Tough Love!

I know the Divine Beloved Loves me

Because She just kissed me 

with her tough love!

Life IS our Job

We were offered and agreed to take this job,
To travel from the land of the soul to be born on Earth. Our job came with a purpose, and so our life was given purpose.

The job we took was simply living life,
and it is very hard work!
It is work that lasts a lifetime, however long that may be.

It is guaranteed work.
It presents us with many challenges to be navigated, and problems to be solved.  These challenges and problems were not given to us haphazardly, they are intimately tied to the purpose of our job and life. They could not be avoided.

In return for our effort, our job gives us many rewards, they are not always monetary rewards. Sometimes the rewards are for the soul and are given in ways the mind does not understand.

Finally, sooner or later, we are allowed to retire!
We have accomplished many things at our job of living life, and nothing is labeled good or bad. This is a time of joy, it comes with a sense of accomplishment, knowledge and wisdom from having come to Earth and lived life. Oh, there may be a brief moment of regret - of a wish to have done more or done something differently, but these feelings quickly dissolve for they are but shadows of ego. 

Finally the soul, usually quite tired and ready, is taken from this hard job of life. It rejoices in a new found freedom: Now it can once again get to know itself and joyfully pursue its highest ambitions unfettered. Now it feels the deeper contentment of being back home and at peace with itself.

The job of life was a good one, and we are glad we had the privilege of working and learning so much from that job.  We take all that with us into retirement, all the knowledge, wisdom, joy and pain. We are esteemed in the heavens for having gone to work on Earth and returned, and for all we have gained in this life on Earth.

In retirement we find ourselves feeling new; we are transformed and free from all material denseness, responsibility, illness, and tiredness. We remember! We remember we have a life that exists beyond the cycles of Earthly time and does not end when we retire from Earthly life.  So we remember that dimension of ourselves that is free of death and we become ready to continue our journey and service to God.
 

Practical Meditation: Caught in a Mood - Breathing to Break Negativity

There a few Breathing Techniques that are very simple to use and yet very powerful for restoring balance and vitality when disrupted by Negativity.

Why can we use our breathing to restore balance?  Because it is breath that connects body, emotions and mind. Therefore if we can regulate our physical breathing we also influence the state of our emotions and mind.

If we are caught in a negative mood our breathing becomes reflective of the mood – it becomes erratic, rapid, or out of balance. Lack of balance in our breathing, while not creating negativity, makes us susceptible to its influence and can even maintain it. So, to help break a bad mood or negative ‘mental-emotional habit’ a breathing practice is probably the easiest way to do it.

Poor Mental-Emotional habits, like poor eating habits rob us of our balance, vitality, perspective and the happiness inherent within our heart, any of the following breathing techniques, if practiced regularly, can restore balance and harmony to our lives.

I recommend trying them all and choose the ones you like best to practice. They all have slightly different effects.

---

Letting Go Breath

This technique will send away any stress or mood but only if you will let it go.

Through the nose, take as deep an inhalation as you can, hold the breath for a second to build up pressure and then exhale, letting go with a big sigh.  The sigh is optional but it does help in letting go. Then do it again and again until the stress or mood is broken.

Visualization: As you inhale feel your stress or mood being solidified, coalesced and pulled together in to a mental/emotional ball, then when you make the big exhalation just let go of that ball of stress.

Balanced Breathing

This simple regulation of the breathing will balance the tendency to over-react.

Become aware of your breath, let flow in and out through the nose and simply make the inhalation and exhalation of the same duration - so for example inhale 4 counts and exhale 4 counts.

With this practice you take control of your breathing and bring it into balance. Maintain that balance in your breathing for as long as you can - don’t let it go out of balance. The longer the count, the more relaxed you become, but don’t force it, as you start to relax you will find that that the count will naturally become longer, which is fine as long as the inhalation and exhalation are still the same count.

Alternate Breathing (Pranayama)

The alternating pattern of this breath practice is:

Begin with a nice big exhalation, then…

Close right nostril - Inhale through the left nostril,

Close both nostrils - Hold the breath,

Keep left nostril closed - Exhale through right nostril;

Keeping left nostril closed - Inhale through the right nostril,

Close both nostrils - Hold the breath,

Keep right nostril closed - Exhale through the left nostril

        Then breathe in through both nostrils,

        Hold the Breath,

        Breathe out through both nostrils.

