Archive Result

Soundfile 20041107GRSOPBWT

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location

Topic White Tara

Section 1/1

Transcriber Choonhau Ng

Date 13 Sep 2021

Rimpoche: Thank you so much for everybody and thank you for the wonderful introduction. As introduction she said I’m now American citizen. I been very proud to be American citizen for number of years and as a citizen I would like to say, though it’s very beautiful sunshine and wonderful weather outside, but internally we are not all that happy at the result of the election. However, we can be sad, but we cannot walk away from here because it is the issue that whatever we involve, it is involve for the wellbeing of the people. In general, and particularly those of down treating poor people. So that’s the reason why we can be sad but we cannot walk away. And also, everything is impermanent. Buddha told us it is impermanent. Not only Buddha told us, we ourselves know everything is impermanent. It changes anytime, anywhere, anyplace. So, it is nothing is fixed, solid, permanent. Even though it’s supposed to be four years. Even then its impermanent and changeable. So, you never know, so never give up hope.

0:02:37.7 Okay that’s what I would like to remark what’s happening as citizen. So now as spiritual person, what I’d like to do talk to you today is the wonderful Tara. Many of you know who Tara is, what Tara is and all this, but I’d like to really talk little bit about it. So, what’s going to happen here is three things. First, I will introduce you to Tara, second, I can talk to you about how Tara can protect us, especially from fear and third I will have little guided meditation. So, these three things what’s going to happen today.

0:03:25.9 So first introduction to Tara, the question is who is Tara? You have heard about Tara, right? How many of you have heard Tara? Oh, great almost everybody but some of you have not heard Tara. Tara is female buddha. I’m sure everybody heard buddha right? Is there anybody who never heard buddha before? I don’t see any hands at all, so everybody heard about buddha and know about buddha. But Tara is female buddha. So why it’s called buddha, you probably say hey buddha is one buddha it happens to be some kind of Indian prince or something. Sure, you are right, that is historical Buddha. But we are all, each and every one of us are eligible and as matter of fact we each and every one of us we have a right. It is our human right that we can become fully enlightened ones. Really, honestly speaking many of us will think I’m hopeless and helpless and I’m stuck here, and you don’t. You are eligible to become fully enlightened by your birth right. That is the right of really a human right.

0:05:08.0 So we are all eligible. So, when everybody becomes buddha, everybody does not become a male buddha. There are female buddhas and there are men buddhas and female buddhas. Tara happens to be a female buddha. She is just like ourself, just like you ladies are here and she was a woman named Yeshe Dawa. Many eons ago, sorry. And she happens to be generating a compassion, care and love for herself and for all people in the female physical form. Did you hear me? One, her motivation was built, compassion motivation was built in female form. Two, she accumulated good karma and purification, all her contemplation are done in female physical form. In other words, she did not change, she’s not been flip flop what Bush says some are you know. She did not, she remained as female throughout her work and contemplation.

0:06:48.0 At the end when she became fully enlightened and that time all the enlightened society offered her, suggested her maybe you would like to change your physical form to be a male, like the red states suggesting the blue states. Did you see that picture? So exactly. So, she replied, thank you but no thank you. That’s why she chose to remain throughout her life after life all the efforts throughout everything in female physical form. So, I call it feminine principal of Buddhism. It is the female buddha. So, it is great news to hear there is also female buddha. So, she had vowed she will remain throughout being female form and work through that. Why? There is softness and kindness and gentleness. It’s not that male doesn’t have it, but female shows more, and it’s easy to deal with it with everybody. That’s why she chose to remain a female form and specially her energy is extremely helpful today more than ever. Today when the red states with blood floating throughout the map. And blues are changing into the red, especially helpful for both sides. For both sides it is helpful. Why today more than ever? Because we are in the United States, we supposed to be equal, equality is the principle, not only American society but democracy. It is the principle of democracy, it is the equal and equal right, and equal opportunity and equal everything.

0:09:39.1 I hope it is although I was told the woman get paid less. What is eighty cents for dollar or something. Whatever it maybe we supposed to be equal. So whenever equal right, you know during the early in India are all this Buddhist period, the male buddhas put in front burner, and female buddhas are slightly put at the back burner because of the culture. Today the culture is different so it is the time for the female buddha to be in the front burner and we should be working with it because it benefits us better.

