Empowermnet of White Tara ...
Yesterday I attended one of a three part day "Long Life Empowerment of White Tara" Dharma celebration at the local Buddhist center.
It was my first time attending sure "empowerment" retreats and I only agreed to go on the behest of my partner.
The speaker was the Eastern US National Spiritual Director who is based in NYC. The morning program started with an hour meditation, which was mostly about "being mindful", focusing on the breath, and alot of visualization. For my part, I mostly tried to focus the attention on the inhale and outward breath while paying attention to finding naad since the environment was very quiet. After about half hour I started to notice a dulling energy, which I attributed to the coldness and lack of fresh air in the temple room which was filled to close to a hundred attendees. To help keep the mind alert and to prevent the body from dozing off, whiles sitting I place the legs under the chair and positioned the toes as shown in this photo:
Afterwards, was the Empowerment lecture which lasted for two hours. I only was able to record some of it, until my phone battery runned out.
You can listen to part of the lecture HERE
I noticed that 95% of the entire talk was about the mind. What is believed to attain enlightenment is to liberate that mind. It wasn't explained what exactly is that mind, but it was said that the Self exist within the mind but that Self is not the true Self and it not real. At one point it was mentioned that the Self does not exist without the mind and that It comes into existence after the mind is manifested. He said that we are using "an old Self and a new Self will come about when we become enlightened".
To be honest, I was fighting to just to remain composed after hearing this, but I mentally held back my critical, analytical mind, and looked at the Deities and told them " ... are you guys hearing this mumbo jumbo!" lol
Anyway, the teacher when on to talk about imagination, and made references to dreams. Basically everything is imagination and he was saying that we should always use it. Imagine you are White Tara, imagine that you are enlightened, imagine that you are a Buddha, imagine that you are a bodhisattva, imagine your new Self. What struck me the most was when it was mentioned that dreams are just imaginations and everything we experience in that dream is all based on what we imagine it to be, and none of it is real. Yes, I know that some imaginations can be dream-like, but that distinction wasn't established.
In Part, thanks to the books of MiBeloved, InselfYoga, I am no longer confused about separation of mind, imagination and Self, but I could not stop to wonder how many in the same space was totally confused or were left with imagining their confusing.
My wife asked me, after, if I felt the White Tara Empowerment?
My response: "If by the compassion of the Deity, empowerment was bestowed, it will manifest probably without me knowing because I don't have the required subtle sensitivity to notice the movements of those energies."
In the end, I was content that I attended one of the days and the experience reminded me of how fortunate I am to be journeying on the path of set forth by Sri Patanjali and the mystic yogis. Yes, I admit I struggle alot with my practice but within the core of my being, there is that unwavering desire to never pull away from this path.
Jai Sri Krishna!
