mean, we live at the top of the food chain of the whole planet. I mean, we're the most fortunate people that human beings have ever seen, you know, our society in America. You know, maybe England, Australia, Switzerland, might be whatever, but you know what I'm saying. And so, you know, our sufferings aren't so manifest maybe. Report an error

5:52 We like to tell ourselves we're not suffering and we can, you know, we can... We have endless diversions, you know, watch TV, go to the movie, da-da-da, so we can kind of control, you know. But when it really comes down to it, there's nobody that doesn't have stress and worry and loss and pride and anger and all these things that, you know, you lose your boyfriend and you're upset or, you know, you have trouble. Report an error

6:16 You know, everyone's got some kind of trouble. And, you know, we have very few troubles, but most people have great troubles. And we're not even talking about humans. I mean, Buddha was communicating to all human beings. I mean, all beings. So if you think about, you know, a frog in a pond that's about to be eaten by a snake or, you know, I mean, it's, I mean, I'm not going to get, we don't have time to go into all that, but a lot of what Buddhism talks about is waking us up to the fact that life is difficult and we don't know when we're going to die and we don't know. Report an error

6:53 Where we're going after we die, and we don't know if there is an afterlife. I mean, Buddha says there is, but I'm saying most Americans, they doubt that. They don't know where they're going. And if you've ever been around people who have no sense of that, they're terrified of dying, and dying is a really big, big suffering. Report an error

7:11 And another suffering that we have is because... Our culture is so based on, you know, youth and beauty. I mean, when you get to be my age and you're not pretty anymore and you get wrinkles and gray hair, I mean, for most people, that's just like, that's a huge suffering. You can see, I mean, every time I open up my internet, it's like, get rid of your wrinkles, you know. It's like people are like, you know, big time suffering because they're getting old and instead of celebrating the fact they're getting wise, you know. Report an error

7:36 So there's just like many, many... sufferings of the world. And he said, so that's the first noble truth, which is the truth of like, wake up, you know, things aren't as great as you think they are. And then the second one, what Buddha talked about was, why do we suffer? And I'll talk about that a little bit in the context of Tara. And he said, the cause of suffering basically is we misperceive the way Report an error

8:10 Existence exists. And it's because we have bodies with five senses or six senses, because in Buddhism the mind is actually a sixth sense. And so because we perceive the world through this filter of these six senses, we misapprehend the way things actually truly exist. And the biggest form of misapprehension is thinking that I'm a separate being. Report an error

8:39 And that I exist from my own side. And so because I exist from my own side and I'm a separate being, that means you are out there. And so suddenly that means, oh, there's you and there's me. Well, I have to take care of myself. Because if I don't take care of myself, you might get that apple and I don't and I'm going to be hungry. And that's the basic cause of all the plant problems in the whole world. Report an error

9:03 I mean, if you look, what's happening in Iraq? Why? It's because America wants the oil there, you know? So they're killing all those people. And so it's this basic, like all these things, greed, the greed that causes the suffering in the world that makes you, you know, or the desire, you know, like, oh, I have to have this thing. Report an error

9:21 Or when you fall in love and you're completely obsessed with this person, you know, that's kind of a suffering, especially when that person's gone. So all these things come from this misapprehension of true existence, is what Buddha says. Report an error

9:36 So there's the cause of it. So then there's a way out. So what Buddha taught was, let's say, the truth of suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering. So the next one is that it's actually possible to stop this. And that's what Buddha discovered. He figured out how to have a mind that not only doesn't have these mental afflictions, but can actually perceive the true nature of reality. Report an error

10:09 Because once you perceive the true nature of reality, there's no way there's going to be a mental affliction because it all becomes like an illusion. It's just like a dream. And so then things can't bother you anymore because they don't have any real concrete existence. It doesn't mean nothing exists. It just means that you can see through. Report an error

10:27 The reality, you know? And so then the next thing Buddha taught was, okay, well, there's a way. It does cease, but how do you get there? So it's called the path to enlightenment. And what enlightenment means, it means that you don't have this suffering mind and body anymore. Completely no more delusions. Report an error

10:48 Your mind is in a total state of peace. And not only that. It's like a completely loving, open-hearted mind that cares for all beings. And it's, I mean, if you've ever been around a Tibetan Lama, to just experience that total, unconditional love, it's just, it's just like, it's just amazing. You know, it's just like, wow, you know, it's like just so amazing. And that's what Buddhas have. They have this like, and not only that, they also have... Report an error

11:23 Clairvoyance, omniscience, you know, they can see the result of an action. I mean, one of our greatest sufferings is that, you know, we're always having to make decisions and we don't really know what the outcome of that decision is, right? Report an error

11:34 So, God, here I am giving a whole talk. I was going to meditate first. But I have to give a little bit, otherwise they won't know, you know. So the problem is, is like we make decisions and then sometimes they're like they totally backfire on us, you know. We can even marry the wrong person. Or we can get the wrong job. Or we can get the wrong major and end up coming out with a history degree and deciding, oh, I didn't want, you know. Report an error

12:01 So Buddha can see the future. Buddha can see all past, present, future. So he's able to really, he or she, Tara is a she Buddha, can really help beings in a way that... We can't at this moment. And so the most important thing to kind of understand about Buddhism is this, first you have to understand what the goal is, which is this amazing state of mind and body where you have no suffering yourself. Report an error

12:33 You're totally in a state of bliss, which is far beyond anything we can imagine in this life. And you have this incredible ability to help people from stop suffering. And, you know, most people who come to Buddhism already have some kind of altruistic intention. They want to make the world a better place. But what they find out, like, Lauren, you know, what's your name again? Report an error

13:03 Deborah. I'm sorry I forget. But Deborah's brother is a very good friend of mine, and he's a therapist. And it's like he studied, he went, I mean, I've known him since he was. You know, in his 20s and I've probably known him like 20 years now or something. And, you know, he went to school and he studied really hard and then he went to the Jungian Institute and became a Jungian person. Report an error

13:22 It's all this stuff. And it's like now he's been doing all these years and he's finally realizing that, you know, he can help people, but he can only help people like be a little bit happier in this life. He can't really stop their suffering. He can't really. I mean, it's good to be a lawyer. It's good to be a doctor. I'm not saying don't do these things. It's good to be a schoolteacher. It's good to be in a helping profession. Report an error

13:45 It's good to help people. But we can only help them a little bit. We can't really take away their pain. And even if you're a doctor and take away the physical pain, it's like something else is going to come. Report an error

13:59 And then it's the psychiatrist that you need. And then it's the depression that you have. And then it's this. And then your mother dies. and then, you know, and And what a fully enlightened Buddha can do is he can completely help you with everything. And so the greatest wish that you can have, which will propel you into the greatest happiness, is the wish to attain enlightenment, the wish to become a Buddha. Report an error

14:28 Because that's like the highest, best, greatest thing you can be. It's like better than being the President of the United States because even the President doesn't know. Look at the mistakes they make, you know. It's like when you're a Buddha, you don't make mistakes because you can see, you know. And you have incredible, you know, love and compassion for all beings. And so what the teachings say, and I mean I've been doing this for about 30 years now, and I can say from my experience that when you... Report an error

14:58 Have that wish to attain enlightenment for all sentient beings. And you make that your bottom line, whatever you're doing, even if it's going to school, even if it's driving a cab. Because we all have to do something. But if you're driving a cab, but deep inside you want to attain enlightenment for all sentient beings, then by driving that cab, you're actually creating the cause to attain enlightenment. Report an error

15:20 And so that makes your whole life meaningful. And you see, when you have that great big wish... To attain enlightenment for all sentient beings, and I'll get into karma a little bit later, the causes that you create for happiness are immense because you're wanting to create happiness for endless sentient beings. Report an error

15:38 So it's like making your life so much more powerful than if you're just like me. I'm doing this for me or I'm doing this for my family. I'm not saying you're not doing it for you and your family, but you're including. The entire universe. So then it's like your life just completely opens up and things start working better for you and everything just starts working a little bit better because you're thinking of others. Report an error

16:02 And so Tara was a woman who decided to attain enlightenment and she did. And that's Tara there. I should have put it up here. Report an error

16:20 Oh, that's Tara. Yeah, that's Tara. Thanks. Yeah. Oh, wait, we have Tara and Majishu. You're all my two favorites. That's great. And so Tara, and one of the reasons she decided to attain the state of a Buddha in the form of a female is because, I mean, now it's much better, but in Indian cultures and in all cultures, you know, So, um... Report an error

16:45 And even in the sūtra teachings they say you don't want to be born a woman, women have lower rebirth, women are inferior, women can't do this, women can't get enlightened. And she said well I'm going to show you guys, I'm going to get enlightened as a woman and I'm going to come back as a woman and I'm always going to be a woman and I'm going to be an inspiration to all women that they can attain enlightenment. Report an error

17:05 And so that's what she did. Since then, there are less women who get enlightened. That's true. I think that probably could be true in this particular culture. And that's because it's just a cultural thing. I mean, we can change that. We're already changing that. Look at women's lib. Look at how many nuns there are in the FPMT. But it can be more difficult. Report an error

17:30 For one reason, it's just harder. Women have children. And so it's harder to actually attain enlightenment in one lifetime. You usually need to spend a lot of time by yourself. But that doesn't mean in the next lifetime. You have to think about lifetimes. That maybe next lifetime that woman can get enlightened. Report an error

17:48 So you have to think about more and more. Anyway, I'm digressing. But anyway, so she attained enlightenment as a female. And both men and women practiced Tara. And in fact, if you talk to most monks, because they're monks and because they don't have... A girlfriend. Like Tara's their girlfriend. They love Tara. And they can like put all that energy, you know, of like female, needing female energy, they can just completely, you know, embellish that with their Tara practice. Report an error

18:24 And that's what kind of keeps them happy monks, is they get, they do Tara practice. And she like blesses them with that. Female energy and that female care. And what Tara's whole thing is, is she's like, she's the mother of the Buddhas, you know. And what that means is, well, I guess I'm talking before meditating, but this is what happened. Report an error

18:46 So, it's that she, when you, like, when you understand, like, okay, I'm going to become enlightened. I really, you know, I get it about suffering and I want to, you know, I want to attain enlightenment for all these Indian beings. Then you need help. on the path because, um, Because one of the things about if you want to attain enlightenment is you kind of have to give up your, well for lack, I'll just use the generic word, you know, attachment to the fears of this life. Report an error

19:22 Which doesn't mean you have to stop this life. But if you're really serious on doing practice, then a lot of times you end up having to do long retreats or... Maybe you want to spend more time meditating and less time working. And so what happened was that when Buddha spent like the actual Shakyamuni Buddha, the one who attained enlightenment and the one that we read about in books and the one who said those four noble truths, when he spent countless great eons, many, many, many, many lifetimes, Doing good works, being a great Boy Scout, taking care of, you know, he did all these amazing things and each time he was getting closer and closer to enlightenment because he was becoming better, you know, gooder, more and more goodness in him. Report an error

20:06 So he dedicated all that goodness, and I'll have to explain Merit later, but so that anyone who had faith in his teachings would never suffer for lack of food, clothing and shelter. Report an error

20:21 And so it's sort of like... There's this spiritual bank account that Buddha left for his followers that when you really have faith and you really devote yourself, then he takes care. And it's kind of like Tara's the banker. She's the one who passes out the dollars or something. I mean, I'm just making this up. Report an error

20:44 So it's not like I learned it, but it's just kind of a way to say it. Because what Tara does, she's like... She's called Tara the Liberator. And the reason that she's so special is that she not only liberates you from your spiritual and mental sufferings, but she also liberates you from your physical suffering, such as poverty. Report an error

21:08 Because you need a certain amount of material comfort to be able to practice. And so that's kind of her specialty, is that if you have faith and devotion, To the path and have sincere motivation, then she's like the mother that provides and puts the food on the table. So people, like my friend Judy, whenever she would need a house, she'd do a Tara Puja and, you know, house would come. Report an error

21:36 Or, you know, my story with Tara is like I needed to do a long retreat. And I didn't have any money and I was just like writing people and, you know, what am I going to do? And my husband and I, I think we had $200. And we were in Colorado and we got the word that we had to go to Vermont to do this retreat. And so we drove from Colorado to Vermont with $200. You know, like, I hope the car doesn't break down because we were just... Report an error

22:03 But before I left, my friend Sesame, who some of you know, she was new to the Dharma. I sat down and we did this, like, with really strong devotion. I did this puja that we're going to do this afternoon. And when I got to Milarepa Center, which is this place in Vermont, There was a check that came within a week, and I opened it up, and I thought it said $400, but it said $4,000. I've never since ever, well, no, that's not true. Report an error

22:33 But, I mean, it just like blew my mind, you know. It's like this woman that I just wrote, you know, she was in Singapore, and the Chinese are very generous because they believe in this stuff, you know. They know it works. So, you know, and that was the money. I had a little tiny house, but it built my house, you know. Report an error

22:52 And I know it was because of Tara. So, like I said, if you really need help and you're a very sincere Dharma practitioner, if you do Tara practice, then it's like she takes care of all the physical obstacles that you have to doing your practice, whether it's sickness or poverty or a bad person that you're living with or you need a job or whatever it is. Report an error

23:17 If you're sincere about wanting to help people, And wanting to better yourself and ultimately attain enlightenment, she's right there to help. She's like Mighty Mouse. Here I come to save the day. Report an error

23:37 So that's what Tara is about. It's 11.27, we have an hour. So let's just sit down now that we did all our exercises. Report an error

23:51 Let's see. Report an error

23:55 Since there's some new people here, I'll have to... So when you meditate, the main thing you want to do is keep your spine straight. Because remember when we were talking about qigong, it's sort of like you've seen a thermometer. Report an error

24:11 You know what a thermometer looks like? So it's kind of like inside of you, you've got this channel that comes down like a thermometer and the bottom is this bowl that holds your qi, okay? Report an error

24:25 So... Report an error

24:29 I just wanted to hug Allison, so I got distracted. Report an error

24:35 So that's what you do when you meditate, is you're learning not to get distracted. So what we're doing is we're feeling like we have this, we want to get in touch with this inner energy flow, okay? And so when that's kind of open and moving, then your mind becomes more calm. And then the other thing you want to do, I mean you don't have to sit cross-legged, but you do want to sit up straight and then you can put your hands either here like this or you have your right hand and your left hand and your thumbs are touching. Report an error

25:15 And the reason you do it like this is that the thumbs aren't... Pushing on each other, you just, they're just resting. Is it because this is all about energy flow, right? And so you've got, you want to have your hands out, you know, a little bit to the side, not just like this. Because what we're doing is we're trying, we want to get the chi flowing. And so sometimes it's better to stand because actually the best posture is of course the full lotus posture. Report an error

25:40 Because when you do that, it just, it just completely like makes your mind go. It's just very stable and your mind gets very clear because you've completed that circuit. Your legs are folded under and your arms are like this. And then the other thing you want to do is pretend, did you ever take ballet class? It's like the used Italian ballet class. Like you're a puppet and there's a string pulling up on the very crown of your head. Report an error

26:04 So you want to pull your head up because you want to open up the back part where your skull meets your spine. Because there's a couple ways we cut off the chi, right? One of them, I'm really, this is one of my problems, you know, you sit like this. So you want to open that up so that the whole front of your neck is open and you want to be a little bit open under your shoulders. Report an error

