“We are doing this to be more awake and be a stronger vessel to carry the heartbreak”
~ Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton
What does compassion feel like? A nourishing curiosity, sending and receiving messages that promote unconditional kindness and joy. This communicates to ourselves and the world a supportive radiance, grounded in the humility of self-acceptance.
Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton will be teaching the 21 Tārās for the 21st Century – Part II Online Program, September 8 to October 13. Click here to learn more.
In this blog post we go deeper into our four-part series, appreciating the benefits that compassion offers.
Part 3: Embodying Compassion
Embodying compassion engenders in us a healthy sense of self-esteem, and a natural tendency to help others. Something like that of a superhero. Where does this power come from? From our enlightened state of being, which is always present and always inseparable from us. Stabilizing this realization helps repattern who we are.
In Vajrayana Buddhism we practice Deity Yoga, embodying the deity – the perfect model of enlightened qualities. The subtleties of our sensory experience are activated through the deity’s rich symbology and structure, and in some cases through the many different manifestations of the deity. One of the more popular deities, Tārā, has twenty-one manifestations, which supports the exploration of all the wrathful, blissful, and peaceful aspects of our being, held in the loving heart of compassion.
Through this Tantric method we reveal what compassion feels like. This transforms our everyday experience, and we radiate warmth out to all beings. Gradually, our world starts to be seen through “pure vision,” where we honor everything as sacred and an expression of the Great Mother.
Tara Mandala will offer the 21 Tārās for the 21st Century – Part II Online Program, from September 8 to October 13, with Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton. Over six-weeks we embody the awakened qualities of Tārā, the female Buddha of Compassion, and learn how she manifests within us and the world. Learn more »
Befriending Fear & Embodying Compassion
With Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton
September 8 to October 13
Learn about Tārā’s symbolic meaning, mantra, and meditations, and explore the universal aspects of the empowered feminine in her many diverse forms that support us in befriending our fears and overcoming the very real human challenges we meet in our daily lives. Through powerful and inspiring stories about real women, both historic and modern, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, you will gain knowledge and personal experience about the myriad qualities of these 21 Tārās.
Early Bird opportunities until August 30
ABOUT THE RETREAT TEACHER
Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton
Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton, Buddhist teacher and translator, studied Buddhism and Tibetan language at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives in Dharamsala, India, founded by H.H. Dalai Lama. She later received her degree from UCSB’s religious studies department at which time she co-translated Sublime Dharma, A Compilation of Two Texts on the Great Perfection, published by Vimala Publishing, 2012. From the very beginning of her Buddhist studies, Dorje Lopön Chandra recognized the profound need to bring forth the voice of the sacred feminine in Buddhist theory and practice. Due to this, in 1999 during her first pregnancy, she met and then later began to study with Lama Tsultrim Allione, pioneering female Buddhist teacher, national best selling author, and founder of Tara Mandala Retreat Center. Dorje Lopön Chandra is the Assistant Spiritual Director and Lead Senior Teacher at Tara Mandala Retreat Center. She serves on the Tara Mandala Board of Trustees, develops programs and curricula for Tara Mandala, as well as … Read more »
We hope you enjoyed this third part of our Compassion Series, absorbing the nourishment of compassion. Join us for part four in the coming weeks.
Read the other parts of our Compassion Series here:
Part One – Connecting to the Source (click here)
Part Two – Opening the Heart of Compassion (click here).
~With Blessings,
Tara Mandala Retreat Center