0:10:31.5 Thank you. So, and it’s very easy to deal with her. Very forgiving motherly love. When I say motherly love don’t think of your own mother. Many of you are mother, how much you love your child, think from that angle. Don’t think of your mother, my mother didn’t love that much. That’s not what talking about it. When you look at it, see how much you care your own child. Look from that window and you appreciate. I never have been experience been mother, fortunately or unfortunately I been male throughout, I never flip flop. But I’ve seen it, how much the mothers give love and care and affection to their child. I mean literally, no matter whatever the circumstances conditions might be, they willing to go out and save and help their children from any pain, whatever it might be. Many times, we see the mothers are going to jail just to protect their kids. How many and who else have such love and affection? That’s why you know she as the mother love to all of us equally, so it is very important to be effective today and to use her energies.

0:12:29.6 And connection to Tara is connection with divine world, divine beings. Because Tara is a divine person and I told you each and every one of us are eligible to be fully enlightened so we need very strong divine connection without which we cannot make it our headway at all. Especially situation what’s going on with election result and everything. We really need more divine connection and that’s what we needed. Tara’s connection when we are connected with Tara, we are definitely connected with divine beings.

0:13:17.7 I’d like to explain that little bit more, I normally don’t do it. But what I’d really like to do is divine being is divine beings. And when it becomes one huge thing it has tremendous capacity of manifesting, everywhere, whatever the need of the people. And that’s what divine function is. And so look like let’s take Tara. The name of Tara is Sanskrit. It’s is in India she functions as Tara because that’s local language, that’s local look and that’s local functioning. When you move to Tibet she takes the name of Dolma, that is Tibetan language, that’s Tibetan way and that’s Tibetan functioning. And when you move to China, she take the name of Kuan yin or Kuan shi yin pu sa. So it’s their local language and their functioning and their work. When she move to Japan she take the name of Canon, that canon camera or that canon thing what you have is Tara thing. So, she takes the name of Canon and functions there. And in the west, I don’t see the difference between mother Mary and Tara. According to the needs of the people, divine beings have the capability manifest. That’s make difference between us and divine beings. We can do one thing, we have only one face, two hands only we are limited. The divines, no limited to that. So Tara, connection to Tara is connection the divine beings .

0:15:24.4 So that much is enough because I have time limit, should be enough for introduction of Tara. So now the next is what can Tara do for me? This is the exactly opposite what president Kennedy told us. President Kennedy told us not to ask what the government can do, but you ask what you can do for the government. Here we say other way round, we say what can Tara do for me, rather than what I can do for you Tara. So, what I can do Tara. So, if you look at Tara picture, and you will find Tara with two hands and the hand gesture is the right hand goes like this. And that is invitation, inviting people who do not have protection. Who needed help who thinks I am hopeless and helpless. But anyway, she said don’t feel that way, I invite you to join me. That is gesture of invitation, particularly those who are weak, weak in spiritual and weak in everything. I’m here to serve you and join me. That is the invitation.

0:17:02.3 So the question comes, if I join you what you do? The left hand goes three fingers up, three fingers up, you know in Buddhist terminology three represents buddha, dharma and sangha. So therefore, it is protection. So come here let me help you, let me protect you. That’s what she is. She is there to serve people. And people calls, she’s there. It is available. So that’s what it is. And she’s ready to serve. Serve on what? What do we need? We need a lot of things. Particularly this White Tara is specialised on healing. Healing the physical, mental emotional healings. The physical healings are our physical body is based on four elements. Earth element, water element, fire element and air element. Are you with me? All of you okay?

0:18:34.9 So our bones and flesh and all of these are the earth element. Our liquid in our body are the water element, the heat and digestive powers are the fire element. Circulation and movements are the air element. This is basically how human beings function ourself on these elements. The healing has to be done on the basis of these elements. However, I’m not talking to you about healing today, if you read Tara box book, when you say Tara box, when you look at the box you will see little box with Tara image in front but behind that there is little booklet. That booklet really talks to you detail how you can be healed; healing can be done and how you can protect from the fear and all of those. Today my subject of talking here is more on the fear rather than elements. I did the elements everywhere, so many of you have heard number of times. So, what we are talking about today is the protection. From what? Fear, fear of what? Fear of illnesses. Fear of lonely. Fear of void. Fear of missing. Fear of getting lost. Fear of losing loved ones. There are countless fears are tormenting us all the time.

