Yesterday Gen-la Jampa took us to meet Buddha Tara in her Pure Land!

Gen-la began the empowerment by delivering two special messages from Venarable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche.  We understood that it is only due to the kindness of Venerable Geshe-la that we now have the opportunity to make a strong connection with Arya Tara. And throughout that magical session we felt Venerable Geshe-la's compassionate presence. As if we were receiving the empowerment from Venerable Geshe-la  through Gen-la.

Once the actual empowerment began we enjoyed a sublime guided meditation, and although we were using our imagination, because it was combined with correct belief and pervaded by powerful blessings it became an actual experience of meeting Guru Tara and receiving her blessings directly.

Holding Guru Tara in our heart and knowing she is always there to help and protect us, we came away from the empowerment feeling joyful, confident and very protected.

"People have definitely helped you and are helping you. For example, your mother has greatly helped you. Why can we not say that she is an emanation of Arya Tara? I can say that she is an emanation of Arya Tara, but you may say, ‘No, she is not Tara because she is very ordinary. She gets angry with me, and she causes me many problems and so forth.’ I will then say that you are wrong because the mother that you normally see does not exist. Therefore, you are wrong in saying that she is bad, she is good, she harms me, she criticises me, and so forth.

"If you ask, ‘Who has helped me?’ then definitely your mother has. When you were born you were completely powerless to do anything. You could not find food; you could not say anything. Everything was taken care of by your mother. From then until now your mother has continually cared for you. But the mother that you normally see caring for you does not exist. So who has cared for you? Who is the person who continually cares for you? I can say that she is an emanation of Arya Tara, but you cannot see this. You cannot see the mother who is really caring for you. The mother that you see does not exist. You cannot see the existent caring mother because you see only an inherently existent mother and say, ‘She is good, she is bad, she is helping me’ and so forth. In reality, such a person does not exist. Then I can say, ‘If you have received care from someone, then this person is an emanation of Arya Tara.’

". . . We cannot find an inherently existent mother anywhere. Therefore, your mother who is helping you continually can be an emanation of Tara. Not only your mother; anyone who helps you from time to time, whether spiritually or materially, can be an emanation of Tara. If we check carefully like this we can see how Tara is always helping us; all living beings, whether they are Buddhist or not, even those who deny Tara and even those who are angry when they hear Tara’s name, receive her benefit every day. This is because this is the function of enlightened beings."