This is a guided meditation on White Tara,
Who in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism is an embodiment and the archetypal image of our own pristine awareness,
Our own basic goodness,
And especially the qualities of long life,
Wisdom,
Compassion,
And merit,
Positive potential.
This specific practice will include elements of healing visualizations that originally came from India to Tibet,
And in India were taught by a female meditation master called Siddharani.
These elements were later incorporated in the practice of White Tara,
And in this case will be used to enhance our body's capacity for healing itself through the skillful use of our mind.
It's important to know that this practice is not a substitute for qualified medical attention,
But can merely enhance our body's ability to heal itself and at least bring us some mental comfort.
To begin the practice,
We take some moments to relax our body deeply,
Bringing our awareness into the tactile field,
Observing the sensations,
And gradually letting go of tension,
Relaxing our feet and toes,
Our pelvic floor,
The abdomen,
Our shoulders,
Our face,
And then once again bringing our awareness into the body as a whole.
Allowing it to breathe naturally without any control from our side,
And enhancing our relaxation with each subsequent breath,
Releasing the tension as we're breathing out,
And becoming more and more comfortable in this moment,
Accepting our environment for what it is,
And preparing ourselves for the practice of meditation.
Then we generate a positive motivation for this specific practice,
Reminding ourselves of why we're meditating in the first place,
And reinstating our highest aspirations,
Such as attaining full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings,
And liberating our own mind from all the obscurations,
All the defilements,
So that we can be of greatest benefit to others.
Once we establish this motivation,
White Tara as a symbolic form of our altruism,
Compassion,
And wisdom arises in the space in front of us.
She's sitting there facing us,
In a radiant body made of light,
Seated upon a lotus and a moon disc,
And looking incredibly beautiful and inspiring,
Inspiring through her qualities of enlightened wisdom,
Compassion,
Generosity,
Discipline,
And many other qualities that we long to develop or uncover in ourselves.
White Tara is seated in the full lotus position,
Or the Vajra posture as it's called in Buddhism.
Her backrest is a shining moon disc.
She holds her right hand on her right knee,
Palm out.
Her left hand is at the level of the heart,
And she's holding a beautiful blue Utpala flower with her thumb and her ring finger,
Stretching the other three fingers as a symbol of the three jewels of Buddha,
Dharma,
And Sangha.
She's also wearing beautiful silk clothes and different jeweled ornaments,
And all of these,
If we're familiar with them,
Are symbols of our own purified energies or pranas,
And our six moral perfections or far-reaching practices.
She has glossy black hair,
Partly tied in a knot on her head,
And partly freely flowing across her back.
She's smiling at us,
And we're noticing that she has seven eyes,
Three on her face,
And an eye on each of her palms and feet.
These seven eyes observe the seven types of beings,
All the beings that exist,
And they also symbolize the four immeasurable qualities of the heart,
And the three signs of liberation,
Three qualities of nirvana.
Tara is surrounded by a halo of rainbow light,
And her image,
Created out of that rainbow light,
Symbolizes the pure nature of our own mind and our own physical energies.
Even if the visualization is a bit difficult to establish,
And this might be the case when we're just beginning to do this practice,
That's not a problem.
What we are trying to,
What we are trying to definitely generate is a feeling of presence,
Tara's presence in front of us.
If we're sitting with a friend,
Even if we close our eyes,
We still know that they're there,
Right next to us,
Ready to support us,
Loving us.
So it's the same with Tara.
She's constantly present with us,
But in this specific meditation it's especially important for us to feel her presence,
And trust that the enlightening qualities that she represents are right there in front of us.
She's here to guide us,
Heal us,
Inspire us,
And help us uncover our deepest potential.
With that level of trust,
Thinking of Tara's qualities,
Which are actually the qualities of our own basic goodness,
We mentally take refuge in her,
Turn to her for safe direction in our lives,
For guidance that will eventually lead us to perfect and unsurpassed awakening.