0:20:31.0 Even as little as infection, as little as getting a cold, as little as having a bad dream, as little as having a bad sign. Even in the western culture don’t you have it? Black cat cross your car or something right? So, these are bad signs. She protect all of those and particularly you die immaturely. That is the dying immaturely. We all die no doubt about it, no one ever lived before and no one will be in future too, we have manufacturers defect. In my case I was made in 1939 and I’m 39 model, lots of complain I’m launching them to General Motors. So, we all have that defect, it is manufacturers defect, we all will die. But untimely death, we are not time yet, yet you have to go. It happens because so many of people had happen and so many things. Like what’s happening in Iraq today, today alone, how many people getting killed. These are all untimely death.

0:22:03.2 And how many people have been what you call it beheaded. Horrifying things happening today. They are all fear. We have the fear of all of those, not only ourself but our love ones. It’s not very far talking about Iraq. It’s our own American boys and girls there serving right in front. Not only in the army but also all kinds of whatever you call it, contract and this and that and all kinds of under different names what’s happening. And if you go beyond American, then you have Iraqis. How many? You know the number; you know I heard somewhere its over hundred thousand. I’m sure you all heard. Weapons of mass destruction. Really, so anyway these are the fears we have. And we need protection from those. On top of that we need internal fear. Internal fear that comes out like extreme pride, extreme pride, the Karl Rove’s pride. You know who Karl Rove is? If you don’t know who Karl Rove is you don’t know how you lost the election.

0:23:50.1 So that’s what it is. So, the Karl Rove’s pride. And all this type of pride that I am superior than you. And I am superior than you so I will crunch you like the lion crunches other small animals. Did you hear me? That’s exactly what had happened right? May be crunched by the lions, what you call this one. So that’s right, that’s exactly, and he says I know how to crunch you, I will crunch you forever. As long as I’m there. So that’s the pride I’m talking about. Like a wild lion. That is another fear within us. If you want to good person you should not have that type of pride. You should have self-esteem but should not have that pride. I know how to control you; this is what had happened in earlier times. And that’s before the civil rights. Before the civil rights that’s what happened. So, we used a group of people, human beings as slaves. because saying that I am superior. And that’s what happened. And this is what the Buddha and Tara been objecting it for 2500 years. Nobody heard. And begin to hear thanks to Dr Martin Luther King. And now its popping up again. So that’s the pride.

0:25:54.0 Then we have ignorance of not knowing. Wrong knowing. These are the internal fear. Because we don’t know exactly what we are doing. We don’t have awareness. We don’t have mindfulness. And we are confused. And we do the wrong thing yet we don’t know it’s the wrong thing. Until the consequences pop up exactly, look in election. We know the democratic people know there is tremendous people newly registered and coming out and all this yet you don’t know there is hidden, right wing, very right-wing conservative majority. Huge amount comes and overpower. You lose the Florida, you lose Ohio. So, this is the confusion and ignorance within us, it makes that. Unexpected loses, we experience because of the ignorance. And then you have hatred, internally. Hatred, we have to be afraid of our hatred. Hatred will really burn our all positiveness. You become blind when you have such hatred. We seen it. Number of times again and again it’s demonstrated in our society. The hatred.

0:27:54.5 Every murder case that we look in, it is also the rages that bring up. It is based on hatred. Hatred blind individual temporarily or permanently. You don’t know what you are doing and you don’t know what happened. Hatred burns. And if you entertain hatred, it grows tremendously. Grows with individual, grows with family, grows with society, grows in the country and its all become like this today. America is a thing that we be proud of it. I was not American. I was kicked out from Tibet by Chinese but I was very proud of America. And people in the world admires America. Not because America has money, not the green dollar. But right, individual right, freedom, choice and equality. These are the principles in which we the American society was built. And we are very proud and world admire us. And today is other way round. As American we have to be afraid of travelling. American embassies are symbolic in the world of freedom and love and joy. And today all the American embassies are hidden behind concrete. Shocked me.

