In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;and#8220;Compassionate Action,and#8221; Sangharakshita talks about Chetul Sangyu Dorje, his teacher who gave him the Green Tara sadhana practice. Green Tara the radiant Bodhisattva of compassion, inspiration to many who lead a Buddhist life aspiring to beauty and a steady openness in the face of the mysteries of existence.
From the talk given to inaugurate Taralokaand#8217;s new shrine cabin dedicated to Tara, titled: and#8220;On Tara.and#8221;
[music] Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. Thank you, and happy listening. We know that that green Tara or Shawna Tara is not the only form of Tara. We know that there are quite a number of different forms that Tara has, or that Tara assumes. Traditionally, they want to speak in terms of a mandala of 21 Tara's. And, of course, among those 21, perhaps the best known next to green Tara is the white Tara, the Tara who sustains for a long life, not only for a long life, but also for merit and for kennelana or wisdom. Perhaps I should go back a little bit, though, to green Tara, before I say something about the white Tara. I did mention that green Tara stood for Compassionate Action, and I saw that Compassionate Action is manifested in the life and the work of such a San Godelji in my other teachers. But what does one mean by Compassionate Action? What does one mean by Compassion? I think it's very important to understand that in this context, Compassion doesn't mean what we usually mean by the term Compassion. It's not just ordinary kindness. It's very, very much more than that. It is a Compassion, if we can even call it that, an Emotion, if we can even call it that, which springs from an absence of Egotism. And it's therefore very important, I think, that we make a distinction between what we can call pity and what we can call Compassion. Some years ago, there was a circulating within the movement, amongst some people, a very interesting book. It was a novel by Stefan's Vague. Some of you may have seen it, and it was called Beware of Pity. And it was pity that he was writing about in this very interesting novel, and not Compassion. Pity is something that is weak, but Compassion is something that is strong. Pity really springs from the ego, but Compassion springs from a realization of non-ego. True Compassion is inseparable from wisdom. So, it's very important that we realize this, that the Compassionate Action for which taught our green taught especially represents all, stands for, is Compassion in this much, much deeper sense. So, if we want to engage in Compassionate Action, we really have to work on this ego sense, and to try to transcend that, at least to an extent. And of course, as many of you know, in the course of our FWA practice, and especially in the course of preparation for ordination, we do the six element practice. This is one of the most direct ways of attacking the ego sense. And no doubt quite a few of you would be acquainted with this practice. So Compassionate Action is action which springs from wisdom, action in which there isn't any trace of self-interest or ego-tism. And it's very important to remember this. Also, of course, green taught doesn't only stand for Compassionate Action. The gesture of green taught is the gesture of fear not. Don't be afraid. So, where does fear come from? Fear comes, of course, from ego. And ego is always anxious to protect itself. It's ego itself is afraid. Ego itself is fear. So, where there is ego, there is fear. Where there is no ego, there is no fear. So, Tara represents not just the compassion, the action that springs from true compassion. Where there is no trace of ego, Tara also represents the fear in this action. Fear is because also there is no ego behind the action. So, this is very important. And these are two very important aspects of what green taught in particular symbolizes. We hope you enjoyed today's Dharma Bite. Please help us keep this free. Make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. And thank you. [music] [music] [music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