26:27 And just sit like that and then I'll kind of bring us through a breathing meditation. And then what you do is you just... Watch your breath. And the breath is like the key to your autonomic nervous system. So when you're watching your breath, it's working with your whole inner workings of your mind and body. Report an error

26:48 And so one of the reasons we do that is not only to stabilize the mind, but it's also to teach us there's a little mental factor called mindfulness or remembering or... It's got many different words, but the function of it is that, and we all have it, we all use it all the time, but what we want to do is we want to get better at it. Report an error

27:12 And that is to say that if we're just looking at our breath, and what happens is, we're trying to, not try, but the object is to breathe in and breathe out. Report an error

27:27 We're just breathing in and breathing out. But what happens is, and what we want to be doing, Is have our mind just focused on the breath. So it can be helpful if you want. You can let your mind, when you breathe in, you can maybe concentrate on the tip of your nose. Or what I like to use is the base of my spine. So I almost feel like when I'm breathing in, I watch my breath come in and go all the way down to the base of my spine. Report an error

27:59 And as I exhale, it goes all the way back out again. And it's just very simple, normal breathing, but you're just going to be watching your breath so that your mind is paying attention to your breathing and nothing else. Report an error

28:14 Because what happens is, is after about three or four breaths, you start thinking about something else. And as soon as you catch yourself thinking about something else, then that's when this factor of mental awareness or mindfulness comes back in, and it's a little click, you know, it just goes click, oh, back to the breath. Report an error

28:34 And the reason we work with something as simple as the breath is because it's the easiest way to develop that mindfulness. Because then, you see, the whole thing about Buddhism is that if we want to do something about our delusions and about changing our mental habits and what's going on in our minds, we have to have this ability to watch our mind and catch our mind before it manifests as anger or hatred. Report an error

29:01 You know, whatever is coming up in your mind. So the whole idea is we're just going to make friends with ourselves. You know, because we have to become our own best friend. And the way we do that is by getting to know ourselves. And the way we get to know ourselves is you just watch your breath. And as you watch your breath, you see all kinds of stuff coming up in your mind. Report an error

29:24 And you don't worry about it. Stuff is going to come up. And just let it come up. And don't pay attention to the storyline. He said this and she said this and blah, blah, blah. Just kind of feel where that energy is and let it go and then come back to your breath. Does anybody have a question? Yeah. Oh, good question. I forgot to say that. Report an error

29:52 You can either shut your eyes or you can look down in front of you. And it's easier if you shut your eyes in the beginning. But then later on... I find, because I did it with my eyes closed for a long time, is that the problem with meditating with your eyes closed is that, you see, the meditation practice that you do for maybe 15 minutes in the morning of watching your breath is a preparation so that you'll have awareness when you go out through the day so that you can catch yourself before you scream at somebody. Report an error

30:24 And so the thing is, if you're always meditating with your eyes closed, it's harder to translate that awareness when your eyes are open. Report an error

30:35 So I think it's good to start in the beginning with your eyes closed, but then slowly train yourself to meditate with your eyes open so that you can learn to have awareness with your eyes open. But you can start with your eyes closed because it is definitely easier. Report an error

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31:22 And I'd like you to remember the golden circle of protection we put around this room. Report an error

31:34 There's lots of noise here, but just let it be there and don't think about it too much. Report an error

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32:52 So remember to be aware of the soles of your feet and Report an error

33:00 the palms of your hands, the top of your head. Report an error

33:14 And if you like, you can kind of rock your pelvis a little bit forward and back until you can find a position that allows your belly to relax more. Sometimes if you move your pelvis just a little bit forward. Report an error

33:30 It allows your belly to open up so you can breathe into your belly. And if you're wearing jeans, pants, just unbutton your top button and let your belt loose so that you can let your belly hang out. Report an error

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34:36 If it helps, you can think, now I'm breathing in, now I'm breathing out. Report an error

34:44 Or I find it easier just to concentrate, like put your attention on the out breath and then just kind of relax for the inhale. Report an error

34:59 And as much as you can, just relax your body. Report an error

35:10 Sometimes it helps to go through your, feel your toes. Report an error

35:17 Put some awareness in your toes and let them go. And Report an error

35:25 then bring your awareness to the soles of your feet. Let that relax. Report an error

35:35 Your ankles relaxing. Report an error

35:43 Your calf muscles. If you've ever had a massage, just imagine you're getting a massage the same time you're sitting here. And Report an error

36:03 let your knees relax. Aware Report an error

36:14 of your thighs. And Report an error

36:27 then feel your whole pelvic girdle. Report an error

36:32 And it's okay to be aware of your genitals. If it feels kind of blissful, that's all right. It's good to bring the energy down, of course not too far down. Report an error

36:47 If you find it's too stimulating when you feel your genitals, then just concentrate more, like I said, on the navel. But it's good to relax your anus, and Report an error

37:10 you can almost feel like you have a tail, and that off the end of your spine, that your energy, there's like a going down, down, down into the ground, like when you... When you breathe out, Report an error

37:26 like extend your body, like extend your mind way down from your tailbone down into the earth. Report an error

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38:12 And then continue up your spine and feel the top of your pelvis, your belly button. Just let it all relax and just Report an error

38:26 allow yourself to feel good about yourself. Report an error

38:37 My body's my friend. And Report an error

38:46 then breathe into your ribcage, the lower part of your ribs, expand the lower part particularly in the back of your ribs. Feel like someone's got their hands on the back of your ribs. Report an error

39:04 And breathe right up your back, up under your shoulder blades, Report an error

39:10 across the front to your breasts. Report an error

39:16 Completely fill up your breasts with light and air. And right up into your armpits, feel like there's a little ball of light under your armpits. Report an error

39:27 Comes right up into your collarbone, Report an error

39:34 up into the shoulders. And then the next time you exhale, imagine that the air is going right down your arms. Into your fingers. Report an error

40:08 Then become aware of the neck, particularly the back of the neck and your jaw. You can like move your jaw around, let your jaw relax. Report an error

40:28 And there's the eyebrows. You can visualize your third eye and just like relax those eyebrows and open that third eye. It's like you have a little hole between your eyebrows and your forehead. Report an error

40:49 And then feel all up into your head, your ears. Feel your ears expanding and the eyes and the crown of your head. Report an error

41:07 Just continuing to breathe. Report an error

41:13 And now that we've touched the whole body, let's think of our whole body as made of light. Report an error

41:29 Just think of yourself as hollow, like a rainbow. You can feel the definition of the outside of your body, but it's actually just made of light and air and breath. And Report an error

41:54 then one last thing before we're just going to sit and be quiet is then, it's very helpful if you put a little smile in the center of your chest. And feel like your chest is smiling. That you have a little, almost like a little smile on your face. And think of something happy. Report an error

42:19 And think of yourself surrounded by a sea of beings. And by your breathing, you're making them all happy. Report an error

42:34 Making yourself happy first. Report an error

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46:13 So then once we've kind of established that we have this hollow light body and we've had some practice looking at our breath, we can think to ourselves. Report an error

46:28 Much I would like for myself to be happy, to be free of these problems. And not only that, but if I'm just free of my problems and everyone else has problems around me, then I can't be really very happy. Report an error

46:46 So I want everyone to be free of all their problems in their lives. Report an error

46:57 But for this I need some help. Report an error

47:03 So since we've been introduced to Tara, we're going to call. For Tara to please come to this space in this room to Report an error

47:16 be here and to give us some experience and blessings of Mother Tara. Report an error

47:33 So I'm going to call Tara and some of you know how to do this too so you can do it with me. Aum, please Report an error

47:48 Great hero. Report an error

47:58 A teacher pure Report an error

48:09 Transcription by Report an error

48:15 Destruction Report an error

48:19 Self are risen Report an error

48:27 wisdom of emptiness that So Report an error

48:55 just like when we were a child and we ran to our... Whoever was our caregiver when we were hurt, that's kind of how we turned to Tara, like, please Tara, come and take care of me, I need help. Report an error

49:13 So then what we do is we visualize in the space, probably behind me, there's a lotus flower appears. It's a mini-colored lotus flower. And on top of that is a moon disk, which means it's like, you know, not round like the moon is, but you know when you look up at the moon in the sky and it looks flat? Report an error

49:38 So it's like a shining, flat moon. And on top of that sits Tara. And she's pretty much like a human being, except she's made of light. And we can visualize her as big as we want. Let's think of her about the size of Choki, you know, like about seven feet tall. And she's completely made of light, and she's the most beautiful green, whatever your favorite color green is. Report an error

50:06 She's that color green. And she's sitting... Not quite cross-legged. Her right leg is somewhat stretched out. And the reason it's like that is because Tara, being the mother that she is, she's always ready to jump up at any moment to help anyone who asks for her help. Report an error

50:30 And so her left leg is kind of in like she's cross-legged and the right one is slightly out. And her right hand is at her knee with the palm open Report an error

50:45 Granting the sublime realizations in everything that you need. And then her left hand is at her heart, holding, symbolizing that she holds all of the Buddhist teachings in her heart. She has all the realizations of enlightenment. And also from her hand is the stem of a blue utpali flower. It's a blue flower, kind of like a lotus, that sits above her left shoulder. And she has long, dark hair. Report an error

51:16 And a beautiful face and a tiara, you know, like a crown. And some of her hair is piled up on top of her head and some of it's hanging down. And there's actually a moon, a little moon in her hair that shines, showing that she has the great all-compassion, wisdom, realizations. Report an error

51:41 And she's got earrings, beautiful earrings of golden... And her crown is of golden. She has three eyes. She has a third eye. And she has on a beautiful golden necklace. And she has gold around her waist. And she has gold on her bracelets and anklets. And she's completely dressed in like see-through, silken, diaphanous cloth. Report an error

52:12 And you can put whatever face you like, the face of whoever you want to put, the most beautiful face. It can be your mother, your own mother if you love your mother. But we don't generally do that, but just a beautiful face. And the main thing is to just feel like that this being is here to help us, to relieve us from all of our difficulties. Report an error

52:53 Supplicate her, which means we welcome her, that she's here. And we bow to her with great respect because this amazing being has come to be with us, a shining light. Report an error

53:08 And then from our own side, not because Tara needs anything, but because we want to create a connection with Tara, we're going to offer Tara things. So I'd like you to visualize, you know... And visualize, you don't really, don't strain to see anything, just imagine, you know, just think to yourself. Whatever it is, the things that you really enjoy in this life, whether it be, you know, your friends, the music on your iPod, you know, if you like to go bike riding or if you like to dance or surf or, you know, whatever it is that makes you happy, you know, talking to your friends, your cell phones, you know. Report an error

53:50 Your computer games, I don't know what you like, but whatever you like, just open your heart and just give it to Tara. Report an error

54:08 Also the things that you're most attached to, it's really like maybe your spouse or your house or your car or the car that you'd like to have. things that... Report an error

54:21 you know, that, that being BMW Z3 or whatever they are, those cute little cars. Whatever you think you'd really like to see happen in your life, you can offer those things. These are called the outer offerings. Traditionally we offer flowers and incense and lights and perfume, food and music. So we can offer all those things. Report an error

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55:20 And then we can offer the entire universe. Report an error

55:25 And there's this little prayer we sing called the Mandala Offering. I think some of you have it, but you don't have to stop meditating. It's on a piece of paper handout. It goes like this. Let's see. The ground is blessed with scent and with flowers strewn, adorned. With Mount Meru the foreland Sun and moon Report an error

56:02 Transformed as a pure land And offer May all wandering beings enjoy this This Buddha land. So then what we're doing is we're visualizing everything in the universe. You know, I always like to tell people, you know, everything in all the malls of San Jose, you just, you know, all across the universe, all that junk, you just offer it to Tara. Report an error

56:48 And then there's such a thing called an inner offering, and that's where we offer our problems. Our ignorance, our hatred, our greed, our jealousy, our pride, our relationship problems, our money problems, our job problems, our school problems, whatever problems. You just visualize that you're just putting them in a little bubble and offering them up to Tara and saying, please take these and Report an error

57:19 help me solve these problems. Report an error

57:31 You can be quite specific, it doesn't have to be, I mean I'm saying generic because there's 40 people here, but you can put your specific things that you really need to work on, just think about them and offer them up. Report an error

57:49 Whether it's a health problem or money, like I said, whatever is the issue in your life right now, just kind of encapsulate it and put it in a green bubble and offer it to Tara and just see it going up. She accepts it in her hands with complete loving kindness, happy to help you. Because she's completely gone beyond this realm, so nothing can harm her. Report an error

58:16 So we can give her all this stuff and she just transforms it into bliss. So we can think that as you offer these things up, it's just being transformed into a total blissful consciousness state. And Report an error

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59:14 not only do we offer our personal things, but we can also like big things like, please, we're going to offer you... The political situation in our country, please, you know, take it and turn it into bliss. And, you know, Seichen Ling, just rain, you know, Dharma centers always need money. So just like, please, you know, help this center grow and flourish and all the people that are here, may they work in harmony and Geshe-la's success and just all goodness, you know, we offer that on up. Report an error

59:49 And we do this always for all sentient beings. So then we can just think of... Everybody in the world, their problems, we're going to just give them all to Tara right now because she has a limitless capacity for accepting and helping. Report an error

1:00:18 All those objects of my mind's three poisons, coveted, friend, foe, and stranger, body wealth, worldly pleasures. Without a feeling of loss, I surrender. Report an error

1:00:53 Receive them, please and free all beings from their bondage. Report an error

1:01:07 And then we just think everything is being offered to the Guru Tara. And then also remember that Tara is also a manifestation, the nature of our own enlightened Buddha mind that's always residing within us. We just have to create the cause to recognize it. Report an error

1:01:37 So the main thing about meditation is faith and motivation and intention. Report an error

1:01:47 And there's so much neuroscience now that says that this stuff works. So just suspend any... Concepts you have about religion or whatever. Just think of this as pure science, that this works. If you imagine something, it happens. Report an error

1:02:28 So then, you know, we've offered everything to Tara, all our outer, inner, everything's been offered. And so now we make a request that she then, you know, bless us to receive these blessings to whatever it is that we've offered. And we've quite requested that she comes and creates the cause for that to happen by blessing our body, speech and mind. Report an error

1:02:50 So then what we, let's just sit for a minute first and just remember a hollow body made of light. And Report an error

1:03:10 remember I said there's a central channel that's like a thermometer that opens at the bottom. Well it actually runs from the top of your crown of your head down to the tip of your spine. Report an error

1:03:24 And we have a subtle nervous system that's kind of very much like... Our circulatory system or our gross nervous system and that it has veins and arteries. It's just that you can't see it with the human eye. But yogis can see it and even some healers can see these things. And so within this subtle nervous system are these plexus, sort of like grand central stations where these subtle channels come together and they're called chakras. Report an error

1:03:55 And so we have one, so I want you to visualize these things, please, if you will. At the crown of your head, we're just going to visualize kind of like a flat wheel, like an old-fashioned wagon wheel, and it's white. Report an error

1:04:18 And then in the middle of our throat, just in front of your spine, there's another one that's red. And Report an error

1:04:28 then still going down your spine, in the middle of your sternum, but actually back towards your spine. It's a blue one and this place I told you that's four finger widths below your belly button is another one and that's a yellow one and at the very base of your spine is a green one. Report an error