Repeat this breathing pattern 3 – 5 times;

Use a ratio of 1:1:1, for example always inhale 5 counts, hold 5 counts and exhale 5 counts; or inhale 7 counts, hold 7 counts, exhale 7 counts.

To make it easier to breathe through only one nostril it is helpful to use your fingers to press against and close the nostril you are not breathing through. When holding the breath simply pinch both nostrils closed.

Optional Visualization: Feel the breath as a flow of energy moving up and down the left, right and middle of the spine – it flows from the base of the spine to the bridge of the nose as you inhale, as you exhale it flows down from the bridge of the nose to the base of the spine. When you hold the breath you can close your eyes and turn your eyeballs upward toward your forehead and curl your tongue up against the roof of your mouth.

Counting Breath

Sit in a chair or on the floor with your spine straight. Relax your body and then relax your breathing, feel as though your breathing is relaxing more and more with each breath.

Now simply become aware of your breathing as it flows gently in and out, in and out.  Feel the breath as it gently touches the nose, calmly flowing in and out. Feel your stomach or chest gently rising and falling as you relax more deeply into the rhythm of your breathing, letting your breath rock you gently in its flow. It’s almost like you are not even breathing, you are just relaxed and your breath is part of an eternal flow and rhythm of life flowing in and out.  Now simply count each inhalation and exhalation, don’t change anything, just continue to be aware of the gentle flow of your breathing until the count reaches 10.  Then if you like, start the count over until you drift off.

Breathing up the Spine

This technique will raise you up and out of any mood.

Breathe in through the mouth and feel the inhalation starting from the base of the spine, feel it flowing up the spine to the forehead. Hold the breath at the forehead for as long as is comfortable and then exhale out the nose, feeling the breath flowing down and out the heart center or center of the chest.

Breathing up the Spine with a positive emotion

This is an extension of the above breathing technique.

       Through the mouth, Breath up from base of the spine to the very top of the head (crown chakra), Hold the breath at the crown chakra and feel Divine Peace, then exhale through the nose and feel yourself being filled with Peace. You can also do this with the feelings of Love and/or Light.

Elemental Breaths with optional visualizations

This is the most complete and healing breath practice I know. It is composed of 5 breathing patterns that tap upon the healing resources of Mother Nature’s Elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air.

1.   Earth Breath – The Breath of Regeneration

Inhale through the Nose – Exhale through the Nose

As you inhale through the nose, feel as though you are inhaling the regenerating, vitality of Mother Earth – feel this healing energy fill you whole body. As you exhale out the Nose, Imagine breathing out all your used-up, depleted energy or vitality into Mother Earth and know that Mother Earth receives this depleted energy and recycles it.

2.   Water Breath – The Breath of Life

Inhale through the Nose – Exhale through the Mouth

As you inhale through the nose, feel that you are immersed in an Ocean of fresh, Spring like vitality and you are inhaling this vitality, feeling it flowing through your body and aura like cool, pure stream of life force. Then as you exhale you feel this flow intensify, carrying away all depleted vitality and energy, all pain, all impurities from your body.

Visualization: Imagine your body and aura as a lake and feel as though a fresh spring of this infinite energy were replenishing the lake. Visualize the color of this energy as the ‘Green of Spring’.

As you Exhale Out the Mouth, imagine a darker shade of green energy, like an exhaust stream of used-up, depleted energy being exhaled out the base of the body and into the Earth beneath you.

3.   Fire Breath -  The Breath of Light

Inhale through the Mouth – Exhale through the Nose

As you inhale through the Mouth, imagine and feel as though you are inhaling a stream of light like the sun through the solar plexus, this light spreads out and fills every organ, cell and molecule of your whole body with light. Then as you Exhale out the Nose, imagine this light radiating out through all the pours of your skin and filling your aura, emotions, and mind with light – you become radiant.

4.   Air Breath – The Breath of Freedom

Inhale through the Mouth – Exhale through the Mouth

As you Inhale through the Mouth, feel you are drawing into your consciousness a very refined life force from as far out in the cosmos as you can imagine, draw the energy into your aura thinking of the vastness of space, the Stars or Milky-Way galaxy as you gently inhale this Cosmic Life Force. As you Exhale out the Mouth, imagine your whole aura and consciousness expanding into the heavens.  You have no substance, you are as light and free as the air, there is no heaviness – you are completely free of all denseness.

5. Ether Breath - Simply take one breath of each of the above

Practical Meditation: Caught In A Mood

There are good moods and bad moods, states where we are enveloped in emotions.