0:29:58.8 I use to live in Delhi and all other American embassies used to get visa, or renew passport or something I use to go there. This is symbol of comfort. Today it becomes symbol of fear. The beautiful building has a new wall in front. Concrete wall almost hidden the sky. Huge one. And surrounded, we have to hide in there. It’s all done by hatred. Maybe its hatred of few people. But we all are experiencing consequences. Hatred. Not only that we have also jealously within us. The fear the jealousy. Jealousy will make it, you know the metaphor giving by the great masters earlier, it’s like the cobra snake. The cobra when it doesn’t hit you, but they make the poison plate everywhere where the cobra lives. So, the jealousy affected that with us. And there are lot of those I don’t want to go very detail in this, because I won’t be able to sell you my book, hehe I’m just joking, that is joke. If I tell you everything then you have nothing more to read. I mean just joke.

0:31:57.0 And maybe I give you one more. Another thing is stinginess. Stinginess you know the metaphor they give you, traditional Tibetan masters, you’ve been shackled. So even you want to give it you can’t give it you been shackled. You know why we shackled? Fear when I need it, I won’t have it. So must keep it. It cuts your generosity. And when you’re not generous you won’t get anything. Believe me you have to be generous in order to receive more. Generosity is virtue because when you give you get it. Its cause and effect, its karma. If you don’t give, how can you expect to get it? Free lunch? We all know we don’t get that right? Right? So, no free lunch, so you give and you get it. Its cause and effects.

0:33:08.3 I remember when I first came and visit in the United States, at that time the president was Johnson. London Johnson. And there’s economic problem and Johnson going on television and talking everybody spend, spend, spend. And what I thought, oh my god, America has generosity in principle. I was not wrong; America has the generosity as principle. Every American person almost by its nature is very generous. Extremely generous. On everything. On time, on money, on everything. Very generous. It’s wonderful virtue that we have by virtue of being American. Of course, our politicians mismanage our generosity all the time. All the time. The generosity of the American public to the poor people it’s been mismanaged and spent to gain oil. Oil. Not to help a poor people.

0:34:42.3 Is there not their money. It’s not George Bush’s money, it’s not John Kerry’s money. Its American people’s money. It’s not CIA money, it’s not state departments money, it’s the we the American people’s money. We are very generous. We generously pay our tax. Although if you don’t pay, they get us. But you pay with good thought, good motivation, helping people, supporting the United States and supporting the poor people in the world. And it’s really becomes generosity karmic action. I always do whenever I pay tax, even though I don’t have it, I will not say, oh I don’t know whatever, you know. I don’t say that. I will happily pay with mind of generosity, that’s what I do. I can share that with you. If you do this your money is even though they mismanaged it, we have the good virtue, good karma of being generous. But if you have stinginess it’s like the shackle that tight your two hands together, you can’t move. Thinking that I need it tomorrow, I need it tomorrow, maybe don’t the day I need it. Just look the things that we collect in our storage room or garage. We just don’t want to part it because we may need it down the time, years, sometimes, somewhere so just don’t want to throw and we filled up all our open wonderful beautiful space with junk. We make our garage and storage like junk yard, that is stinginess. Right? And we keep the clothes that doesn’t fit us. I do. Doesn’t fit us hoping that I will lose weight and next time I will wear it.

0:37:19.4 So these are the stinginess that cuts our generosity, like shackle. So well in short what can Tara do to us? Tara can help us to heal from the illness. Tara can help us to die properly at appropriate time, nicely have good death. Tara can help us if you believe in reincarnation to be have good future life. And Tara can free us from doubts. Another fear is fear of doubts. We have tremendous, we need intelligent mind. We need to observe what we do. We need to check. We don’t want blind faith. Blind faith creates tremendous problem. You know it what has happened to Jim Jones, Heavens Gates, all of them one after another it’s all because of blind faith. We need intelligent faith. Without faith you cannot do it. Faith is like mother than gives you birth. Without mother, no matter how efficient the father may be, you can never give birth. We all know that don’t we? It’s all wasted, you know what I mean? I’m sorry to making dirty jokes. It really true, it’s the mother who can give the child. The faith is the base on which we grow the divine relationship. Whoever the divine may be representing, doesn’t matter. Divine beings do not have division between red states and the blue states. They don’t. if they do, they are not divine beings.