1:04:55 So let's just think about those for a minute. We have white, red, blue, yellow and green and we're just going to light them up so they're like little laser lights and you can imagine them The size of a pea or the size of a mustard seed or the size of a quarter. Whatever works for your mind because the main thing is to keep your mind relaxed and not try hard. Report an error

1:05:27 In fact, if this doesn't even work for you and it's like trouble, just know they're there and don't worry about it Report an error

1:05:38 because everybody's different. Report an error

1:05:43 So we're continuing with our hollow body and we're breathing and we're breathing being aware of the base of our spine and we have these chakras. Report an error

1:05:54 And if you study more about Tara and you get initiated into her practices and you learn much more about this, but this is all I'm going to say for now. Report an error

1:06:32 And Tara has these same places on her body. Report an error

1:06:44 And there's also one at the brow, where our third eye is. And what we're going to visualize is that from Tara, because we've made these offerings and requests, and we've asked her to come here, and she always, if you ask, she always comes. Report an error

1:07:01 Then from Tara's... This crown, there's all this white light that's going to come and go to our crown and energize it. Report an error

1:07:16 And what this does is it purifies any obstacles and negativities we have with our body, any sickness or disease, and Report an error

1:07:32 any negative actions we've created with our bodies. Report an error

1:07:48 And just imagine some kind of enjoyable feelings. Think about something enjoyable and just allow yourself to feel... Enjoyment. Something happy. Report an error

1:08:10 And then from the throat, the red chakra at Tara's throat, red light rays and nectars. It's sort of like, you know when a headlight goes through the fog and you see like the kind of little droplets of fog but they've got light in them? It's like that. But this is red light. It's going to come right into your throat. And any problems you have with speech. Report an error

1:08:36 Like say you tend to exaggerate some or sometimes we lie or we have harsh speech or we gossip too much or any kind of difficulty. Say you're shy or you have difficulty speaking. Maybe you stutter. Any kind of negativities with your speech, you're completely purified with that. Report an error

1:09:03 And again, remember something that makes you happy and feel some kind of joy. Report an error

1:09:17 And also we can receive the blessings of the Buddha speech, of Tara's speech, like she's empowering you to speak with Tara's speech, only loving, compassionate speech. Report an error

1:09:44 And then from Tara's heart, there's blue light rays coming in nectars. And they go right into your heart and just blast away all of your sorrow and depression. And all the ways that you get down on yourself and limit yourself by thinking I'm not good enough, I didn't do that, why wasn't I born here? All the thoughts that you have that limit yourself from feeling the wonderful, beautiful, glorious person that you truly are. Report an error

1:10:23 Just put aside all those wrong view thoughts. I mean it's sure we make mistakes but none of us are bad people. We're all good people. We all have the capacity to develop loving kindness and wisdom. And all that other garbage stuff can be washed away and just changed when we change our habits. Report an error

1:10:49 So we're just like, it's all this blue light. It's just getting rid of all that low self-esteem. I can't do this. I'm bad at that. Report an error

1:11:08 And filling us, empowering us with the heart and mind of the deity, Report an error

1:11:20 Buddha's mind. I can realize my own. Buddha potential. And I can believe in myself. I can believe in my goodness. Report an error

1:11:44 And then from Tara's below her belly button, it's exposed. When you see a picture of Tara, she has like hip hugger loose silk pants on. And she doesn't have a shirt on either. She just has like this silk shawl. She's just like really seductively beautiful. And from her navel then, green lights are coming. Report an error

1:12:10 And purifying all the stuff in our digestive system that makes us sick. And all the worries. And just purifies all these things Report an error

1:12:28 that hold us back from having pure activities. So this purifies, the idea of this is purifying our activities so that whatever we do, we're always doing it with a pure motivation. And it's always going to be a benefit to ourself and others. Report an error

1:12:53 From eating, sleeping, walking, working, typing, listening, talking, everything is completely done with pure motivation and pure activity. So the result is always to be of benefit to others. And ultimately, enlightenment. Report an error

1:13:21 So feel your whole navel area being energized, firing up your digestion and healing yourself to have perfect action. Report an error

1:13:36 I'm sorry, I've used the wrong light. It's yellow there. It's yellow light. Jumping the gun. Because yellow is the energy of digestion too. Report an error

1:14:08 And then finally from the base of the spine to the base of our spine we energize the root chakra. And this purifies our fear. Report an error

1:14:28 And I think there's this great quote you may have heard from Nelson Mandela. I should have brought it. But basically what Nelson Mandela says is that our greatest fear... As being the great people that we are. Report an error

1:14:47 We're such a shame-based society that we feel ashamed to be who we are. So this purifies that and gives us the perfection of all of our enjoyments, perfect enjoyments, that we're able to enjoy life without feeling ashamed of ourselves because we're doing it not with a selfish motivation but to be able to benefit all sentient beings so then we can have pure enjoyments. Report an error

1:15:14 Because the path to enlightenment is not easy, so we have to allow ourselves to enjoy ourselves along the way. Report an error

1:15:28 So then we're going to see the white, the red, the blue, the yellow and the green lights. This whole room is now just filled with laser lights like a light show, going and filling up everybody's body with white, red, yellow, white, red, blue, yellow and green light. Coming from Tara, she's like a street light, you know, shining out these lights. And then it's going from us to all sentient beings throughout infinite space so that they also receive these blessings. Report an error

1:16:06 And so if there's somebody in your life that's sick, you can include them here. Or somebody who needs a job or needs money or needs a house or whatever they need and just feel like all the needs are being taken care of. Report an error

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1:17:26 And then these lights absorb into our chakras and energize them and they stop being emitted from Tara. And then we can rejoice and just kind of think how wonderful it is that we have this opportunity to be introduced to Tara and her practice. And Report an error

1:17:52 the most important thing then to think about is just this motivation to attain enlightenment for all sentient beings. then with that, Tara. Because she's made of light, she begins to dissolve from the top down and from the bottom up until she dissolves. There's a tiny little blue tara in her heart. Report an error

1:18:17 It's about the size of your little fingernail. Report an error

1:18:24 And then she comes to the crown of each one of our heads and each one of all the beings around us and comes in through the crown of our head down through this channel I told you about. And we can visualize at our heart a little lotus at our heart with the moon on it. And Tara comes and sits in the moon at our heart and then the lotus closes up around her and we feel totally safe and protected and we will not receive harm. Report an error

1:19:19 And then at the end of every meditation that you do, there's two things that you always do. You start with this motivation to attain enlightenment for all sentient beings. And then you end by dedicating it. Because you remember how I said how Buddha had this big bank account that takes care of all your spiritual needs. Report an error

1:19:40 It's like we all have our own little spiritual bank account. It's just Buddha's is huge. So when you dedicate it, it's like that energy of enlightenment, of goodness, of wisdom, these things that we're generating, of this purity, this pure body that we've created. Because this subtle energy body is a real thing. Report an error

1:20:00 And I've just introduced you to it and you can work with it and cultivate it and it will actually help you become not only mentally healthy but physically healthy. But what you do is like if you dedicate it then, you dedicate this energy of being in this room together and doing this practice together for all sentient beings to become enlightenment. Report an error

1:20:19 Or you can also say that I myself will attain the state of Tara, that I myself will become Tara or I myself will become Buddha. In order to be of great benefit to sentient beings, then it's like you store up that energy in your life and you just become more and more empowered with the ability to make right decisions and be clear and help people and be clear with yourself and your life just gets more forceful, more powerful. Report an error

1:20:48 Because it doesn't matter, you know, what you do in the life, if you don't have that spiritual power, your life is very difficult. And so, know... Lama Yeshe used to talk about this as universal education because it's education for the universe. I mean, everybody needs to be tapped into this part of existence so that we can make our lives more meaningful, more powerful, more fun and more compassionate no matter what it is that you're doing. Report an error

1:21:21 So, I think we'll stop the meditation there. I hope it wasn't too long for you guys. If it was, I'm sorry. Report an error

1:21:37 I wanted to say a little bit about karma. Report an error

1:21:46 Because I've got about five minutes. And what I'd like to say is that what Report an error

1:21:58 makes this different? What makes Buddhism different from other kind of things like this? Is that there's two things that you kind of have to understand. And one is... The idea of karma and interdependent origination. Because Buddhism, even though we're talking about Tara, like she's a deity and she's like a goddess, which she is. Report an error

1:22:26 But what we have to understand is Buddhism is a non-theistic tradition, which means there isn't a god. There's just us. There's just the karmic appearance. There's just causes and conditions coming together that we happen to be humans. Report an error

1:22:46 And the difference that that makes is that when you have a theistic situation, there's always something outside yourself that's the cause of why you experience what you experience. You know, God did it. My mother did it. My boyfriend did it. You know. And so what that does is that sets up a situation for you to be a victim. Report an error

1:23:12 And that's very disempowering. And what's so beautiful about Buddhism is it's totally empowering to yourself. It's like, I create my reality. You know, we can spend our whole lives adjusting to this world that somebody else made for us. Or we can create the world that we want to live in. And when you understand that we create our environment, we create what we experience, then that means we can change what we experience. Report an error

1:23:44 What Buddha talked about, and I don't have the time and space to get into all this, but it's not the kind of thing where, oh, my life's miserable, I created that, therefore I'm bad. It's not like that. I mean, what it's more like is that we all make mistakes and we're all ignorant, and because we don't know the causes of happiness, and because we have this ignorance that makes myself separate from others and makes me... Report an error

1:24:12 I become more selfish, and so we do things that we think are going to make us happy, but in actual fact, because they're based on a selfish motivation, they just create the cause for future suffering. Report an error

1:24:24 Because karma means the law of cause and effect. It means what you do now creates a future experience. All you've got to do is look at science to know that that works. It's completely true in all the world around us, so why isn't it true for the human mind? Why are we different? than the rest of the natural world. We aren't. We're part of the natural world. So if you plant a seed and you put water on it and you do, you know, it's going to grow and our minds are the same. Report an error

1:24:51 We have seeds in our minds and everything we do creates more seeds. And so when we are being selfish, we're creating seeds. The Bible did talk about what you reap, what you sow. It's that idea that what you... Do now creates the cause for what you're going to experience in the future. And so if you're having a difficult situation now, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. It just means that you made some ignorant choices in the past, that you probably chose something in some past life that you thought was the right thing, but maybe it caused harm to somebody else. Report an error

1:25:30 Maybe you needed some money, so you stole from somebody else. Or maybe you fell in love with somebody, so you stole somebody else's boyfriend. You know, well, that's going to ripen for you to have your boyfriend stolen from you or for somebody to steal from you. So the idea is don't get all bent out of shape about it. Report an error

1:25:47 You know, it's just like, okay, this happened. There's not that much I can do about what's happening to me now because I created those causes in the past. But what I can do now is create the cause for future happiness. And so as much as I can, from now on, I'm just going to create the cause for future happiness. So how do I do that? Will I be good to other people? Because if I'm good to other people, they're going to be good back to me. Report an error

1:26:10 And the reason why tantra, and that's kind of a sūtra way of looking at it, but the way tantra is so profound is because we have beings like Tara who manifest for us. And even though we're told it's really just part of our own consciousness, but... Because it's sort of like, because we've all, so many people have been thinking about it, it's almost like there's a force field out there, you know, some kind of quantum physics thing. There's like this Tara energy that actually does exist outside of ourselves. Report an error

1:26:39 And so the thing is about what happens is, is when you do practices with Tara, it's sort of like, more like nuclear energy instead of walking. So it's like, you know, being good to people, it creates the cause for future happiness is more like walking. But when you do these tantric practices, it's like it creates huge amounts of good energy, especially when you do it with bodhicitta motivation because you're doing it for all sentient beings. Report an error

1:27:06 So that creates the cause for future happiness in a big time, you know, like, you know, big way, you know. And so that's why we do tantric practices. It's not because, you know, we, you know, want to... Go off in a cave and visualize deities all day long. It's because we want to create some power fast, some strong power to empower ourselves to be good people to make the world a better place. Report an error

1:27:30 And so that's why it's important, you know, if any of this rings any bells and, you know, something's going off and makes you happy, then it's important, you know, to seek out, learn these practices because... It's like a very powerful way to create future conditions for yourself and all beings to live in harmonious environments with people that love us, with all the conditions that we need and be able to help other people. Report an error

1:27:56 So that's kind of why we do TAR practice and that's why I'm here, just so I can help you learn about it. So it's lunchtime. So let's just, we call it dedicating the merit, so we dedicate our positive potential of an introduction to Tara this morning, that all our wishes will come true, that all beings will be enlightened, put it into all the wars, into all the diseases, for the Dharma to flourish, for all our teachers to have long lives, and for all our families to be prosperous and happy and all goodness in the world. Report an error

1:28:32 So thank you so much for listening to me. I hope it was okay for you. So we'll meet back again at 2 o 'clock. Is that right? Yeah, 2 o 'clock. So I think there's food here, right? Did I serve food here? Yeah. So, yeah. Tantric practice is for people who are committed enough to Buddhism to take some vows. Report an error

1:28:57 But there's a couple of tantric practices that you don't need to make that level of commitment. Report an error

1:29:08 And I think one of them is Tara, and another one is Chinrezig practice, and another one is Medicine Buddha practice. And the reason for this is because they're so beneficial that I think Tara gave people permission. I don't know if it's like, it just doesn't stick on my ear very well. Because now I see it's too high. When I put it on my ear, it's up by my eye, you know. Report an error

1:29:42 Oh, okay. No, I don't mind being uncomfortable. I just thought if it's up by my eye. Oh, yeah, put that there. Thanks, Janet. Okay. It just feels like there's some little bug, you know, like... Anyway, the deal, the main thing, you know, about serious tantric practice is you actually visualize yourself as the deity. Report an error

1:30:07 And that's what, that's for more... But as long as you just visualize Tara in front of you and you are your ordinary self, you don't need an empowerment to do tantric practice. So the puja that we're going to do this afternoon, I think we're going to do it. mean, it's pretty, know, it's... It's very powerful and it's kind of hard, I guess, you know, but it's like if you stick with it, you really feel it when it's done. So it's like worth it. Report an error

1:30:41 It's like everything else. If you apply yourself to it, you get a great result. But that, it's called the four mandala offerings to Tara Chittimani. And that one you actually, you know, should have an initiation because when you do it, you visualize yourself as Tara. But as far as I know, anybody can do it as long as still they just visualize Tara in front. Report an error

1:31:02 So those three ones anyone can do. And it's good to do because, you see, the thing about tantric practice is it creates so much positive potential that it helps you with your other practice. And it also gets you more familiar with tantric practice so that when you're ready to take the vows and take a big initiation, then you're... Report an error

1:31:23 You know, you're more ready and you're more prepared. And the other thing is there's different levels of tantric practice. There's four different types of tantra. And the lowest level of tantra, called Kriya Tantra, is not that advanced and it's not that difficult. And really, none of it's all that advanced and difficult. The difficult part is when you take a tantric empowerment, you generally have a commitment to do that practice every day for the rest of your life. Report an error

1:31:48 That's the difficult part. It's not that the practice itself is difficult. It's just that you have to be committed to doing it for the rest of your life. Yeah, so that's the commitment. And usually the length of the commitment isn't that long, especially if it's just a Kriya Tantra. There's no six-session Guru Yoga commitment. Report an error

1:32:13 It's just that you have to be sure that you like it. So, I mean, it's kind of, that's why I think it's good to do tar practice, because then if you like it, then you go, oh, I want the initiation, because then, you see, it's way more powerful when you think of it, when you get the permission to see yourself as the deity, you know, because then you're the one, like, blessing everybody and all the lights are going out of your body, you know. Report an error

1:32:34 So, does that answer your question? Yeah, thank you. And you had a question? Yeah. to pass the asking for the recording. Report an error

1:32:45 I don't know if it's worth recording, but a basic question. Why is Tara green? Well, if, you know, I kind of, I'm going to say something first and then answer your question. Report an error

1:33:00 I prepared this thing because what I understood from Choki was she wanted something on each of the 21 Taras. And actually Tara comes in all colors. There's blue Tara, white Tara, red Tara, yellow Tara, black Tara, green Tara. But the most popular Tara is Green Tara because she's the one who accomplishes all the activities. Remember I talked about Tara as the one who takes care of everybody and if you need a house or if you need a job or if you need a car, if you're doing it with the right motivation, Tara will help you. Report an error

1:33:32 And that can't be your only motivation. It's like you can't do Tara practice because you're just... A worldly guy wants a car, it won't work. But if you're committed to the path to enlightenment and you need a car because you're working at LPP and you live on the other side of town and you've got to get a car so you can come to help the Liberation Prison Project, then you pray to Tara and you can get a car. Report an error

1:33:52 Do you understand the difference? It's not like you're just some guy who wants a Maserati. Tara's not going to help that guy. She helps people who have faith in the Dharma. And so the reason she's green is because green is the color of activity, of action. know? Report an error

1:34:07 So she's the action dakini. And like the white ones are more for peace, and the red ones are more for controlling, and the dark black ones are like for really wrathful activity. Like white tara, another really popular tara that you can also do without an initiation actually, and Dr. Rinpoche gave it today, is white tara. Report an error

1:34:27 And white tara is also a really beautiful practice. And see, green tara is more like, you know, you want to get something done, you know, that's Rabina, you know. you know but Report an error

1:34:37 But if you're like into this healing space and you're a massage therapist and you just want to be really chilled and you need to like, you know, run energy through your hands and heal people, then you're going to do white Tara because she's really peaceful and she has eyes on her palms where the energy comes out of her hands and she's a healing Tara. Report an error

1:34:54 So there's many different types of Tara with many different functions and I mean, I guess we should still do this. I mean, I have this thing, I made up this thing of what the 21 different Taras do. And. Report an error

1:35:08 But we're not going to do that just yet. And you'll see that there's gold ones and red ones and yellow ones and all different Taras. But this particular green Tara is like the most popular Tara of Tibet. She's like the mother protector. Do you want to say anything about it, Warren? Go ahead. Warren's a big Tara. I'll take it from a slightly different track to answer that question. Report an error

1:35:40 Green stems from her appellation Shyama and this Sanskrit word means green but it also means blue and it actually means dark. It applies to a number of different aspects of the deity but Shyama Tara is green Tara and she apparently was perhaps the earliest recognized Tara in Indian Buddhism years before it got to Tibet. Report an error

1:36:07 The white Tara is, of course, extraordinarily popular and adored all over Mongolia. Yeah, right, because Tara Natham. Whether or not the wrathful emanations of Tara came before the peaceful emanations is discussed by many different scholars with no conclusions to be determined. Oh, yeah, that reminds me. There's this book here in Praise of Tara. Report an error

1:36:30 And, Report an error

1:36:33 It's a good book, but if you want a book on Tara, I'd get Tipton Children's book, because that book is more like a scholarly book, and it's really kind of like, you know, this scholar says this, and this scholar says that, and it's not really like a book that really just tells you about Tara. It's not like a nice story, you know, like Tipton Children. Her book's really quite good. And the other one is more, talks about... Report an error

1:36:56 You know, the 21 Taras, and this person says this, and this person says that. But it is quite a good scholarly work, and it does have some very interesting prayers in the back of it, but it's a little bit more like what Warren's talking about. You know, the Sanskrit says this, and this says that, and like that. What? Tipton Children's? Yeah. Her books are good, yeah. Report an error

1:37:18 Okay, the only other two cents is that there are 21 emanations. Talking to the microphone. Oh, the 21 emanations of... Whatever is primordial Tara, probably originate from the 21 Tara praises, which the Tibetans have made their own very, very much, and drawn an aspect from each individual praises. Right, that's what we're going to do, yeah. And some of the lineages give them each a different color, not all of them. Every lineage has a slightly different color. Report an error

1:37:47 Well, that's the thing, when you read the different, the thing, well, I don't want to get into this too much, but... Tibet was a big country and everyone was isolated. They didn't even have cars. They didn't communicate with each other. So it's like every little valley has its own little brand. And so some of the Taras are different colors in different valleys. But it's like you don't really have to worry about that too much. The main thing we want to concentrate on is just that we're working with green Tara and these 21 different aspects of Tara. Report an error

1:38:15 And the reason there are these 21 Taras is because... Like Lauren was saying, one of the most popular, if not the most popular practice in Tibet, besides like guru yoga, is reciting these praises to the 21 Taras, which we're going to do. And that's why I wrote a little bit about each of the 21. And each one of these comes from their praise. And so one thing I thought, you know, actually I had an idea that at some point, you know, while we're reciting the praises, you could stop the recitation and just read. Report an error

1:38:49 Each one, so you can get a feeling for them. If we have time, what I was thinking was, Warren wrote his own version, translation of the Praises to the 21 Taras, and he wrote, he's a musician, and so I was thinking, well, we could chant them, or maybe he could chant them, or he and I and a few of us could chant them, and you could just read the one, so then you could get an idea, but I think we're not going to have time. Report an error

1:39:13 See what the time is. But anyway, let's move on, because... The afternoon will get away from us. So any more questions? Okay, so green Tara. So part of what Tara does is she fulfills all our wishes. And when I first finished my last long retreat, some election was coming up, and my friend Alicia and I were doing Tara practice to try and make a good outcome for the election. Report an error

1:39:46 And then Lama Zopa showed up one day just out of the blue and said, what are you doing that for? You should be reading the Golden Light Sūtra. So just because we're all here and we have the opportunity, it won't take long, that's what I wanted to do after lunch was read the Golden Light Sūtra. And so what we can do to incorporate it with Tara is like we'll sit for not very long, just like a few seconds, and invoke Tara. Report an error

1:40:09 And then what we want to be thinking of is that as we're reciting the sūtra, That the sūtra words are going to be going out in all directions through Tara's blessings to all over the world. And the way this works is that we all get a few pages and we all recite simultaneously. So it's just this loud cacophony of sound while we're all reciting. And the main thing we want to do is just have the intention that we're making world peace. Report an error

1:40:39 And what happens is that it actually does create... Thoughts actually have very subtle forms that go out and the more we do it, the more it creates the seed and the consciousness of beings for there to be peace in the world. Because according to quantum physics, every thought we have affects everybody else. So if we are thinking peace, then it will actually manifest peace. Report an error

1:41:08 And I think that one of the things that I find very comforting about doing this is that... You know, I've tried to be a political person, you know, like go out marching and doing all these things. And it's just kind of not my style. It doesn't. But like I said, everything, nothing comes without creating the cause. Report an error

1:41:26 So it's sort of like if we can create the cause for peace, if we can create the causes and the mind streams of the people of the United States, then when the political people go out to do their work, then their activity can bear fruit. Do you understand? But if we haven't created the cause, it doesn't matter how many letters you write to your congressman, it's not going to happen. Because the cause hasn't been created. Report an error

1:41:53 So the beauty about this is that we can create the cause for that letter to affect that congressman or to maybe get all the people who don't vote go out and vote. Because one of the things we need to think about is the people need to vote. So let's pass it out. So there's 40, what do you say? Okay, so 36 into 100 goes how many times? Three times, three pages each? Three times six is, yeah. Yeah, that's good enough, three pages eight. Report an error

1:42:28 So I'll take the first, there's 40, so that's a little bit, so two, so I'll still, how are we going to do this? Have you got another copy? You've got another copy, right? Oh, no, you can't, no, it doesn't matter, we don't have time. Well, some people will get two and some people will get three. So if you're a fast reader, Take three. And if you're a slow reader, take two. Report an error

1:42:57 No, whatever. Just pass them out quickly. Report an error

1:43:09 And if you finish your pages and the person next to you is slow, just take their page. We're all going to read it out loud at the same time. Report an error

1:43:27 And if the sitting is getting a bit much, you can stand up when you read this if you want to, so you don't have to sit the whole time. Report an error

1:43:43 And if you finish, start reading it again and then we'll get it read twice. Report an error

1:44:00 I Report an error

1:44:05 thought it was like somebody's cell phone or something. Report an error

1:44:17 Yeah, that's okay. Just stay as long as you can. Report an error

1:44:30 No, wait until everybody gets passed out. Where did they already start? You don't have to start. Let's wait until everyone gets passed out. Report an error

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1:45:07 I will. I'm fast. Give them back to me. somebody's going to have to read a couple extra. Report an error

1:45:14 I'll take some more, Allison. Report an error

1:45:31 How did they end up with pages 46 and 101? Report an error

1:45:40 Okay, have you got 46? I got 47. Oh, here, okay, all right. Okay, I'll take four if someone else didn't want me. Oh, you can do it there. You can take one more. And you can take one more. I can do it. Perfect. Report an error

1:45:34 don't know, I won. I don't know. Sorry. I don't know. It disrupts the clock. Report an error

1:45:50 Okay, so let's get everybody's attention. So what we want to do is first, as always, we take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Report an error

1:46:04 And then we generate the bodhicitta motivation, which is that we wish for there to be world peace in the world so that all the people can practice Dharma and be free from suffering and attain enlightenment as quickly as possible. Report an error

1:46:19 And so for this reason, to create world peace and stop the wars and elect good leaders. This is mainly what this does is it elects good leaders. So we need that. I think we should be doing it every day next year. So with this motivation, we're going to read the Sūtra of Golden Light. So let's go. I'll start. I'll read the title and the first chapter. Report an error

1:46:44 The King of Glorious Sutras called the Exalted Sublime Golden Light. Okay, now wait a minute, I forgot. We're going to ask Tara to come back again, not that she actually left, but visualize Tara. And this time we're going to visualize Tara like on top of Seichen Ling, like she's this big beacon and there's this like light, you know, green light going out in all directions with the words of the sūtra golden light going out all over the world, okay? Report an error

1:47:07 So now we'll start. The King of Glorious Sutras called the Exalted Sublime Golden Light a Mahāyāna Sūtra. So now let's all start. Chapter 1. The chapter on the preamble to the King of Glorious Sutras is Sublime Golden Light. Homage to all past, future and present Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Patekya Buddhas and Shravakas. Report an error

1:47:27 Thus I have heard at one time the Tathāgata in the Buddha's domain of experience, a profound sphere of reality at Vulture's Peak expounded to the Supreme Bodhisattvas who are pure and stainless. This King of Glorious Sutras is a sublime golden light which is extremely profound upon hearing and profound upon examination. The Buddhas in the four directions confer their blessings. Blessings from Akshaba in the East, Kratnakeju in the South, Amitabha in the West, Dundu, Bishwara in the North, Anurjus Tungish, Alam Huls and Deeds, I will proclaim. Report an error

1:47:51 This auspicious, blime discourse that exhausts all negative karma, grants all peace and happiness, completely eliminates suffering which is adorned with all that is glorious. It is the foundation of missions, granting blessings. This I shall explain to any beings whose sins are defective, whose life expectancy is ended and was fading, whom the gods have turned against, who are burdened by misfortune, hated by their loved ones, oppressed by sales of servants, and colleagues of one another, afflicted with decline in material wealth, restricted and miserable. Report an error

1:48:12 Ridden with fear and stricken by power, retold by stars, planetary bodies, and fierce demonic spirits, where we see excruciating nightmares, follow grief and fatigue, and should bathe well to render themselves clean and listen to the sublime Tara. Should those with virtuous intent and pure mind adorn themselves well in clean garments, then listen to the Sūtra, the profound experience, the domain of Buddha's experience, or the awe-inspiring power of the Sūtra, the suffering of all creatures, the likes of which cannot be endured, will forever be pacified. Report an error

1:48:35 Protection will be offered to them by the guardians of the world, their ministers, their army chiefs, students, and thousands and millions of yaks, just the great goddess Sarasvati. The goddess who dwells in Naranjana, of Hariti, mother of Buddhas, the goddess Durda, the Rama kings and the kings of the 33, the powerful kings of servants, kings of Qunaras, kings of Asuras, and why close the kings of the Gurdas, there are their clients, and might will arrive along with their mouths, and until only day and night. Report an error

1:48:57 Have protection to beings, I will clearly expound this sūtra on the profound, the domain of the Buddha's experience, the secret of all the Buddhas, difficult to find, in tens of millions and beyond. Those who hear this sūtra, those who cause other sūtra, those who rejoice upon hearing. Thank you. is a warm suture. Those who listen to the suture will be a claim among humans, obtain an excellent human existence of a life, and comfort those into his ears. This blind discourse is echoed, will have merit, roots, refined, and numerous Buddhas will extol them. Report an error

1:49:38 The beings who plant a virtue before thousands Thank you. sharp wisdom by the name of the King, Gloria, Suitspa, I'm going to live in this evening. Conceivable wealth of wisdom, possess excellent energy in their present life, and enjoy increasing life force. Come to all the conceivable mass of merit. Seek various creative methods to be learned and involved. Treatise and know excellent expertise in various arts and crafts. Report an error

1:49:56 I'll explain the art of bathing, blessed with mantra, an aromatic medicine, for the wealth of the bhikshu expounds the dharma, and for beings who listen to the dharma, they will pacify all afflictions, caused by planets, shooting stars, breath, and death, will bring them into conflict, squirrels, wars, disorders, nightmares, afflictions from Vinayagin, all sources and zombies, there are aromatic medicines and mantras which say, Report an error

1:50:18 Soja, Shalaki, Guglu, Tagara, Patra, Shalela, Chantana, Manashila, Masarachana, Krista, Kunkuma, Musta, Shoshapa, Nalada, Chavya, Sugismala, Shishira, and Agassara, wishing propitious the star of your life, take these new evil portions and consecrate the powder with this much hundred times. Report an error

1:50:55 Thank you. They are two with four maids, fully adorned wearing vases, always intense with Dewey and when we play the five-feel of music, thoroughly adorned the Protestant bells, speak to bears with flags, intervals, place mirrors, arrows, and spears, enjoy a mountain embark and battle once to be done, sign the following month to start the boundary delimination, sign, sign Thank you. Report an error

1:51:56 do my soho. Take of the pictures, pounds of armor, those who loosen, those who write down on a circle of that bed and set together with all the hosts that will illuminate all the disease from temples. Religious sitting down is a completely pathway to affliction filled by planets, strife, corals, stars, birth, nightmares, afflictions from venaya, detractors, all sources of the body that the life force of pictures, pictures of all the schemes of sutras, the sisters that receive relief from saṃsāra, fancy rivers of perfect pure state of complete alignment, be so pleased. Report an error

1:52:18 Night in the perfect pure state of the Buddha said, inside I got a place got a certain distance So nice to meet you. Cheers Thank you. Report an error

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1:53:23 Thank Report an error

1:53:31 you. material well-being to the variety of useful We'll experience happiness and we'll enjoy the food and drink. We'll enjoy the food and drink. We'll enjoy the food and the food and the food and the food and the food. If you finish, just keep visualizing the lights going out from Tara, bringing world peace. Report an error