If these do not give us a sense of Love, Harmony or Beauty they are "Bad Moods". They totally influence our perception of life events, and they are stressful, creating unwanted thoughts, speech and action! 

They are like a spell cast upon us, usually arising from past trauma, fear, or anger over situations which we can't yet seem to make peace with and let go. We don't want to repress these moods and we don't want to act out but we can hardly stop ourselves from doing so - we feel trapped, even held prisoner by them.  

What to do?

First, we have to break their hold, then find a way to step out of them, to step above them so we can see from another perspective, with a different light not clouded by their influence.

In short we need to find a way, to find the strength to be able to acknowledge them, yet watch them and not react. When we do this, they do not go away but neither do they exert a hold on us. They still come but we recognize them coming, we hear their footsteps and understand how they make us feel - this very recognition robs them of their power and returns that power to us. Theie influence upon us grows weaker until they are simply like flotsam passing by in the water of our consciousness.

My Spiritual Teachers would say to me: "What you have to do is learn to Watch your Breath". Indeed, if we can learn to watch our breathing, observing it, we also learn to 'watch your thoughts and emotions' - we develop a power in ourselves to become aware of our thoughts and emotions before they influence our action.  So just as you don't go around always holding your breath, you no longer hold or grab on to your thoughts and emotions, you become aware of them and some you choose to act on and some you let go. You also learn that your thoughts are not you! They are what they are - often conditioned upon events of the past, or reactions to the present.

In my experience the practices of personal freedom that systemically allow us to break the hold of "Bad Moods" through the power of self-awareness are ZAZEN, Balanced Breathing, and Pranayama. I will share a few of these practices in the next blog.

Infinity in a Finite Act

Within every moment there is freedom,

a moment not tied to past, present or future,

but steeped in eternity like tea ready to drink.

To drink this tea you need only relax

and become present to the stillness

between the gentle flowing of your breath.

You can't lose

Because

There is No Reality

But God,

You simply can't Lose!

 

 



Enlightenment or Service

The measure of our Enlightenment is found in our desire to serve.

As I have continued to meditate, the fantasy of seeking to become "Enlightened" has gradually given way to
the daily work of seeking ways to be of service in life.

Each morning asking: "Oh Beloved, show me how may I be of service to day", has become one of my mantras.

 

Learning “We Are One” the hard way…

The awareness of our inter-connectedness has been sub-consciously dawning upon us for quite some time. Outwardly we see it expressed in technology such as the Internet and the explosive use of Social Media; we see it in the impact of the global economy, and even the way in which “The News” brings tragedies of world into our living rooms.

We are at a point where cannot escape each other any longer – there is nowhere we can hide. So this sub-conscious awareness is becoming consciousness, whether we like it or not.

We are also collectively finally beginning to see that we are ecologically and biologically interconnected: The Gulf Oil spill, reactor melt downs at Chernobyl and Fukushima, the impact of Fracking, GMOs, mass destruction of forests and progressively the deterioration in the Ozone Layer will teach us that we are part of one big biological being living on this planet.  There are what we call ‘Natural Disasters’: Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Hurricanes, Volcanic Eruptions, Droughts, which now seem to have an impact upon the entire world. If this is not enough, we will be taught through Pandemics and they will get worse until, both individually and collectively, we not only begin to realize “We Are One” but also figure out how to act in ways that reflect this reality.

These disasters and tragedies represent several things:

1.     A cry for help from Mother Earth;

2.     A manifestation of our Ego’s lack of awareness of our inter-connection with all life on this planet;

3.     An urgent call to action both individual and collectively.

This of course is nothing new, the phrase “Think Globally – Act Locally” has been around for a long time, however right now the urgency of making changes is becoming critical. If we can act now, as much as we can, voluntarily, we can minimize the impact of the ‘forced change’ as well as heal and avert more long term consequences of our past actions.

And Act we are… there is positive change happening all around that we can support and participate in, for example: the positive use of Social Media for good; Global Spiritual activity such as “Winter Feast for the Soul”; Global Watch Groups; Global Prayer efforts; advancements in alternative energy solutions such as electric cars; rises in the numbers of Farmers Markets, Food Co-Ops; Greener Companies; local volunteer groups

for community and social support efforts.  If you look at all these, at their core they are all motivated by “Heart”, by Love, and they manifest as concrete actions in support of our One Being!  Love is always unifying for that the power of love!

Because we are interconnected every conscious, skillful action impacts the whole. 

