Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
for my compadres John & Cindy
It is told that from two tears the Buddha of compassion shed in pity of terrestrial suffering were born two Taras, feminine bodhisattvas, goddesses of wisdom and compassion — from the tear of the left eye, the Tara of the complexion of the whitest pearl, the peaceable Tara; from the one of the right eye, the Tara of the complexion of pale jade, the Green Tara, the fierce Tara. Both goddesses of compassionate wisdom, it is the Tara Green as hope who reigns over acts of charity, the one of the most tender heart, nearest to the Earth, of the fierce compassion.
In the tankas, the sacred paintings of the Himalayas, she is drawn seated on the full moon at the center of a lotus, right foot extended ready to act, the left foot crossed on her lap in meditation, the right hand extended toward the Earth in mudra, gesture, of kindness, the left hand raised in the gesture of protection with a blue lotus, sign of healing.
The full moon tonight comes and goes in the summer fog of San Francisco Bay like a mantra in the mind of the Earth, the Green Tara of the night calming anxieties and fears, consoling ills.
Mother of wise compassion,
grant us the courage & strength
to act from the heart,
to grow in ourselves the blue lotus
healing the world and the Earth.
We drown in fears & in anguish
that don’t serve us well
& many are the wounds & the ills.
Grant us the dreams able
to open the doors of a future
more kind & more just.
Teach us, mother,
to dance with each other,
with our brethren the other animals,
with the plants, with the stones,
with the air, the fire, the water, the earth,
with the stars.
The moon comes and goes in the fog like a mantra in the mind of the Earth.