1:54:03 from their separate homes separate plans Report an error

1:54:12 After hearing it, they will return to their respective plant, houses, villages, and towns. To those in their homes, and to one another, they will say, Today we have heard about Dharma. Today we hold an inconceivable mass of merit. The act of listening to the Dharma has delayed hundreds of thousands of millions of tons of gods. By listening to the Dharma today, beings in the house will be completely free. Beings in the world of Yama, animals and hungry ghosts will be completely free too. Report an error

1:54:33 By listening to the Dharma today and the future for many hundreds of thousands of free birds, you will be reborn as gods and humans. If those who reside in separate homes were to show other beings even... example from the King of Glorious Sutras, the Sublime Golden Light, or were to make other beings here just one chapter from the King of Glorious Sutras, the Sublime Golden Light, one account of past events, the name of just one Bodhisattva, the name of one Tantaganda, one stanza of four lines, just one word, or even just the name of the King of Glorious Sutras, the Sublime Golden Light, or a venerable transcendent victor. Report an error

1:55:03 If these different beings in various places were to state the suit with various lines Okay, so Report an error

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1:57:30 then we just... Meditate on world peace and the causes for that particularly we need to elect some intelligent, compassionate, wise leaders. Report an error

1:57:43 And for that we need an educated, interested population. Report an error

1:57:59 So we dedicate the merits of reading the sūtra to those ends so that we can create harmony on this planet, not only political harmony but environmental harmony. Report an error

1:58:14 People who are doing work to stop polluting the planet and do something about the... CO2 emissions that are causing global warming and all the people who are working in the NGOs all around the country helping people who are homeless and need jobs and health care. All these things that create a harmonious environment for not only humans but for all the beings on the planet. May they have full funding for their projects and may they be free of obstacles, inner and outer obstacles. Report an error

1:58:52 And may we have a... A gloriously wholesome, harmonious, peaceful planet where people actually begin to think more of others rather than themselves and where greediness becomes something of the past. Report an error

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2:00:13 So then once again the Tara that's on the top of the building melts into a very small Tara that comes to the crown of our heads and enters into our crown and rests at the lotus and moon seat at our hearts. Report an error

2:00:29 And blessing us with the inner causes for peace, humility and generosity and equanimity and patience, joyous effort, wisdom, compassion, Report an error

2:00:53 ethical activity, Report an error

2:00:59 warm heart. Report an error

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2:01:40 Okay, thank you very much. I really appreciate this. It makes Lama Zopa Rinpoche extremely happy when we do this. So those of you who understand Guru Devotion. You can add a million points to your docket. Report an error

2:01:58 And Karen, do we have the, I think I asked for the four mandalas to Chitamanitara. Is that around handy? Report an error

2:02:11 I've decided we're not going to do the whole puja. No, we're going to use part of it. We're not going to use all of it because you can kind of get Dharma indigestion if you take on too much more than you can choose. So let's make it easy today. Report an error

2:02:34 I already drank one already. Report an error

2:02:44 So what I'd like to do is go through these 21 praises. And whenever you're in trouble, you can just recite these. And there's also just a very short version as well. I mean, you don't have to, but this is what Tibetan people do. And so what we're going to do is we're going to read one at a time, and then we'll go over this list of the 21 taras. Report an error

2:03:13 And then we'll take a break, and then we'll actually come back and do the practice, okay? How does that sound? Report an error

2:03:27 Actually, what I'm looking for is, you know, that there's the four mandalas practice? No, this is just the 21. This is good for now, but, I mean, later I want to see that other one. Report an error

2:03:44 Okay, well, okay. Report an error

2:03:51 Okay, well, do you have a short tarapuja anywhere? Is this the only tarapuja you have? Report an error

2:04:00 No, but you don't have enough of them. Well, we can share, no worries. Oh, that's enough. Everybody can share. No, no, it's just all I want. Turn to page 189 in this book, Report an error

2:04:19 or you can pass these out too if there's not enough. Report an error

2:04:31 And if you get, you can use, I mean, it's easier. Just pass these out, and it's on page 8 in these books. So just make sure everybody's got one of the praises for now, and then when we get to the puja time, we can share. So, to start with this one, Report an error

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2:04:49 I'm sorry I didn't make a handout. It should have had a handout, though it had each praise, too, but I didn't do it that way. Next time. Report an error

2:05:03 So if you have the little fat book, it's page 189, and if you have the big book, it's page 8. Report an error

2:05:31 Yeah, Report an error

2:05:36 page 89. Report an error

2:05:44 They're also in this little green book. I think these are for sale. So if you're interested in Green Tara, you can buy one of these books. Report an error

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2:06:31 everybody get a book? Everybody's good. Report an error

2:06:41 Okay, so, you know, in order to receive the blessings of the Venerable Tara, we're going to learn a little bit about the 21 Taras today. So, it starts just by saying homage to the Venerable Aritara. And I believe there are, like, CDs available that just play this over and over and over again, so you can just, like, listen to it, too. And the first one is just homage to the Venerable Aritara. Report an error

2:07:08 So, obviously, that's just, you know, paying homage to Tara. And so the first one says, So what that's talking about is, this is actually the first Tara, the green Tara. And actually, Report an error

2:07:38 I'm wrong. It's not. It's Tara number one. The first one is Hamish the Venerable Aritari. That's the green Tara. So this one says Hamish Tara Swift-Taroic. But what I was going to say, what is referring to the green Tara, or all Taras, and they say sprung from the opening stamens of the Lord of Three Worlds, Tear-Born Lotus. Report an error

2:07:56 What that's referring to is there's another Tibetan deity called Chinrezig. He's the deity of compassion. And some of the legends is that she actually was born from his tear. It's like he was so overwhelmed with compassion at looking at the suffering of sentient beings that he cried and his tear cried out this being Tara who has the green power activity to go out and do something to help sentient beings. Report an error

2:08:27 So that's what that's referring to. So this one is red and sits on a yellow lotus seat. And if you have a tanka of the 21 Taras, generally it's like... If Tara is here, yeah, but they're not all different colors. Report an error

2:08:49 But generally how it works is that the first one is down here, like at the bottom, and they go around a clockwise, so it's like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and then 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 are at the bottom. So we would be going around, did everybody follow me on that? So they go around like that. So if you had the tanke, you'd go like that and then the bottom ones. Report an error

2:09:19 And like the one that I have, it actually has all the different colored ones. So, yeah. Report an error

2:09:31 So this is, I don't know if you can see this, but this is, they go like this. These are the 21 Tauras. Report an error

2:09:42 No, they start at 6 o 'clock. They start at 6 o 'clock and go counterclockwise around and go back to 7 o 'clock and then they do the bottom row. This is a little bit different than the one I have. And if the colors here don't quite correspond, that's just because different traditions do different things. Report an error

2:10:05 And I noticed that even in the few that I was looking at, they were a little bit different. Let's see if... Chodron talks about them. Yeah, she has a whole commentary in here and everything. So this is actually, if you're interested, this is a very good book to have. So she has them in this book and she also has a thing about each one, you know, a little writing. Report an error

2:10:37 But all I'm basically going to do here is just tell you what the color is and like that. So the first one is red. And so then you get an idea of what they... Each one has their own particular specialty. I mean, they do everything. They all basically cover all the basis of clearing away obstacles and bringing what you want and subduing interferences and curing you and these kinds of things. Report an error

2:11:00 But each one then has its own particular specialty. So this one has the power to subdue interferences, particularly if they're coming from other people. Report an error

2:11:10 Okay, so that's that one. And then the next one is... Haman Shi, whose face combines a hundred autumn moons at fullest, blazing with light rays resplendent as a thousand star collection. So it's just praising her. You know, when you think of the Taras, they're as bright as stars. I mean, they're just really bright shining stars. And so this one is Saraswati, who is the consort of Manjushri. Report an error

2:11:34 And Manjushri was this male deity of wisdom. So she's the female deity of wisdom and she's often been like the deity of song. And you see her holding a Chinese guitar and she's white. Report an error

2:11:51 I don't know what you call the Chinese guitar, but you know that Chinese stringed instrument? Well, it's a stringed instrument, whatever it is. And this one is white and it says she calms infectious diseases and bestows the perfect wisdom to free sentient beings from cyclic existence. So you see, if you say this praise to L21, then you like getting all these different powers, you know? Report an error

2:12:14 So then the third one is homage, golden, blue, and lotus, water-born and hand-adorned, giving effort, calm, austerities, meditation, patience, her field. So this one is gold on a blue lotus with golden light coming from her. And she embodies the six perfections. That's what giving effort, calm, austerities, you know. And so what she does is she helps. The six perfections are when you're on the Bodhisattva path. Report an error

2:12:45 I'm not going to explain it all here, but that's what you're developing. So she helps people develop the six perfections. So the fourth one is Nam Gelma, and she's a pretty popular long life practice. So it says, homage crown of Tathāgata, she who goes in endless triumph, honored much by conqueror's offspring, having reached every perfection. That means that she's totally enlightened. Report an error

2:13:09 So she's golden on a yellow lotus in a moon seat, and she's called the All-Victorious One. And she conquers the four maras, and the four maras are the main big obstacles to enlightenment. They're like death, delusions, disease, and overwhelmed with pride. Report an error

2:13:33 And then she embodies the ten grounds of the bodhisattva path. She grants long life, protects from untimely death, and neutralizes lethal poisons. Report an error

2:13:46 Then the fifth one, homage filling with Tutara, whom desire direction in space, trampling with her feet the seven worlds, able to draw forth all beings. She's yellow on a moon, the giver of intelligence. And they talk about Tutari, her mantra, Tutari subjugates all beings of all realms with wisdom and compassion and gives bliss to all realms without exception. Report an error

2:14:12 So then the sixth one. Homage worship by the All-Lord, Sakra Agni Brahma Marud, honored by the hosts of spirits, corpse raisers, Gandharvas, Yakshas. And what this one's talking about is, it refers to Indian mythology. In the Indian system, they have all these different gods. And they're like, and what this is actually referring to is not only the gods, but they have these like ten directional protectors they're called and they're like their main, it's sort of like Greek gods and goddesses, you know, they have their, the Hindus had their ones and there's one of like fire and water and these different elements and so. Report an error

2:14:49 What it's saying is that they all worship Tara. In other words, she's like the lord of all these beings. And so because she's the boss of all them, that's why she can control everything, because she controls all the gods. So that's what that one is about. And she's even honored by all the spirits, such as yakshas or like... Report an error

2:15:14 Oh, and she can bring people back from the dead. This is referring to Hindu mythology. Yakshas are like evil spirits and things like that. So that's her. I wasn't saying their names, I guess. So the seventh one is Shingi Mitupma. Now these are Tibetan names, and Warren probably knows they're Sanskrit names. Sanskrit came before Tibetan, because this all came from India first. Report an error

2:15:45 So, I mean, it would be nice if we could give them English names, but I don't know what, I don't know Tibetan, so I couldn't tell you what that means. So, but maybe if we do this again. Homage with her tray and paste sounds, Crusher of Foes magic diagrams, putting her feet left out right back, blazing up and raging fire blaze. So she's a black fierce one. Report an error

2:16:07 The black ones are the most like... Wrathful looking, she has snakes in her hair, she's on a yellow orange lotus and she's invincible, the invincible she says, crushes all adversaries and bestows the transference of consciousness to the pure land. And that's what this means, with her tray and pay sounds crusher of foes magic diagrams. Report an error

2:16:28 This is still referring to old Indian stuff where people would cast magic spells on other people and bad spells, and so they would make their magic die. That's what they're talking about. If someone put a spell on someone, they would... What, Warren? Yeah. Report an error

2:16:48 Right, okay. Yeah, Warren can... He studied this more than I am, so that's why I asked him to come. So you can pop in at any point. Okay. Report an error

2:17:01 Yeah, it's just to stop evil spells. Let's just put it that way. Report an error

2:17:09 So the eighth one is Shimpi Le Nampar Gelma and let's see, she's golden on a red and white lotus. And there's a crocodile. She sits on a crocodile. And she's called the conquerors of others. And she slays all enemies, Maras, without exception. And her specialty is to bring the realization of the completion stage, which if you study tantric practice, that's like the final stage of completion stage. Report an error

2:17:37 So it says, destroyer of Māra's champion, she with frowning lotus visage, who is slayer of all enemies. That's because... Report an error

2:17:48 It just means she's like wrathful looking. She's got a frown on her face. So then the next one, nine, is Sengdenagdoma. She's red on a red or white lotus, and she's the savior of the scented forest. She accomplishes all activities, and one of the things her specialty is she's got lots of light coming out of the palm of her hand. Report an error

2:18:12 Which gives blessings, empowerments and saves all sentient beings by attracting them to the study of Buddhism, which is what it means here by the Triple Gem. So it says, She adorned with fingers at her heart a three-jewel mudrā. She with universal wheels adorned, wearing masses of their own light. So the fingers at her heart, because you've seen Tara sits like this, right? So that's the mudrā, the three jewels at her heart. Report an error

2:18:34 And this one is all the lights coming out of this hand here, like that. So, yeah. So, number 10, Jiktin Sumle Gilma. She's red on a red lotus, and I like this one. She's the lady of laughter. It says, she of great joy, shining, diadem emitting light wreaths. The diadem is her tiara at the top, you know, emitting all this light. Report an error

2:19:02 Mirthful laughing with Tuttara, subjugating Māra's devas. So, she heard... Out of her crown up here, all this rainbow light is going out to dispel all sorrow and defeat all the spiritual obstacles, particularly the eight worldly dharmas. And when I was reading about that one, it's like the main thing that's really great about her is that she makes you full of joy and laughter, and that's one of the best ways to dispel sadness is to be happy and sorrow, no matter what's happening to you, if you can laugh about it. Report an error

2:19:32 So that's her particular thing is she's of great joy. So, number 11, Haman Shie able to summon all earth guardians and their trains, shaking, frowning with their whom sign, saving from every misfortune. Report an error

2:19:50 So, Northamra color of darkness or golden, she's a giver of wealth. So, um... Report an error

2:19:57 That's what it says here, saving every misfortune. She dispels everyone's afflictions of suffering and misfortune by controlling the directional guardians and their attendants. So those directional guardians, the one I was telling you about before, they're from the Indian mythology. They're these ten guardians. I mean, the easiest way to talk about it is they're sort of like our, if you're familiar with Greek gods, you know the Hindus had theirs. Report an error

2:20:19 So that's what she does. You've probably heard of like Brahma, Indra, Vishnu, Shiva. People, those gods. So, number 12, Tashi Donjema, homage crown adorned with crescent moon, all ornaments most shining, producing from Amitabha in her hair mass always much light. So, she's golden on a multicolored lotus and Amitabha, who's a red Buddha, is on her crown. He's actually on the crown of all the Taras, but they just mention it here. Report an error

2:20:55 Amitabha crowns her head, bestows much light, prosperity and saves sentient beings from suffering of cyclic existence. So she's called the auspicious. And they're referring to the crescent moon that sits on the side of her head where the lights come out signifying her great bodhicitta. So then the next one, 13. Report an error

2:21:16 Hamid Shi, midwreath ablaze like Ian ending, fire abiding right stretched, left bent turning, glad ones, troops of enemies destroying Report an error