So let’s continue to Wake Up, Stand Up, and Keep Up our efforts to participate in this great global, ecological, biological, and spiritual act of love for Mother Earth, each other and our progeny!

Evolutionary Spirituality

The New Awakening is not as we imagine, it is not the exclusive “spirituality” of ‘spiritual teachers and spiritual students’, of ‘spiritual leaders and spiritual groups’ of ‘spiritual orders’. It is a new “Inherent, natural spirituality” – a natural awareness of the spirit of Oneness connecting all things.

It is an inherent awareness of existence as that ‘which it is’, and so it is really ‘nothing special’, it is simply a clearer perception of life’s dynamic Oneness and interconnection.

The “forms” of the ‘old way’ are really not very relevant to those in tune with this new Spirituality. This is because the buildings which the ‘old forms’ were creating, have now been built and the new spirituality does not need those old forms anymore; they can be taken down so new forms can be built upon them.  Yes, “forms” are necessary for manifestation, and what the New Spirituality needs is new forms – this is spiritual evolution!

This natural, inherent awareness of being interconnected will result in new forms that embrace, enable and nurture individual, social and global holistic structures that are in harmony with our “Inter-being”.  The old forms were rigid, protective, exclusive forms, whereas the new forms will be organic and will come from people and places all over the place, all over the world!

Oh Light Bearers, Oh Lamp Lighters, to be relevant we must keep our hearts, minds, eyes and ears open to this change of form. Just as the old forms were exciting and wondrous in their time, the new forms will be a beautiful thing to see as they emerge and overcome the forces of inertia, duality and self-centeredness. 

Contemplation on The Emptiness that is Full - Shunyata

Inspired from the first three verses of The Heart Sutra of Great Perfection

The Venerable Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

When carrying out the profound Prajnaparamita career,

Penetrated through the five aggregates

And saw that they are Shunya in their nature.

Here, Shariputra, Form is Shunyata; Shunyata is Form.

Form does not differ from Shunyata; Shunyata does not differ from Form.

That which is Form is Shunyata; that which is Shunyata is Form.

The very same applies to feeling, idea, formations and consciousness.

Here Shariputra, all Dharma’s are marked with Shunyata;

Neither originated nor destroyed; neither defiled nor undefiled; neither decreased nor increased.

Therefore, Shariputra, in Shunyata, no form, no feeling, no idea, no formation, no consciousness…

Contemplation #1

Why seek emptiness? 

Because in becoming empty we become All in All.

Yet how can you seek that which cannot be sought? 

Surely emptiness cannot be found by seeking,

For our seeking forms a misty veil that distorts and hides it.

Yes, instead just sit - seek nothing, but surrender everything,

Over and over, all that stuff which fills you,

And then surrender you – it’s not the real you anyway.

Sunyata dawns in our awareness

Like clouds clearing from an open sky,

Not as a goal achieved but simply as true awareness.

Contemplation #2

Sitting in the stillness of a forest glen,

Surrendering everything until you become nothing,

Empty like the moon shining now upon us.

Becoming empty, we open to that quiet emerging of our true self;

Be still,

Don't scare it away with thinking, or 

try to capture it with conceptualization,

Just be present, allowing emptiness to fill you of its own accord.

Oh look!

The deer have come to enjoy the moon,

Appearing out of the dark forest.

Contemplation #3

In becoming empty, we become full of all things,

But yet are not filled.

There is a fullness that cannot be filled, for it is always empty;

If it were filled with just one thing, 

then it would not be full anymore.

Finding nothing, we become everything!

Contemplation #4

Seek it, it cannot be found,

       (don't seek, surrender);

Found, it cannot be grasped,

       (don't grasp, let go);

Present, it cannot be possessed -

       (don't  try to possess, be present).

Contemplation #5

What is It? 

It is the Self or yourself!

It is hidden by what you think you are,

Hidden by what you think you have made (or not made) of your life. Yet It cares not for these!

Though hidden, It cannot be lost - It IS you.

It is ignored at first, sought later; found through pain and embraced through surrender; actualized by living 

in an awakened way.

It is powerful, eternal, fearless, ever loving, ever free, and always positive; this awakening of you is relentless, unstoppable, evolving; It is always pushing to emerge, into your awareness and world, through every tiny hole made in your ego.

Bearing Wittness to Light

We bear witness to the Light of Oneness by remembering and cultivating light in our lives. This is done by becoming aware of and consciously noticing light in all its many forms; but it is also done by taking care of and loving ourselves so we can take care of and love others. We, as human beings will find both joy and purpose in this.

