Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Tara as Embodiment of Practice for Others,and#8221; is an excerpt from the talk, and#8220;Chetul Sangye Dorjeand#8221; by Vajratara given at the Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2007
Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio
Tara as Embodiment of Practice for Others
[Music] Dharma Vites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for real life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, come and join us at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. Thank you and happy listening. [Music] Okay, so just to sort of sum it all up, I don't think it's an accident that Chetal Sangadolje gave Sangarach to Green Tara as his first archetypal bodhisattva figure. He thought about it very, very deeply. I think it's because Tara is all about making your practice for others. That's what she embodies on an archetypal level. And I think this is incredibly important, particularly for us in the West. I think we have a lot of work to do, because there's always a pool to make our practice about self-indulgent individualism. There's always a pool to settle down. There's always a pool to make it about me and myself being a better person. Well, that stuff's great, but you need to go beyond it. And I think there's also a pool in the world where the power of greed, hate, and delusion is very, very strong. And maybe it's always been very strong. But at the moment, things seem to happen on a much more global level. They happen a much quicker. We need more and more and more people to be about others. It's essential for the world. It's absolutely essential that our practice is about others. Because if it isn't, who is going to do it? Who is going to practice for others, if not us? Who is going to benefit others, if not us? And I don't care how big your sphere of influence is. I don't care if you can just practice for others in the confines of your own home or your own working situation. That's all right. But we must practice for others. We can't let Buddhism become another self-indulgent practice about me, another way of contributing to the West's me-itis. We can't let that happen. We can't let the Buddhism degenerate into self-indulgence. It's really important that we practice for others. Because if we don't practice for others, who will? Who will benefit the others, if not us? We've got a brilliant opportunity. We have it all laid out. We have as many teachings as we want. We have a beautiful centre. We have people who are here who are really willing to go out to others, who are really willing to be friendly, to help you with your practice. We have enough money. We have enough leisure time to do something really important. And we've come here and that's a really amazing thing to do. You know, it shows a lot about us that we've even managed to start thinking about and others enough that we've got a spiritual life. And it's really important we don't waste that opportunity. We must, must practice for others. Because if we don't, who will? And that's what Green Tar is about. And that's what I think Chethosango Dojo saw in Sangarachita. They all knew his teachers. They all knew he was going to come back in a funny kind of way and really teach others. And the main thing is, you know, the main thing that Chethosango Dojo was giving him this practice about come and do it for others. Don't let the Dharma be wasted. It's like a precious, precious jewel. Don't let it slip through your fingers. Don't let it slip in the gutter because you try and make it all about me. It must, must be about others. And that's what chews spiritual practices. And that's our task in this lifetime. We hope you enjoyed the talk. Please come and help us keep this free at freebutestaudio.com/community. And thank you. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [BLANK_AUDIO]