2:21:27 So Depung Som Zemo on terrifying aspect, red on a red lotus and sun disk, surrounding in blazing fire. Now, the other raffled deities you see in blazing fire, but this is the only Tara that's like surrounded by fire, which goes out in all directions, burning up everything. So she's the destroyer of opposing forces, and she destroys outer, inner, secret enemies and hindrances, and helps those who rejoice with faith in the turning of the wheel of Dharma. Report an error

2:21:55 Turning the wheel of Dharma means spreading Buddhism. So, number 14, Ton Yerchen, Hamid Shi who smites the ground with her palm and with her foot beats it, frowning with the letter whom, the seven underworld she conquers. Report an error

2:22:16 So, black terribly wrathful and a red, orange lotus and sun disk, the wrathful she subdues all and makes them peaceful and endows... The power of the protection circle. Remember we put up a little protection circle before we started? So that can be much more elaborate when you study tantra, but it's just a physical way to protect yourself from obstacles and things like that. Report an error

2:22:40 Where was I? Report an error

2:22:44 Blue hooms on the soles and her palms, she emanates thunderstorms and varges to conquer all interfering beings. So this one is one of the most wrathful ones. Usually when they're dark colored, it means they're terrifying and wrathful. So when you're in really big trouble, you invoke them to help you. So number 15 is Rabshima. Haman Chapi Virtuous Peaceful, she used Field as Peace Nirvāṇa. Report an error

2:23:06 With that having Om and Soha of the Great Downfall Destroyer. So she's white like jasmine, sitting on a white lotus and moon, the very peaceful. She is happy and peaceful because she's realized the Dharmakaya, which is the true nature of our mind and reality, and she no longer perceives inherent existence. Report an error

2:23:26 By reciting Tara's mantra, all downfalls that would result in the hells are totally destroyed. So the next one, Bara Ocema, it's number 16. Homage of those glad at turning, tearing foes' bodies asunder, liberating with whom mantra were an array of the ten syllables. She's coral red, beautiful and bright, on a red or orange lotus and sun disk. Report an error

2:23:51 The blazing light, she destroys all attachment to I and mind. And with the fierce whom mantra, Om Namas Tre Namo Hari Hum Hari Soha, she performs the function of increasing. That means making things more. Report an error

2:24:11 That's number 16. Number 17. Haman Swifton, the foot stamper, with Foreseed, the letter whom shakes, she who shakes the triple world, and Meru, Mandra, and Vindya. So that's Pagmi Nonma. She's orange on a white lotus, moon, and sun seat, the subduer of countless harmful forces by stamping her feet. All obstacles and interferes are subdued, and all beings are placed in the state of great bliss. Report an error

2:24:35 She also binds thieves. Report an error

2:24:42 She who shakes the triple world, that means like all the realms, you know, all the different, in Buddhism there's like more than this world, there's like formless realm and form realm and different realms and so she works in all the realms. Report an error

2:24:59 So number 18, homage holding in her hand the dear mark moon of Deva Lake form with twice spoken Tara and Pei, totally dispelling poison. Majama is white on a blue lotus and moon disc with a goose. Report an error

2:25:14 Or it could be a peacock. And like the peahen, she dispels all poisons, particularly Naga-related diseases. And peahens are often used as symbolism or peacocks in Buddhism because they can eat poisonous things and turn them into nourishment. And there's a whole big part of Buddhism that's called mind training. And what that's all about is teaching you how to take... Report an error

2:25:40 Unpleasant, unhappy, bad situations and seeing the benefit in them so that you can make it work to your benefit rather than letting it destroy you. And it's extremely beneficial. And so that's why they use the peacock because the peacock can take poisonous things and make it into food. So we can take poisonous minds and turn them into enlightened activity. Report an error

2:26:03 Much like alchemy. Report an error

2:26:11 That's right. So 19. Mipam Gelma, Haman Shi, whom God hosts, rulers, gods, and keneros do honor, she whose joyful splendor dispels armored one's bad dreams and conflicts. She's white on a lotus sun and moon disk and rainbow lights go out from her body eliminating the defilements of sentient beings. She's called an invincible being and she holds a brazier like a, you know... Report an error

2:26:40 A cooker at her heart. She burns up all the sufferings. And she particularly frees beings from prisons. So I thought, you know, Liberation Prison Project might be into this one. Number 19. You should, like, you know, say this one especially, you know. Find out what her mantra is. You could look up what her mantra is and give it to all your prisoners. Report an error

2:26:59 No, I know. It would be a very good one. You can probably find it somewhere. It might be in Martin Wilson's book. Her mantra. Yeah. Yeah. And what they say you can do is you can take, you can say, because Tara's mantra, I haven't gotten to that yet, Tara's mantra is Om Tare Tu Tare Ture Soha. So you say Om Tare Tu Tare Ture and then you add the part, you know, from that one and then say Soha. That's how you do it. So she frees beings from prison and it's nice that she's white with the rainbow light going out of her. Report an error

2:27:34 It's like a nice, you know, kind of peaceful one to visualize. So number 20 is Ritoma. She's copper, orange or red on a red or white lotus in moon discs. She's the source of all attainments. And she holds a golden pot at her heart to subdue disease and to give all attainments. She's also sometimes known as the mountain-dwelling mendicant. Report an error

2:27:57 And if you supplicate her, you can gain the power to make yourself invisible. You shouldn't laugh. Actually, the yogis in the past could actually do all these things. If you're serious about this you can read stories of the 84 Mahasiddhas and a siddha or a siddhi is a magic power and by doing these tantric practices you actually gain magic powers like fly through the sky and make yourself invisible and heal people. Report an error

2:28:24 And the goal of tantra is not to get these powers but they come along the way just because you're doing these practices to attain enlightenment and the closer you get to enlightenment the more you have miraculous powers. So this particular one. It's for becoming invisible so you can walk in a room and nobody knows you're there. Report an error

2:28:45 So the next one, Odzerchenma, homage full of liberating power by set of three realities, crushing carrots of spirits, yaksas and corpse raisers, supreme turi. So she's white on a lotus and moon disk and rays of light emitted from her three places. The three places are the white, the red and the blue. Report an error

2:29:05 The yellow and the green don't get mentioned very much. I just did that because in actual tar practice, you use those. And I just think it's helpful for everybody to know about it. But in most Buddhist practice, you only hear about the top three. So those are the three places for purifying your body, speech and mind. So the rays of light emitted from her three places totally pacifies all poisons and defilements. Report an error

2:29:28 So that means not only physical poisons, but mental poisons like hatred and anger and desire. And she can even raise corpses from the dead and can take beings to the pure land in this very lifetime. So that's a very quick introduction to the 21 Taras. And since we've been sitting for an hour, yeah. Report an error

2:29:54 I just want to say quickly that something you said could be misinterpreted as... Dark being evil or being associated with dark people being evil? I don't mean to mean that. Yeah, because even Tara Schwamo, she's dark or swarthy. So maybe you want to... Yeah, oh yeah, that's not politically correct. But they do associate the dark deities with power. Report an error

2:30:22 It's not dark in terms of... I should correct myself. It's not dark in terms of bad. But dark is considered more powerful than white. White is considered peaceful, and dark is considered much more strong than that. But that doesn't have anything to do with color of skin or anything like that. It's just to do with how the Tibetan tantras are laid out. Report an error

2:30:49 So thanks for correcting that. Report an error

2:31:01 On the color aspect, it may also be one of the reasons they consider black to be most powerful is the fact that the color black contains all the other colors. Exactly. That's a good point. Yeah. That's right. Because you have peas, and yeah, you put red and green and blue, you end up with black, so that's why the black ones are the most powerful ones. Report an error

2:31:24 Does anyone want to ask any questions? Yeah. You talked about a blue tar earlier when we did the visualization, but there's not. And I know you said not to get too attached to the colors, but of the 21, they don't really refer to one who's specifically that blue Tara. Yeah, well actually there is a blue Tara, and I think that maybe, you know, the one that I was reading didn't have a blue one, but I think maybe one of the ones that's considered black is blue. Report an error

2:31:51 What are you going to say? Is she blue-black? Report an error

2:31:58 Yeah. Report an error

2:32:02 Yeah. Report an error

2:32:06 Okay, the blue Tara is the extremely wrathful Ugratara. Ugratara is where we get our word ogre. Oh. She's of hideous countenance with a pot belly and flames coming out of her head and very, very, very wrathful. She's not on the 21 Tara list. Oh, she's not? Okay. But she's a very powerful Tara. Well, the Dalai Lama actually gave a blue Tara empowerment a few years ago in Los Angeles. Ooh. Report an error

2:32:33 Yeah. Yeah. But I don't know that much about her, but I did receive the empowerment, and I've always been curious. Yeah, okay. Report an error

2:32:45 Yeah, I was just wondering, in context of the wrathful Taras, what's the view on violence and self-defense? Well, that's a good point. I think the thing about Buddhism or Dharma is that, you know, we basically say there's good and bad, like you shouldn't kill people and you shouldn't be violent. But the thing is, is that what's more important... Report an error

2:33:16 Then the action, this is very tricky, is the motivation. And if you are totally sure that the outcome, that you're doing something because it's going to have a better outcome, then violence is okay. But it's like the wrathful deities are violent. Report an error

2:33:45 The thing is, unless you really are clear about why you're doing it, then it's not a good idea. Like, if we really knew the outcome of that war, then the war could actually be justified. Like, if it really was going to, in the long run, bring peace. But there's never been a war that's actually brought peace. Report an error

2:34:09 You know, they always say that, you know, the war to end all wars. Well, we had World War I, we had World War II, we had the Korean, you know, and they don't actually make peace, but people, that's the delusion people are under, you know, because violence appears like it's going to work. So on the outside, you know, most Llamas would say, you know, it's better to die or be hurt than hurt somebody else. Report an error

2:34:40 But on the other hand, You know, if you're defending your family or, you know, maybe that's okay. So, Michael, do you want to say something? Yeah. Or did you want to comment back? Do you want to say back? Report an error

2:35:01 I mean, just if you had anything else to say about it. I did, and then it's just, it's not. Yeah. I mean, were you just like talking in the context of doing martial arts or something? No, I was actually, yeah, defending your family or the ones that you love. And then. Is the same criteria as far as being absolutely sure that it will be a good effect also carry to being pacifistic? Report an error

2:35:29 Is the same criteria of what you use? or being... Report an error

2:35:34 To make a decision whether or not to use violence, does that carry, do you need the same kind of subtlety and assuredness with all other types of practice? Well, it would be nice if you had it, but the thing is the result of being peaceful isn't as, what's the word, dicey as a result of being wrathful. Report an error

2:35:54 So you don't really have to quite be so sure about being peaceful because you kind of know that the result of a peaceful activity is going to be a peaceful result. But if you're going to use violence, I mean, I think probably, you know, if someone came to, you know, kill your family and you kill that person, that's like the classic story they always recite in the teachings is about one of Buddha's previous lifetimes when he was on a ship and he was a merchant on a ship and he overheard that the guy who was running the ship. Report an error

2:36:28 Because he was bringing all these guys back from Indonesia with a boatload full of stuff, that he was going to kill everybody and take all the stuff and sell it. Well, Buddha saw that, so he killed the captain of the ship. And that's the example they use of a time when violence is okay, because he saved all those people's lives. So I'm sure, you know, I think the same would apply, that if, you know, someone's got a gun and isn't attacking your family, if you can do something about that, you know. Report an error

2:36:52 Because it's, I mean, the whole thing that Lama Yeshe used to always say about... The bodhisattva's path is you don't become a doormat and it's not about being codependent and just giving everything you have away. You've got to be really skillful and protect yourself and be wise about what you, about, I mean, loving kindness and compassion isn't just like being, what do they call it, a bleeding heart. Report an error

2:37:15 You know, you have to have some kind of, you know, wisdom about what you're doing and sometimes if people ask you for money, it's not the right thing to give them money. You know, the perfection of giving isn't that you give all your money away. The perfection of giving is that you can. You know, like you don't have any more attachment to your money, but it doesn't mean you have to give your money away. Report an error

2:37:34 You know, you want to give it to the right situation in the right place in the right time. So all of this, all these activities have to be tempered with what they call skillful means. And that's one of the things too that what happens when you do Tara's practice is that you just naturally begin to get more of that wisdom and skillful means. Report an error

2:37:52 It just started, you know, it's like you just kind of, your intuition gets kind of well honed so you kind of know, yes or no about things. Does that help? Yeah. But do you want to talk about the consequences? No, Buddha was not enlightened yet. Yeah. But he had to go to hell first. Yeah, but not for very long. Yeah. No, I think... Report an error

2:38:16 I just wanted to add, if you do the violence, you're still not going to get out of the karma for it, even if you have good intention. That's right, that's the thing. You're still willing to take on the karma of the action. But a violent action with the right motivation does not have a very powerful result. Report an error

2:38:34 It's like your bodhicitta motivation kind of cuts through that act. Because the main thing about an act is the intention behind the act, the delusion. If you do something violent because you're angry, that's for sure you're going to ripen in a bad result. But if you do something bad with a really good motivation, you can actually even mitigate that result if you go off and do Vajrasattva or you can do something about that later because it's not that powerful. Report an error

2:39:06 And it's like the story with Buddha, I think he went to hell, but like just for a little while and he came back right back out again. So you do take on that consequence. There are consequences to it, but you weigh that up. I mean, it's probably more, that's the decision you have to make. Report an error

2:39:27 And I think in a gut reaction, if you're defending your family, that's just what you have to do. But you also have to make sure that you're not doing it out of anger. Report an error

2:39:38 That you're actually defending your family out of compassion for this idiot who's hurting you. This poor guy, look at him. But if you do it because you're hating that person, it's not going to be so good. You have to definitely have a compassionate reason. This poor person, I've got to stop him from, I want to stop this person from creating the cause for himself to go to hell. Report an error

2:40:00 It's kind of how you want to look at it. Report an error

2:40:07 I wanted to comment on Tara No. 14, who is the blue-black, the most wrathful one. Right, right. I like her for sure. In the context, besides... I'll wait for the violence outside to stop. Isn't it interesting? You see, that's what it is. That's Tara. She's screaming at you. Ferocious compassion. It's ferocious compassion. Right, right, right. In the sense that all the Taras... Report an error

2:40:35 Taras really the mother. It's that mother energy and the energy of that wrathfulness of ferocious compassion is not so much as we've been speaking of as Killing Somebody, but it's that one where your child steps out on the street and you yell, stop, don't do it. So even though you want a peaceful thing to happen, there are times when you need the dramatics and the forcefulness. Report an error

2:41:04 Yeah. Of what that, you know, really ferocious compassion to stop somebody from doing something which will bring harm to themselves. Exactly. There's a time and place for ferocity. Definitely. You know, it's not that we just have to be meek and mild all the time, you know. There's times when, you know, power is needed and that's why there are these black raffle days. Report an error

2:41:30 Yeah. Thank you. Anyone else want to comment on these different Taras? Report an error

2:41:42 So it's 3.22. So what I'd like to do is let's take a quick break, go to the bathroom or get a drink, and then we'll come back. And I'd like to do a short Tara practice. And we'll recite these 21 praises probably three times and see how we go with that. Okay? And we'll do it really slow at first. And then it actually has a little tune, and it gets a little bit faster. And when you do it, when you actually do the puja that we're not going to do today, but you end up, it's four rounds of one practice, and the first time you do it two times, and the second time... Report an error

