BBC: A Year in Tibet Episode 1

Apologies for going the lazy route of posting videos… but I just stumbled onto this one and had to pass it on.

That we (the US) are the country of CNN/MSNBC/Fox is a sad thing to contemplate.

At least we have the internet….

Green Tara

Here’s a Buddha to whom I’ve been drawn since first seeing a thangka that depicted her. Lots of good information at this site:

The great Buddha Green Tara (the most common form of Tara) who made the vow to return always as a female Bodhisattva is resplendent in her aura of green, radiant with the attainment of all the six perfections of giving, ethics, patience, effort, meditative stabilisation and wisdom, and bright with her ever-compassionate care for all sentient beings.

Tara is immensely beautiful, youthful like a 16-year-old maiden. Her top is naked though not in a lustful way – she is bare in the way that she remains unshackled by the times of samsara, free from suffering. At the same time, she wears the slender, bright pants traditional of Indian ladies to show us that though she is enlightened, she works through samsaric conventions to help us overcome our suffering.

Because of her strong karmic connection to all sentient beings in samsara, Buddha Tara tilts towards us in her great compassion to listen to our prayers, grant us our virtuous wishes and protect us as a mother would for her child. She is emerald green, splendid in the swiftness that the coolness of the colour represents.

Her ability to come to our assistance as we invoke her presence is instant – we need only think of her to have her compassionate heart with us. Unusually, Green Tara does not sit in meditative pose; instead her right leg extends outwards, to show us that she is ready to step forward to help us in our time of need.

Her spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra)