Three and half years under the rainbow arch of Tara Mandala. It’s a journey that everyone should place themselves in. Go there and stay. Go find love for yourself there.
What did I find, that I would never find in any other retreat center, let alone the world? You are truly in the lap of Tara. And in the swirl of the Mandala. The movement of energy. It can be heard in the breeze, the turbulence of transforming emotions, rattling loose the luminosity as it “goes through the sky.” In this we feel Tara, we feel Karma, we feel activity, literally moving. And we are reminded how delicately we affect it all.
During the most beautiful times I tasted “effortlessness.” Strolling through the gates and looking back, seeing the temple amidst the golden glitter of the afternoon Summer sun. The clarity in that golden glow. A sort of “clean” that is the physical manifestation of pure mind. A refreshing monsoon rain to lubricate inspiration gone dry. The hush of an overnight Winter snow and the warm blanket of low hanging mist. The land hears us, the land knows what we need.
I also got to know encumbered beauty, when I was gorging on something that solidified my state of being. When it was conditional. Trying to pull away from a conversation because I had something else to do. Or trying hard to learn the words and not feel into the meaning. Essentially ignoring what the raw self was experiencing. As we move from season to season, retreat to retreat, intrigue to intrigue, our grasping is made more and more evident. Fortunately we have our brilliant teachers and devoted Sangha to remind us. And the vajra clarity that is the mirror of our minds. It can be said in an infinite number of ways, an infinite number of times. Let Go and Let Tara.
At Tara Mandala, one type of beauty informs the other. As a resident, we get busy. We are in community, we can feel like we never escape. Days off can be so refreshing, like a retreat from the retreat! And they quickly become about being without effort. In can start off kinda deliberate and become really natural. Then, busy can be our entry way into practicing effortlessness in action. When I found work and practice merging, I approached my work day with the same relaxation, fluidity, and curiosity as a “day off.” And off I’d float to practice at five pm, then rest staring at the mountains like a lover. The deep intoxicating inhale, and the warm breath of exhalation. Tonglen and dark chocolate in One Taste.
Your stay at Tara Mandala can be the greatest healing you’ll never get in any educational form at any prestigious house of learning. Mine came in the incredible lightness of being. To know that there is a layer of light hovering just beneath the skin. And to be comfortable in this light, before naturally and spontaneously being comfortable in my skin.
My journey is not your journey. But stay here a long time. Watch your mind, watch your emotions, watch your body. And you will begin reaching people with as little obscuring fields as possible. In luminosity, in love.
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Learn more about joining us here at Tara Mandala as a Living Dharma student. Or explore our calendar and find an onsite program that resonates with you.