2:42:22 Well, the first time you don't do it at all, and the second time you do it two times, the next time you do it three times, and the last time you recite the phrases seven times. And when you're finished with those seven times, I mean, the room is just going... It's just really buzzing. So we'll see how we go after three, and maybe we'll do it a little bit more. So let's take a short break, and then we'll just come back. The cessation of suffering in the path. Report an error

2:42:43 Well, it's like once you've realized the truth of suffering that maybe, you know, you do need some help in your life and that maybe, you know, the help that you're looking for from your doctor and your psychiatrist and your girlfriend and your herbalist and your, you know, video man and your cell phone provider and, you know, all these people who help you aren't really giving you the relief that you're looking for. Report an error

2:43:13 Then you turn to Buddha or the guru, the teacher, like His Holiness the Dalai Lama and what the Buddha teaches, which is the path to enlightenment, which is basically how to be free of a mind that's full of worry and anxiety and nervousness and all these afflictions. and then three there's basically well there's the teacher like Your Guru because the reason he's an object or she is an object of refuge is because the Buddha is no longer around. And so it's that person that teaches you is your object of refuge because that's where you're getting the relief. Report an error

2:43:57 And then the next one is the teachings of the Dharma. And that's the actual refuge is the teachings because the real release and the real refuge comes is when you've realized those teachings. In other words... When you've heard them, when you've listened to them and when you've actually been able to transform your mind. You can actually be the peacock and eat the poison and it tastes good. Report an error

2:44:22 And then that is actually the real refuge is when you're actually able to do it because then things don't bother you anymore and you can benefit others. And then the last one is the Arya Saṅgha. And the actual one is like other beings who have actually... Report an error

2:44:41 realize the dharma and have gone beyond suffering but then there's also just your community people that help you along the path your dharma friends know so that you know when you're in trouble and you and you know you're trying to make your dharma practice work and it's still not The basic idea is that refuge, one of the metaphors they use is like, The fox running from all the dogs and when the fox finds his home, he jumps down in his hole and he feels safe, you know. And a lot of people have the experience when they come to a Dharma center for the first time and they walk in and, you know, they have some experience and they take some teachings and they really feel like they've gone home for the first time in their life. Report an error

2:45:29 And that is the feeling of refuge is that, you know, this is where I belong and this makes sense to me and suddenly my life is working, you know. And so there's actually a ceremony you can take to take refuge and that kind of stuff. But basically what you're saying when you're saying I'm going for refuge, it means that to solve my problems, I might go to the video store to relax, but that's not going to be my ultimate savior. Report an error

2:45:58 The ultimate thing that's going to relieve me from the situation that I'm in is that the ultimate relief is coming from the Buddha, the Dharma and Saṅgha. And so what you're saying is that Is that I'm going there to find my help. I'm going there to be able to help myself and benefit sentient beings. So that's kind of the door to open up the practice. Report an error

2:46:19 Is that clear? Okay, so that's what we're going to start with, taking refuge. And the second thing is generating bodhicitta. And I talked about that before. Bodhicitta means the mind of enlightenment. And that is... The mind that wishes to attain enlightenment for all sentient beings. And bodhicitta, when you feel it, you know, we can say bodhicitta, but the real, the thing that really helps you, the real refuge is, actually is the bodhicitta. Report an error

2:46:50 And it's an actual visceral experience that you just feel a lot of, you know, shining light and love coming out of your heart. So it's really helpful to just like imagine that in the beginning. You know, you can say, I want to become enlightened for all sentient beings. And you can just like... I always like to think about somebody, sometimes it's your pet and sometimes it's your grandmother or somebody that actually, you know, when you think about them, you feel different inside. Report an error

2:47:16 You know, it might even be a movie star. I mean, I don't know who it is, but whatever it is, something that kind of shakes you or sometimes for me it's like just when I was walking around the block at lunchtime, there was a guy asleep on a cardboard box. And that picture, that feeling, it touches my heart and makes me go, can I help this person? And so it's really helpful when you're saying, generating bodhicitta, to actually stop for a minute and think about a situation. Report an error

2:47:43 Maybe it was a picture on TV of the little boy in Iraq who's had his leg blown off. Something that really touches you and makes you like, I've got to do something about this situation. And that's really how you can generate bodhicitta. Report an error

2:47:59 So then the rest of it we'll just kind of go through. And at a certain point we're going to do the mandala offering again. Remember this morning when we were like offering everything? I kind of gave a lot of time to offer everything. But this time we're just going to say the prayer. But just remember when you're saying the words, the visualization and the feeling that you're offering everything, everything that you... Report an error

2:48:24 Like everything that you need, everything that you want to get rid of in your life, you offer all these things up. So at some point I'll say go to the mandala offering, so maybe be ready to do that. Report an error

2:48:36 So I think that's enough prep, we can just start now. It's like cooking, you know, you've got to chop up the vegetables before you can actually throw them in the pot. Report an error

2:48:47 So Report an error

2:48:59 usually before you start, you just sit for a couple minutes, and I mean, we did it for a long time this morning, but just remember... so... Report an error

2:49:06 The breathing that I told you and your posture and remember to feel your body and breathe into your belly and just do just a little bit just to kind of relax the chattering mind. Report an error

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2:50:49 So then we start by visualizing our father on our right and our mother on our left and we're surrounded by all the loved ones in our lives and those people that if we're having particular problems we can put them in front of us. And then we're surrounded by a huge, vast sea of sentient beings. That's all the animals and insects and spirits and beings in the water and all the beings in human form around us. Report an error

2:51:22 And then in the space in front of us, we're going to visualize green Tara surrounded by the 21 Taras. And we're going to... Take them as our object of refuge, understanding that they are the embodiment of the Buddha, the Dharma, the teachings of the Dharma and the Saṅgha. And they are also inseparable from our root Lama, our main teacher. And Report an error

2:52:06 it's good once again to recollect a situation in your life that needs some help. And that's why we're going for refuge. In general, we need to attain enlightenment for all sentient beings. but in particular, there are situations that... You can ask for help for, Report an error

2:52:25 and we can motivate this practice for those things, such as the success of this center and Liberation Prison Project, and for all the people who work here to be healthy and strong and have peaceful, controlled minds, and for them to have all the conditions that they need, the material and spiritual conditions. Report an error

2:52:51 And the same for all of you here for your lives. For those same things to happen and for all the projects, all the people in the world who are making the world a better place and to be helped and those who are misguided and are causing trouble, for them to renounce those activities and turn their minds, understanding that it's by helping people, not harming them, that actually they can become happy. Report an error

2:53:22 And Report an error

2:53:28 especially for the people in... Iraq and all the refugees, the people in Africa and Afghanistan and Burma and for all the homeless and all the people who need medicine, may they have medicine. All the people who need comforting, need a friend, may they find a friend. May all those who need jobs find jobs and the Report an error

2:53:58 old people be cared for and may we have good leaders and Report an error

2:54:10 end discrimination by race or creed or sex or... Sexual preference or anything like that. Report an error

2:54:27 And for people to become to love goodness and virtue and justice. Report an error

2:54:58 So once again, recollecting Tara, we recite the refuge prayer. It's on page one in the little book. I and all migrating beings, as far as the limits of space, from now until we reach the supreme point of enlightenment, go for refuge to the glorious holy gurus. We go for refuge to the perfect Buddha Bhagawans. We go for refuge to the holy dharmas. We go for refuge to the Arya Saṅgha. Report an error

2:55:25 I and all migrating sentient beings as far as the limits of space, from now until we reach the supreme point of enlightenment, go for refuge to the glorious holy gurus. We go for refuge to the perfect Buddha Bhagawans. We go for refuge to the holy dharmas. We go for refuge to the Arya Saṅgha. I and all migrating sentient beings, as far as limits of space, from now until we reach the supreme port of enlightenment, go for refuge to the glorious holy gurus. Report an error

2:55:56 We go for refuge to the perfect Buddha Bhagawans. We go for refuge to the holy dharmas. We go for refuge to the Arya Saṅgha. Report an error

2:56:09 And the next one. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly, I go for refuge until I am enlightened. By this practice of giving in other perfections, may I reach Buddhahood so as to benefit beings. I go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly, I go for refuge until I am enlightened. Report an error

2:56:33 By this practice of giving in other perfections, may I reach Buddhahood so as to benefit beings. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly, I go for refuge till I am enlightened. By this practice of giving and other perfections, may I reach Buddhahood so as to benefit beings. In particular, for the sake of all mother sentient beings, quickly, quickly, I must somehow win the precious state of complete and perfect Buddhahood. Report an error

2:56:59 Therefore, I shall practice the yoga of the Venerable Tarayatara. May all sentient beings have happiness in its cause. May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its cause. May all sentient beings be inseparable from sorrowless bliss. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free of bias, whether greed or hatred. Report an error

2:57:22 And then we sit for a minute and recollect what I said, so it's not just words, but actually feel in your heart. How much you would like for the world to be peaceful and for your life to be peaceful and, you know, whatever, Report an error

2:57:44 to generate the great compassion. Report an error

2:58:08 And while you're feeling this, again from Tara's crown, we're going to have the white at the crown and the red at the throat and the blue at the heart. And these light rays are coming into us and all sentient beings and purifying us of all the obstacles to... Generating this total, complete, perfect compassion that wishes to attain enlightenment for all sentient beings. And purifies all the obstacles to generating the great wisdom that understands the true nature of reality. Report an error

2:58:41 And purifies all the obstacles to having the skillful means to know how to act perfectly in each situation to be of most benefit to myself and others. Report an error

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2:59:57 And then turn the page. And we're going to look on the top of page three. Report an error

3:00:05 Where it says homage, and we're just going to read this one time. Your bodies combine all the Buddhas of the nature of Vajradhara. You are root of the three jewels, O you gurus, homage to you. Lord endowed with great compassion, teacher knowing everything, field of ocean-like virtues and merits, O Tathāgata, homage to you. Report an error

3:00:27 Three of attachment through purity, through virtue, released from realms of woe, uniquely supreme ultimate. Peaceful Dharma, homage to you. Teaching the path from freedom to freedom, established in the trainings, best of fields, endowed with virtues, highest assembly, Saṅgha, homage to you. Then we're going to skip down to where it says the seven limbs. To the conquerors and their children I prostrate. I offer all offerings real and emanated. Report an error

3:00:57 All sins and offenses amassed without start, I confess. I rejoice in the virtues of ordinary beings and arias. Please remain until saṃsāra is empty, turning the wheel of Dharma for migrators. My virtues and other I dedicate to the great Bodhi. Report an error

3:01:15 So then we're going to go to this page where it says the Mandala offering. Remember, we did this this morning. So that's where we visualize that we're offering the whole universe. The first verse, we offer the whole universe and everything in it and everything that's pleasurable. and then the second verse is we offer all of the Afflictions of our body, speech and mind of ourselves and all others. So this is actually chanted so it goes like this. Report an error

3:01:47 I did it this morning. Oh, the ground is blessed with sand and with flowers strewn. Report an error

3:02:11 Adorned with Mount Meru the foreland sun and transformed as a pure land and offered may all Wandering beings enjoy this Buddha land. Report an error

3:02:56 All those objects of my mind's three poisons coveted. Friend, foe, and stranger, body wealth, worldly pleasure. Without a feeling of loss, I surrender. Report an error

3:03:38 Receive them. Please and free all beings from their bondage. And we offer zillions and zillions going up to all the Tara, the 21 Taras. And Tara is very happy and blissed out with our offerings. We close with just saying, I offer this mandala to the precious Guru. Report an error

3:04:10 So then we go back, turn Report an error

3:04:18 the page. We're going to, where it says, on page 7, where it says, Be. Report an error

3:04:29 Let me, you got it where we are? Right in the middle of page 7 where it says B, third round here. It says, let me and all who need protection enter beneath your right hand mudrā of granting boons and refuge mudrā and be relieved from every fear. So then we start reciting the praises, which are on the next page. And so if you can, I know we can't remember all the colors and all that stuff. Report an error

3:05:00 But just remember the 21 praises and remember that there's a lot of green light coming out and going out in all the realms, taking care of everybody. So recite it, if you can just concentrate on that. And if you get tired of reciting and it's like too much for you, then just listen, it's quite okay. And just do the visualization, generating compassion for all beings and just seeing the golden light. Report an error

3:05:28 And if it's helpful, you can bring Tara to the crown of your head, too, if you want to. Some people, it's easier that way. So if you have it all front on the crown of your head. So here we go. Homage to the Venerable Ariyatara. Homage Tara, swift, heroic, eyes like lightning instantaneous, sprung from opening stamens of the Lord of three worlds, tear-born lotus. Report an error

3:05:56 Homage she whose face combines a hundred autumn moons at fullest, blazing with light rays resplendent. As a thousand star collection, homage golden, blue and lotus, water born in hand adorned. Giving effort, calm austerities, patience, meditation, hurt field, homage, crown of Tathagatas, she who goes on endless triumph, honored much by conquerors of spring, having reached every perfection, homage filling with Tutare, whom desire direction and space, trampling with her feet the seven worlds, able to... Report an error

3:06:45 Draw forth all beings. Homage, worship by the All-Lord. Chakra, Agni, Brahma, Marud. Honored by the hosts of spirits. Corpse raisers, Gandharvas, Yakshas. Homage with her tray and pay sounds. Crushers of foes, magic diagrams. Putting her feet left out right back, blazing up in raging fire blaze, homage to a very dreadful destroyer of Māra's champions, she with frowning lotus visage, who is slayer of all enemies. Report an error

3:07:25 Amid she adorned with fingers at her heart the three jewel mudrā. She with universal wheels adorn, pouring masses of their own light. Amid she of great joy shining. Diadem emitting light wreaths, mirthful laughing with tutare, subjugating Maras Devas, homage she able to summon, all earth guardians and their train, shaking frowning with her whom sign, saving from every misfortune. Report an error

3:08:07 Shining, producing from Amitabha, in her hair mass always much light. Ham is she midwif the blaze light, eon ending fire abiding, right stress left plant turning glad ones, troops of enemies destroying. Ham is she who smites the ground with her palm and with her foot beats it. Frowning with the letter whom the seven underworlds she conquers, homage happy, virtuous, peaceful, she whose field is peace, nirvāṇa, with that having, O Mansoha, of the great downfall destroyer, homage of those glad at turning, tearing foes' bodies asunder, liberating with whom mantra, Word array of the ten syllables, homage swift one the foot stamper, with foreseed the letter whom shake, she who shakes the triple world, and Meru, Mandara, and Vindya, homage holding in her hand the dear Mark Moon of Deva Lakeform. Report an error

3:09:23 I've spoken Tara and Pei, totally dispelling poison. Hamid she whom God owes rulers, gods and kinneros to honor. She whose joyful splendor dispels armored ones bad dreams and conflicts. Hamid she whose eyes are bright with radiance of sun or full moon. With twice Tara and Tutare. Toter out of chronic fever, homage full of liberating, powered by set of three realities, crushing crowds of spirits yakshas, and course raisers supreme turi, this a praise of the root mantra and a twenty-one-fold homage. Report an error

3:10:14 So do it again. Om, homage to the venerable Ariyatara. Homage, Tara, swift, heroic, eyes like lightning instantaneous, sprung from an opening stamens of the Lord of Tearborn, three-born lotus. Homage, she whose face combines a hundred Adam moons at fullest, blazing with light rays resplendent as a thousand star collection. Report an error