Light will always manifests as Love, Harmony and Beauty; in acts of compassion, service, respect, and consideration of others.

Acts of ignorance, are acts taken without realization of our interconnection with all life. We all act in ignorance at times but the more we try to remember and/or act with Love, Harmony and Beauty the less this occurs. Thus will our lives be transformed!

Magnaminity of Light Bearers

Humanity is at a point, because of free-will, self-awareness and the power of co-creation, given to it by the One Reality, to be able to override the natural programming designed to protect and nourish us.

Yet, there are many people in the world who are ignorant and asleep to the Light of Oneness.  These individuals, unfortunately, are not awakened and therefore not responsible for their actions at this time in their evolution - because they simply just don’t know any better.  They are caught up in personal, self-centered actions. The law of Karma will still hold them accountable in its own way. Also, most unfortunately, many of these individuals are in positions of power and influence within the societies of the world.

This places a burden of service and responsibility upon those who are awake, and who do have the capacity to bear witness to the Light of Oneness in manifestation.

Unfortunately, for those who have no capacity for Love, Harmony and Beauty, who are Self-Centered at heart, then it is the rest of us who must hold the high ground until, through the course of evolution, until the others begin to awaken.

All people are awakening at some level because the whole of life is continually awakening and we are all an integral part of this One Reality.

Now, when those of us with the self-awareness to be awake, fail to strive to stay awake, then it must be said that the capacity of manifestation to heal and accommodate acts of ignorance, self-centeredness, selfishness, hurt, destruction, and violence is diminished, for the capacity of its co-creators is diminished.

A particularly pivotal evolutionary battle is occurring just now among those who CHOOSE to awaken and those who could awaken but instead, choose not to at least try to awaken. In this latter case, the self-centered ego has been seduced by materialism, duality, greed, desire for power, or self-aggrandizement. This is not a hopeless condition because once things are pushed too far from the natural order and balance of life it will ‘spring back’. This ‘spring back’ may be done by collapses of social structures and cause hurt and suffering at the level of the individual. 

All the work, sacrifice, and service of those of us who have chosen try to stay awake and not give up, will thus have an influence on the others – in this way we will be an enabling force for the natural capacity of existence to heal and right things before too much collapse, destruction or damage occurs.

So let us dance with the Light of Oneness and Knowing, which is becoming stronger and more present for Light Bearers to witness and to use both inwardly and outwardly – and we also help the quickening for all those trying to awaken.

The Alchemical Cauldron of Life

Surely Life is meant to be a great Alchemical Cauldron of transformation, where evolution, growth,and continual awakening are to take place. All beings born on earth are born for this purpose, yet at the individual level we cannot expect all beings to be awake to the same degree at the same time – but all beings can and will awaken in time, if we who strive to stay awake will uphold the Light of Oneness by witnessing it manifest in all things.

The Responsibility of Self-Awareness and Co-Creation

Humanity, due to the gift of Self-Awareness has been singled out from the rest of the life forms on Mother Earth, and given the power of free-will and co-creation. These are the greatest of all gifts to be given to a species but we also NEED to realize that they come with the responsibility of determining our fate and destiny: and when I say “our”, I am not talking about you or me individually; I am talking about the whole of life on Earth.  Although the overall programming of the Universe is robust and ever renewing, humanity and the biosphere which supports all life on Earth is very, very fragile. Like a beautiful garden, life on this planet needs our benevolent care and attention.  The Divine Reality and Nature itself will assist us, but we need to act in ways that enable and allow it – this is what it means to be Co-Creators with God. It means humanity can advance, retard or over-ride the natural programming of the Universe designed to help us evolve and self-preserve.  The Awareness and Knowledge behind the working of the entire Universe will lend a great, powerful helping hand if we but awaken to our “inter-beingness”, our inter-dependence, our “dependent-origination” and begin to help ourselves. 

Photo taken and given to me by my dear friend Hamida from Colorado

An Evolution Revolution: A Teaching for our Times

Existence is endowed with the capacity to purify itself from poisons, self-heal and self-correct from imbalance; it can regenerate when damaged and renew itself when depleted. As a whole, existence is programmed with the capacity to right itself from damage – this is the principle of Harmony. Yet how does this capacity apply to Humanity and the Biosphere within which it lives on Mother Earth? 