0:39:42.9 And that’s the reason why lots of number of people also think one divine only. That’s because to help us we don’t want divide up there too. We are divided enough here. So, doubt is a problem. Intelligence yes, no on doubt. Just like we say yes or not. No on proposal one, and no on proposal two but people didn’t listen, they misunderstood. Michigan misunderstood proposal one. So that’s exactly what it is. So, the doubt can destroy your spiritual life, your spiritual life completely. Because you keep on doubting everything, until the cows come home. Keep on doubting then the cow will come home one day, means you have to go so no time to do anything. That is the biggest problem with those unlimited doubts. Doubts is not wisdom. Faith is wisdom. But blind faith is not wisdom, intelligent faith is wisdom. These are the needs of the people who are interested in spiritual path.

0:41:30.3 Faith, intelligence, free of those negative emotions I talked to you right now. Like pride. Like jealousy, like hatred and ignorance. And kindness, compassion as foundation of your functioning. You base your life on kindness and compassion. You utilise activities of free negative emotions at your path, or the road, or the moment what you do. And the result, or we hope to get is the total freedom. So, the base, path, and the result. At the fundamental functioning of spiritual work, if you don’t have base, whatever you do it will be just swing here and there. It will be like you know, the leaves these days, the tree leaves are carried by wind wherever, that’s what happening outside. So, when you don’t have base, that’s what happens. And when you don’t have perfect path, every single thing you think it’s great. You don’t know what is good and what’s bad. No wisdom there. And when you don’t have the perfect path how can you hope to get result? There’s no result. So, to help yourself, to help ourself, for our own service, build your spiritual base. Find your spiritual path and get it result. And that’s a great spiritual work.

0:43:47.0 Okay this should be enough, more than enough for me what can Tara do for you and fears and now I would like to do a little, the fourth one, little guided meditation. This guided meditation I would really like to do very short. Since I’m introducing Tara to you, so I do the guided meditation on Tara. Tara today is representing divine beings in front of you. In case if you don’t want to meditate on Tara you can meditate on Mary. Whatever you want to do. It is the freedom of choice, is in principle, its human right. So, you have them in spiritual path as well. So I’m going to talk to you about Tara but still you can meditate, or you can visualize Tara and think that its Mary. That’s also the same thing as I told you in the divine beings there is no red and blue states.

0:45:20.1 Space in front of you, open, a beautiful, wonderful, just like you’re looking through the spaceship in the open space. Wonderful, happy, light, beautiful, open. Huge, open. Openness is extremely important. Its absolutely open. As far as you can see it. Feel it hear it. Everything is beautiful open space. At the mid and centre of that space, right in front of you, wonderful lotus seat. Wonderful lotus seat. Thousand petal lotus, above that you also have moon cushion which soften the seat an labelled. Above that sits Tara or Mary. In the case of Tara, white, beautiful white in body, one face two hands, the right hand is giving me, each and every individual an invitation. Invitation gesture. The left hand is giving protection to me, meaning everyone. Giving protection gesture of three fingers up. The ring finger and thumb together holds lotus. Stem of lotus which opens at the side of her left ear. Which has three things happening. The centre is lotus fully blooming. At the right of the centre, it is fruit and at the left of the centre lotus is bud that not yet open. Ready to open.

0:48:48.0 These represents present, past and future of ourself. And the world. She also has seven eyes. Two normal plus wisdom eye and she have both hands and legs have eye each. That makes seven eyes. Beautiful, wonderful, youthful, loving, completely affectionate, ready to jump and dissolve with us. Ready to become oneness with us. We also look at her, have tremendous affection and tremendous faith seeing that divine representative is here for me. To help me, to protect me. To guide me. So, with this affection, with this sort of loving, with this connection is your divine connection. With these, her blessings, the blessings of all divine beings are showered on us in the form of rainbow color light and liquid. Purifies all our wrongdoings completely. Just by the touch of this light and just by touch of this liquid. We all become perfect.

0:51:06.1 We all remain with divine being. We also been relief of all our pains, miseries, fear, and we become happy and joy and capable and ready to face challenge that we have. Thank you.