3:10:46 Homage, golden, blue, and lotus. Water born in hand adorned, giving effort calm austerities, patience meditation her field, homage crown of Tathagatas, she who goes on endless triumph, honored much by conqueror's offspring, having reached every perfection, homage filling with tutare, whom desire direction and space. Report an error

3:11:18 With her feet the seven worlds, able to draw forth all beings, homage worshipped by the All-Lord, Chakra Agni Brahma Marud, honored by the hosts of spirits, corpse raisers Gandharvas Yakshas, homage with her tray and pay sound, crushers of foes magic diagram, putting her feet left out right back. Blazing up in raging fire blaze, homage to a very dreadful destroyer of Mars champions, she with frowning lotus visage. Report an error

3:11:57 Newest slayer of all enemies, homage she adorned with fingers, had her heart a three jewel mudrā. She with universal wheels adorn, pouring masses of their own light, homage she of great joy shining, diadem emitting light wreath, mirthful laughing with two tari. Subjugating Māra's Devas, homage she able to summon, guardians and their trains, shaking, frowning with her home sign, saving from every misfortune, homage crown adorned with crescent, moon all ornaments most shining. Report an error

3:12:43 Producing from Amitabha, in her hair mass always much light. Hamid Shi, Medritha, blaze like, eon ending, fire abiding, right stretched, left bent, turning glad ones, troops of enemies destroying. Hamid Shi, who smites the ground with... Her palm and with her foot beats it, crowning with the letter whom the seven underworld she conquers. Report an error

3:13:13 Homage, happy, virtuous, peaceful, she whose field is peace nirvāṇa. With that having, O Mansoha, of the great downfall destroyer, homage of those glad at turning, tearing foes' bodies asunder, liberating with whom mantra, word array of the tin syllables, homage swift one the foot stamper, with four seed the letter whom shake, she who shakes the triple world. Report an error

3:13:46 Meru, Mandara and Vindya, homage holding in her hand the dear Mark Moon of Deva Lakeform. Kintara and Pei, totally dispelling poison, homage she whom God owes rulers, gods and Canaras to honor, she whose joyful splendor dispels armored ones bad dreams and conflicts, homage she whose eyes are bright with... Report an error

3:14:16 Radiance of sun or full moon, with twice hara and two tare, driver out of chronic fever, homage full of liberating, power by set of three realities, crushing crowds of spirits yakshas, anchors raisers supreme ture, this appraise of the root mantra and the twenty-one-fold homage. Report an error

3:14:45 So before we do the last time, I'll just read this other part on the previous page where it says, Rivers of nectar flow from her body, entering my crown and those of the beings to be protected, and fill our bodies so that all inspirations may enter. So as much as you can while we do this last recitation, just feel that happening. Report an error

3:15:08 All the inspiration and everything that you're needing is like, especially in enlightenment for all sentient beings, is like pouring in from Tara into the crown of your head and just filling you up with, you can either make it green light if you like green light or rainbow light if you want to have rainbow light. Report an error

3:15:26 Remember this morning when we did that thing when we had a hollow body full of light? So we're going to be having a hollow body like being filled up with rainbows while we're reciting this, okay? Report an error

3:15:39 And if you just want to do one or the other, that's fine, or you can do both. So, okay. Aum. We'll do it a little bit faster. Aum. Homage to the venerable Arya Tara. Homage Tara, swift, heroic. Eyes like lightning, instantaneous. Sprung from open stamens of the lord of three worlds, tear-born lotus, homage she whose face combines a hundred autumn moons at fullest, blazing with light rays resplendent as a thousand star collection, homage golden, blue and lotus, water-born in hand adorned. Report an error

3:16:24 Giving effort, calm austerities, patience, meditation, her field, homage crown of Tathagatas, she who goes on endless triumph, honored much by conquerors of spring. Having reached every perfection, homage filling with Tutare, whom desire direction and space, trampling with her feet the seven worlds, able to draw forth all beings, homage worship by the All-Lord, Chakra Agni Brahma Marud, honored by the hosts of spirits. Report an error

3:17:01 Corpse razors, Gandharvas, Yakshas, homage with her tray and pay sounds, crushers of both magic diagrams, putting her feet left out right back, blazing up and raging fire blaze, homage to a very dreadful destroyer of Māra's champions, she with frowning lotus visage, who is slayer of all enemies, homage she adorned with fink. Report an error

3:17:30 And her harmony jewel mudrā, she with universal wheels adorn, mooring masses of their own light, homage she of great joy shining, diadem emitting light breeze, mirthful laughing with tutare, subjugating Maras Devas. Homage she able to summon all earth guardians in their train, shaking, frowning with her whom sign, saving from every misfortune. Report an error

3:18:03 Homage crown adorned with crescent, moon all ornaments most shining, producing from Amitabha, in her hair mass always much light. Homage she midwreath ablaze like, neon ending fire abiding, right stretch left bent turning glad ones, troops of enemies destroying. Homage she who smites the ground with her palm and with her foot beats it, running with the letter whom the seven underworld she conquers. Report an error

3:18:37 Homage happy, virtuous, peaceful, she whose field is peace nirvāṇa. With that having, O Mansoha, of the great downfall, destroy your homage at a turning. Tearing foes bodies asunder, liberating with whom mantra, word array of the ten syllables, homage swift on the foot stamper, with foreseed the letter whom shake, she who shakes the triple world, and Meru, Mandara, and Vindya, homage holding in her hand the dear mark moon of Deva Lakeform. Report an error

3:19:17 With twice spoken Tara and Pei, totally dispelling poison, Hamish she whom God owes rulers, gods and Canaras do honour, she whose joyful splendour dispels, armoured one's bad dreams and conflicts, Hamish she whose eyes are bright with radiance of sun or full moon, with twice Hara and Tutare. Report an error

3:19:44 Chronic fever, homage full of liberating, par by set of three realities, crushing crowds of spirits, yakshas, anchors, raisers, supreme touré, this appraise of the root mantra and the twenty-one-fold homage. Report an error

3:20:14 So then just relax into the rainbow lights and just have faith that your requests are being fulfilled and that... The people in your life that need help are being helped. Report an error

3:20:36 Then we'll do seven. If you turn the page, just so you know, there's an abbreviated version if you don't have time to chant all 21. There's a little short one on this page that if you like it, you can copy it down and take it home. And it's at the top of page 10. And if you could just do 21 of these every day. Report an error

3:21:00 Tibetan Buddhism is really good about, you know, they like counting things and collecting things. Sort of like putting pennies in your penny bank, you know. This one goes like this. Report an error

3:21:15 Does everybody see it? om chandende ma pakma dromala chakselo Report an error

3:21:27 Om Chondanae Ma Pagma Dromala Chak Salo Chak Sal Droma Taripa Ma Tutarai Jikkun Salma Ture Donam Tamce Terma Soha Yige Chela Rabtu Om Chondanae Ma Pagma Dromala Chak Salo Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Shantideva, Pagma, Dromala, Chak, Salo Chak Chak Sal Drolma Taripalmo, Tuta Rai Jikkun Salma, Ture Donnam Tamce Therma, Soha Yige Chela Raptu, Om Chon Dende Ma, Pagma Dromala Chak Salo, Chak Sal Drolma Taripalmo. Report an error

3:22:18 Lama Tsongkhapa, Report an error

3:22:34 Shantideva, Shantideva, Droma Taripalmo Tutaraitic Report an error

3:22:42 Pagma Dromala Chak Salo Chak Sal Droma Taripalmo Tutarai Jikkun Salma Ture Donnam Tam Chetam Soha Yige Chela Rabtu Om Chon Dende Ma Pagma Dromala Chak Salo And Report an error

3:23:07 so then we do a little more recitation. We'll do some recitation of the mantra. So this is even the shortest version. You can do this when you're riding your bike or walking down the street. Report an error

3:23:19 And we'll chant it a little bit and we'll probably do a bit of chanting, but first we'll just do the plain chanting and then we'll do some little bit more involved chanting. So let's just start with this one. So the mantra is Om Tare Tu Tare Ture Soha. And basically it means that she's relieving you of all fears and destroying all obstacles and clearing everything out of your way. Report an error

3:23:48 Okay? So it goes like this. OM TARE TU TARE TU RE SOHA OM TARE TU TARE TU RE SOHA OM TARE TU TARE TU RE SOHA OM TARE TU TARE TU RE SOHA Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha And we can just say it, om tari tu tari turi so om tari. And you see this person here has her mala. What's your name? Allison. Report an error

3:24:54 Hold up your mala, Allison. She's got this nice green tara mala. And this is what Tibetan Buddhists do. They're like Catholics. They go around and each one they count. And they go around and they count up their malas. But you don't have to do that. We have plenty in the bookstore. door. Report an error

3:25:10 So we'll do quickly a round of malas of Tara's mantra. It's just for your blessing. I mean, I hope you guys are still with me. I'm not doing too much here. Om Tare Tu Tare Ture So. Report an error

3:25:25 It's Om Tare Tu Tare Ture So Ha. Report an error

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3:27:04 Om Tare Tu Tare Ture So Ha. And then I'm just kind of giving you a sample of, you know, this is like a sample of Tara practice today. And so then usually at the end, I'm tired, too tired, too tired, so I'm Report an error

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3:27:19 There's some kind of praise to Tara, and Tibetans usually chant a beautiful praise. Since we don't know Tibetan, I have an English phrase we can chant. And there's very few words. I didn't get it typed. I didn't think about it until after I sent this type thing. But basically, we're going to mix Tara's mantra with some... Report an error

3:27:43 Aspirational prayers, because usually you end with some aspirations. So I just made three, and we're just going to say, I Report an error

3:27:55 think, just like, I want to become Tara, and then it'll be, I want to become Tara in my heart, in my heart, I want to become Tara in my heart. And mixed with the mantra, so it's going to like this. I want to become Tara in my heart. Report an error

3:28:17 Om Tare Tutare Tu Re Soha In my home Report an error

3:28:34 to become Tara in my home Om Tare Tutare Tu Re Soha And the next one is, Bless me to feel loving kindness. Bless me to feel loving kindness in my heart. Om Tare Tutare Turi Soha Report an error

3:29:11 In my heart. Report an error

3:29:22 to feel loving kindness in my heart. Report an error

3:29:30 Tare Tutare Ture Soha. Bless me to understand wisdom in my Report an error

3:30:13 me to understand wisdom in my heart. Om Tare Tutare Turi Soha Bless me to be pure and gentle in my heart. Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha Report an error

3:30:51 my heart. Bless me to be pure and gentle in my heart. Then we'll just do the mantra. Tare Tutare Ture Soha Tare Tutare Ture Soha Report an error

3:31:31 Tam Soha TARE TU TARE TU RE SOHA Report an error

3:31:44 To become Tara in my heart. Bless me to become Tara in my heart. tare tutare tu re soha. Report an error

3:32:16 Bless me to become Tara in my heart. tare tutare turi soha. Report an error

3:32:33 tare tutare tu re soha. Report an error

3:32:46 so hot TARE TU TARE TU RE SOHA Report an error

3:33:00 So that's Tara's repraise. So then if we want to, we can read the rest of the finish off the sadhana. So it says, we're on page 10. Worshipful aria, great treasure of compassion, grant inspiration that all may cease that hinder space like Margaret's swift passage to the city of bliss eternal and all right conditions develop. Report an error

3:33:28 So then we read the benefits. Who recites it wise and pious, full of faith towards the goddess, and remembers it at evening and at dawn at rising, it grants every fearlessness, quells all sins, and destroys all bad migrations. Quickly they will be concentrated by seven times ten million conquerors. Thereby gaining greatness, they will reach at last the rank of Buddha. Report an error

3:33:54 The most dreadful poison, whether animal or plant or mineral, whether they've devoured or drunk it, meets its end through their remembering. It completely stops the pain of those whom spirits, fevers, poisons afflict other beings also. On reciting twice three sevens, one who wants a child will get one. Report an error

3:34:14 One desiring wealth will find wealth. One obtains all one's desires. No hindrances. Each will be subdued. And then, Warren, would you go get your guitar now? Because Warren has another way to chant to ours. We're supposed to end at four? Oh, I thought we ended at five. Oh, we better stop then. Report an error

3:34:37 Oh, okay. So if you want to go, we've kind of finished. We just have to dedicate the merits that whatever positive potential we made today, that we all become quickly... become Tara's and that there's world peace. That we all have always blessed with wonderful teachers. That this center flourishes and grows and all the centers flourish and grow. Report an error

3:35:02 And that all auspicious develops everywhere in the world. No more wars, good leaders, and everything you prayed for today comes true. Okay, so thank you so much for coming. And please stay if you want to stay because Warren's got a couple of really cool things. Sorry, I thought it was from 10 to 5. And before you go, I just wanted to mention Venerable Ninja has a band and there's some CDs there and she does some really, really amazing chants. Report an error

3:35:32 She's too humble to say this, but we have her CDs there right there on display, on the tar display. Support a starving nun. Yeah, starving nun and starving center. So it will help both. It will help the bookstore and it will help Venerable Ninja. I'm not really starving. They're really amazing songs. Report an error

3:35:50 Sarah here, Warren, we can all say that they're amazing songs. They're really inspiring. And yeah, I think it's just a good way to, they're offering songs of the Dharma. It's a really good way to celebrate Dharma in a Western way with fun, folky kind of music that's like kind of rock and roll style too. Report an error

3:36:08 So check it out. So are you ready? Do I what? No, I just made that one up yesterday. But they recorded it. They recorded it. Report an error

3:36:26 It is. Isn't it great? I thought it was great too. Report an error

3:36:37 That's how folk music is, you know, you steal from somebody and put something together inside. I thought it was a cool idea. Report an error

3:36:48 Okay, come on Warren, come up here before everybody goes away. Warren, Warren, get up here before everybody goes away. Report an error

3:37:02 I have to read the fine print, you know, 10 to 4, 1030 to 4. No, I thought it was 10 to 5. Report an error

3:37:19 Okay, so you know how we're going Om Tari to Tari tori soa? This is Om Tari Tom soa. Anyway, do it. It's in here. It's right here. It says on this ear, Tari praises with Warren. Report an error

3:37:40 Hold it by the guitar. I got the gong here, too. I know. Play the gong. Get that gong out here. That's true. true. I forgot. We got to get there. Oh, yeah. Let me grab that. No, no, all we need is the gong. No, no, we got this, Warren trained me to do this at Vajrapani. Report an error

3:38:04 Om Tare Tam Soha Om Tare Tutare Turi Soha Om Tare Tutare Turi Soha Om Tare Tam Soha Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha Tare Tam Soha Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha. Om Tare Tam Soha. Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha. Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Re Soha. Report an error

· · ·

3:42:30 I can kind of do that. Report an error

3:43:05 That's what we'll play just, Thank you. you know, the actor. Thank you. True Refuge. True Refuge. True Refuge. True Refuge. Thank you. say the prayers, but you also have to do the prayers. So whatever it is, you know, deliver them. You've got to do all that other stuff, too. What do you want these years ago? Report an error

3:44:14 You know, they actually go outside. Oh, yeah. Thank you. All right, we'll do all of those with that wish. Report an error

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Talk by Lhundrup Nyingje, recorded 13 October 2007. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/LN_AllAboutTara_20071013. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

Recorded at Tse Chen Ling Center, San Francisco, and archived by the center on Internet Archive. More from Tse Chen Ling

Listen on Internet Archive · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US