![]() ![]() ![]() But is there any such thing as unconditional love? I argue that an idea of such love can and does play the role of a kind of ideal in the light of which (some) people can undertake to “love better”. ![]() The commonest context, and the one often thought to offer the best grip on the idea, is the love of parents for their children. Then dedicate the merit of your meditation practice to all beings: “Through this goodness may awakening spontaneously arise in our streams of being / May all obscurations and distortions fall away / May all beings be liberated from suffering, and the stormy waves of birth, sickness, old age, and death.Unconditional love gets mentioned quite often these days. Rest your mind naturally for a few minutes or longer. Then this dissolves into space, like a rainbow disappearing into the sky. When you have finished repeating the mantra, gradually dissolve the visualization until there is just a drop of turquoise light left in your heart area, the essence of your wisdom and compassion. Repeat her mantra while your heart is radiating these qualities. From it, light radiates out joy, compassion, loving-kindness, strength, and equanimity to all beings. See yourself in the form of Tara, appearing as a body made of light-emptiness and form inseparable. Think that your mind is inseparable from Tara’s enlightened mind. Then imagine that Tara dissolves into light, and dissolves into you. Pour out your heart to her and receive her love and blessing. This removes all fear, gives protection, removes obstacles and obscurations, and transmits enlightened awareness to you. Repeat her mantra, OM TARE TUTARE TURE SOHA, and visualize that from her outstretched right hand comes a river of wisdom elixir, turquoise-green in color. ![]() Think that the Tara you have imagined becomes inseparable from her actual wisdom awareness. Visualize that this happens through numerous small forms of Tara raining down into the main form you have visualized. Imagine that it purifies the phenomenal world, makes offerings to the enlightened ones, and invites Tara’s wisdom awareness to be present with you. She is arrayed in silks and jewels, symbolizing the six transcendent perfections (paramitas) and full awakening. She is blue-green, the color of a mountain lake. Then visualize that in the sky in front of you, from her seed syllable TAM, Green Tara instantly appears, sitting on a full open lotus and moon seat. Think that everything dissolves into emptiness/openness. Recite: “Until awakening I take refuge in Buddha, dharma, and noble sangha / By the merit of my acts of generosity and other awakening qualities / May I attain full awakening for the benefit of all beings.” 2. Then take refuge in the awakened ones and generate the motivation to awaken yourself for the benefit of all sentient beings. Let your mind settle, resting in natural open awareness. But here is a basic version you can do that contains all the essential steps of deity practice. Like all Vajrayana practices, Tara visualization can be very elaborate. Tara again and again reminds me of who I truly am. I let go of any anxiety and fear and connected with my awakened nature-unlimited and inseparable from peace, emptiness, love, and awareness. As I imagined her nectar of unconditional love pouring into the crown of my head from her outstretched right hand, I felt soothed and comforted. I called upon Tara, asked for her help, and opened to her presence in the sky in front of me. Countless times I have felt her love stream into me, and she has helped me-spiritually, emotionally, and physically.Ī recent example was a period of anxiety and uncertainty I experienced after I sold my home of many years and didn’t know what was going to happen next. I have been calling on, praying to, and meditating on Tara for more than forty years. Through continued meditation practice on Tara, we can establish a relationship in which we are able to trust and rely on her, and the more we are able to open to Tara, the more she is able to benefit us. In order for Tara to be able to benefit us, we need to approach her with an open heart and mind. We need to approach Tara with an open heart and mind. Her left hand holds the stem of a lotus flower, which is blossoming next to her left ear. Her right hand is opened out on her right knee, in the gesture of generosity. Her right foot is slightly extended because she is ready to leap to the aid of beings. The essence of awakened love and compassion, she is known as “the mother of all the buddhas” and “she who ferries beings across the ocean of samsara.”Īs a fully enlightened female buddha, Tara is the actuality of compassion and wisdom, and meditating on her helps us awaken our own buddhanature. Tara is the most beloved of all the female enlightened beings in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon. ![]()
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