"Dressing Up as Buddha"

In her book, How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator, Thubten Chodron explains why Tantra meditators visualize themselves as Tara and other Buddhist deities. She writes: "Visualizing Tara and contemplating the symbolisms of her body help us to cultivate respect for virtuous qualities and inspire us to develop those qualities ourselves. We do these practices in order to transform our attitude so that we can develop the same enlightened qualities as Tara."

"Like a child who dresses up and pretends to be a fireman, thereby developing the confidence to become one, we imagine ourselves to be a Buddha who relates to people as a fully enlightened being does - without ignorance, hostility, or clinging attachment and with immeasurable wisdom, compassion, and skill. This plants the seeds for us to actually become Tara in the future."

The Dalai Lama explains this Tantra practice of Deity Yoga - such as Tara meditations - like this: "In Tantra you harness the power of your imagination. You visualize yourself with a Buddha's body, activities and resources in order to overcome your own afflictive emotions so that you can serve others. The practice is designed to transform how you see yourself, others, the environment, and your activities."

Both teachers offer basic instructions for visualization practice in the books listed below. However, they both caution that these practices are best learned in person, from a teacher, instead of from a book. You can find out about Tara practices from the sites listed here. And other Tibetan Tantra practices are taught at centers around the country. We list centers in our article: How Can I Find a Meditation Center?

Books Available from Amazon

How to Free Your Mind: Tara The Liberator, by Thubten Chodron, ($11). This book contains practical advice about how to use Tara meditations to develop a calm mind, free from suffering of all kinds.

How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life, by the Dalai Lama ($20) A practical explanation of Buddhism and Buddhist meditation techniques that includes instructions for several practices.

Links

Thubten Chodron has a website that describes her other books, her teaching schedule, and her biography: www.thubtenchodron.org

Gelek Rimpoche has a web site: www.jewelheart.org which gives his biography and teaching schedule. Rimpoche teaches Tara meditations.