We don't want to suffer,
We trust that the enlightened qualities of wisdom and compassion are the antidote to suffering.
And we also have compassion for other beings,
And so out of those three qualities we deeply entrust ourselves to Tara,
Mentally,
Or if there is a specific refuge formula that you prefer,
That can be recited here as well.
And then for this specific practice we generate a specific intention.
Not only do we want to follow Tara's guidance until we attain awakening,
But in this specific case we want to do the practice of balancing the five elements in our body and our mind,
So that we can be happier,
Healthier,
And of greater benefit to others.
With that special intention we follow the sequence of healing visualizations associated with the five elements of nature.
And while these visualizations are being described,
And you're invited to follow them as much as you want,
You can be either focusing on the visualization itself,
Or just the feeling it generates,
Or you can also recite Tara's mantra,
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha,
Or even quietly chant it,
While not losing track of the visualization.
If you want to chant the mantra you can use a very simple melody.
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha,
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha,
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha,
And so on.
But the mantra can also be recited without chanting,
Or even mentally.
If during this meditation you want to extend this healing process to other beings,
In general,
Or to a specific being that you have in mind,
Imagine the specific being right in front of you,
And all the other beings everywhere around you,
To your left and right,
Behind you,
And as far as the eye can see.
And imagine that Tara's enlightening influence extends to all these beings equally,
Inviting them into this healing circle.
It's also very beneficial to imagine your enemies or people you dislike right in front of you.
Thinking that they're also obtaining Tara's enlightening influence,
And their minds,
Along with our bodies,
Are getting more and more purified,
More and more imbued with compassion and wisdom.
With a strong wish to heal ourselves and others,
We imagine that out of Tara's heart come forth infinite rays of energy.
Each ray has a hook as a means of gathering the energy of the elements.
And in this first round,
All these rays go out in order to gather the energy of space,
The very space that houses all the other elements.
So these rays go out to the outer space,
All the space that exists here on Earth,
All the space within atoms,
And basically every type of space that there is,
In rooms,
Caves,
In the sky,
Everywhere.
These hooks gather the energy of space in the form of blue light,
And bring all of this infinite blue light back into Tara's heart.
And then out of Tara's heart,
All of this space energy starts flowing into our own body in the form of light and nectar,
Blue in color,
Completely feeling us,
And balancing the energy of space in our body and mind.
If we have any physical disorders associated with space,
Or if we lack mental space,
Or have too much mental space,
So that we're constantly spaced out,
All of these problems are naturally eliminated,
Because we're absorbing this balanced element of space.
Simply taking a moment to enjoy this visualization,
The blue energy of space flowing into us,
Becoming one with us,
Enriching us,
And balancing the element of space in our body and mind.
And then we imagine that the energy of space is now completely balanced,
Reinvigorated,
Active.
Then,
The same rays of light with hooks come out of Tara's heart in order to gather the energy of wind or air.
All of the winds on this planet,
Storms,
Hurricanes,
Tornadoes,
And so forth,
And all the winds throughout the universe,
Wherever there is air of any kind.
All of that movement energy is gathered in the form of green light.
It comes back into Tara's heart,
And then out of Tara's heart,
Starts flowing into us.
This green energy and green nectar rejuvenates the air element in our body,
All the movement that's required.
And it's also balancing the element so that it's not excessively active.
All the life-sustaining energies that control our beating heart,
Our lungs,
And basically every type of movement in our body,
Including the movement in our nervous system,
All of that is rejuvenated as we're absorbing this green light and nectar.
So take a moment to enjoy this visualization.
Feel that because of it you're becoming very energetic and strong.
And also feel that this rejuvenates the air element in our mind,
And that's connected with our intellect,
Our ability to think fast,
To analyze,
To make proper decisions,
To be intellectually present in a situation.
All of that is rejuvenated as well,
Along with our intellectual confidence.
But without going into an excess.
.
.