Humanity, as an integral part of the One Reality, is programmed with this capacity to heal and right itself, as well as the capacity for complete self-awareness.  The attribute of Self-Awareness gives rise to two additional gifts which set humanity apart from other species: The power of Free Will and Co-Creation!  However, these two powers, perhaps the greatest of all power, come at the price of great responsibility. The power of Free-Will, coupled with the power of Co-Creation, allows humanity to influence and even change how the self-righting capability of the Universe will come into play in human affairs.  In short, every human being has the power to make things worse or better for all life on planet Earth.  This is not done by large individual acts but by collective acts that are either harmonious or discordant with the principle of Harmony.

Fortunately there is a small safe-guard, a small veil that limits these powers from becoming fully active until humanity also develops the capacity to act in accordance with the principle of Harmony and the responsibility of a co-creator, that is to say, as a responsible partner in the symbiotic relationship we have with Mother Nature and life on Earth - and thus with God, who is creation itself.

But, Oh Light Bearers, this time is upon us!  

Do you think the hurricanes, earth quakes, tsunamis are a capricious act of God or nature? Oh no, they are the direct reaction to the actions of humanity and nothing less!

We need to realize that the more self-aware humanity becomes the more responsibility for co-creation is given into our hands through the inherent power of that very self-awareness.  So this has brought us to yet another pivotal point in the history of humanity - we have become so powerful as a species that we now have the power to destroy ourselves, our biosphere, our societies, our cultures, and our co-inhabitants en-mass.

OR, conversely, we have the power to truly awaken, become less self-centered and start thinking of ourselves as an integral, interdependent whole with all life... this is the thinking that will move our evolution forward!

The power to accomplish this evolutionary step is accessible to us now because the One-Reality has unlocked biological potentialities improving brain and biological functions, and has released greater knowledge of the workings of the universe. It has unlocked the door of our ability to access and actualize Divine knowledge, along with the concomitant responsibilities of being care-takers of each other and of Earth. 

Are we as a species up to the challenge? 

Meeting White Tara

While driving to give a retreat in Cleveland Ohio a marvelous gift was given to me, this Thanka of White Tara. I knew instantly she was to become a part of my life ... she is living in the center of my Meditation Room and she has become an important part of my prayers. She and I, We are still becoming aquatinted but already I feel a deep connection and her presence has already brought protection and blessings into my life and heart.

She is Compassion, Kwan Yin, born of Avolkitishvara's tear and as it is her nature to give, I wish to give her to you. You can connect with her through her image and reciting her mantra 21 times.

White Tārā, known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel.

White Tara is a female Bodhisattva who embodies the motivation of Compassion, being known as Compassionate Mother of Long Life. Her function is to bestow long life, good fortune, and wisdom. It is said that living beings receive Tara blessings as swiftly as the wind moves because she is the manifestation of the wind element of all Buddhas. By drawing close to White Tara, we will discover that all the pure happiness there is in the world comes from wishing others to be happy. By thinking like this, we can solve our problems, experience a peaceful, happy mind all the time, and become a source of inspiration for everyone we meet.

WHITE TARA Affirmation

Numinous Core at the Heart

Of the Octave of Compassionate Being

Radiating Loving Kindness

In Ten Directions

Healing, Protecting, Prolonging

Life and Increasing Fortune

Transforming the World of Separation

Into the World of Connection.

SEE HER With YOU, SMILING,

THE FULL MOON BEHIND HER HEAD.

White Tara Mantram (21x)

Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Mama Ayuḥ Punya Jñānā Puṣtiṃ Kuru Svāhā

mama = mine, means that I would like to possess the following qualities.
ayur = long life
punya  = merit that comes form living life ethically. [Tibetan: pune]
jnana = wisdom [Tibetan: gyana]
pushtim = increase [Tibetan: puntin]
kuru = do so! do it now!
svaha = hail, or may blessings be upon [Tibetan: soha]

Stories of Tara's saving graces abound and in dire emergency her devotees need only utter the mantra (prayer) OM TAM SVAHA or think of her and she will come. TAM is the bija (seed) mantra that contains the essence of Tara.

Freedom

These binding threads: Attachments, responsibilities, expectations, aversions; woven so subtlety into our consciousness, 

Are released, when for one moment we sit in surrender to Shunyata,

Enjoying the limitless clear sky.

Wandering the Desert of Life

Oh Dervishes, in wandering life's material deserts, if you happen to get caught in one of its arid valleys, void of the Water of Spirit,

Recite the words of our Confraternity Prayers for they are like the sweet water of an Oasis where you will be replenished and renewed.

Prayers of the Confraternity of the Sufi Message