And then we take a moment to imagine that the air element has been completely rejuvenated,
Completely balanced in our body and mind.
And then we take a moment to do the balancing of the fire element.
Just as before,
All the light rays go out of Tara's heart in order to gather the energy of fire wherever there is heat in the universe.
Fire of the Sun,
The stars,
Volcanoes,
The molten center of the Earth,
And all the fireworks seeing on this planet.
Basically every type of heat,
Its energy,
Is coming back into Tara's heart in the form of red light.
And then out of Tara's heart,
It's flowing into us in the form of red light and nectar,
Filling us up,
Rejuvenating the fire energy and balancing it,
So that there is no deficit of heat and also no excess of heat in our body and our mind.
Specifically for our mind,
This fire energy manifests as inspiration,
Passion,
Enthusiasm.
So we're taking a moment to enjoy this visualization as well.
And then we imagine that this fire element in our body and mind has been rejuvenated and balanced.
The rays go out again,
And this time to collect the energy of water,
The element of cohesion and flowing.
All the liquids in the universe,
All the oceans and seas,
Rivers,
And even glasses of water,
All the liquid here and on other planets,
Is granting its energy in the form of white light.
All of that energy is gathered into Tara's heart and then starts flowing into us,
Filling us up with white nectar and white light,
Rejuvenating the water element in our body and mind and bringing us greater comfort,
A greater sense of flow,
Greater ability to graciously move in a situation as is required without being separated from our sense of inner well-being.
And within our body,
Everything that controls our blood,
Our digestive system,
The flow of any type of liquids,
All of that is balanced as well.
We're imagining that we can now move our limbs and our entire body very smoothly.
And then we imagine that the water element in our body and mind has been rejuvenated and balanced.
Finally,
The light rays go out to gather the energy of the Earth element,
The solidity.
The mountains,
The deserts,
The soil,
And all the solid bodies throughout the universe are granting their energy in the form of yellow light.
All of that is absorbed into Tara's heart and then starts flowing into us in the form of yellow nectar and yellow light,
Imbuing us with the energy of solidity,
Strength,
Firmness,
And thus rejuvenating the Earth element in our body and mind and balancing it.
All the insufficiencies in the solid parts of our body,
Our flesh,
Our bones,
Our muscles,
All of these have been purified.
And along with that,
Our mind is obtaining the incredible quality of stability and firmness,
But not to an excess.
It is balanced just like all the other elements.
So we're enjoying that.
Finally,
We imagine that the Earth element has now been completely balanced,
Completely rejuvenated in our body and mind.
And then we also imagine that all the five elements are now in perfect balance,
And our body and mind are full of vital energy and full of compassion and wisdom.
We're imagining that we are now perfectly ready to bring benefit to this world,
Including by means of protecting the environment,
Which is made up of all these five elements.
And of course,
Taking care of other sentient beings,
Humans,
Animals,
And others,
And extending our loving-kindness and compassion towards them.
Seeing our strong resolve to be of benefit and to attain awakening,
White Tara in the space in front of us smiles at us and then melts into light.
And this brilliant rainbow light absorbs into our heart,
Blessing our body,
Speech,
And mind with oneness.
Our body,
Speech,
And mind,
And Tara's body,
Speech,
And mind are now completely inseparable.
And we're taking some moments just to enjoy that state without conceptual thinking,
Simply resting in the awareness of awareness.
Before concluding the practice,
We mentally dedicate all the effort that we have made.
We mentally dedicate all the energy that we have created to the highest aspirations that we ourselves have,
Such as full awakening,
And also to all the beings that require healing in this world.
Physical healing,
Mental healing,
Ethical healing.
All the beings that simply needs to know that they're loved,
Supported,
That they're not alone,
That there are enlightened beings guiding them,
And that they're friends in this world.
And once we have extended this compassionate and loving aspiration to all the other beings,
We gently bring our awareness to the space around us and conclude the meditation.
