good heart

pbsparents: Hope you have a HOT weekend! Source: Tosh.0 (<—...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:48:29 -0500

Hope you have a HOT weekend!

Source: Tosh.0 (<— weird, right?)

dancingdakini: anhonestdrug: dancingdakini: serendipitybylee: ...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:45:48 -0500

anhonestdrug:

dancingdakini:

serendipitybylee:

The eighth day of every month, today included, is Buddha Tara Day. Tara is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Tibetan Buddhism. She represents the virtues of success in work and achievements, and is known as the “Mother of Liberation.”

According to legend, she became a Bodhisattva during her life as a princess, when she had devoted herself to the teachings of the Buddha. She eventually attained the “Thought of Enlightenment” in order to save all beings. Prior to, it was unheard of for a woman to perform this deed, so the monks (called bhiksus) advised her to pray to be reborn as a male in order to properly fulfill the teachings. Tara told the bhiksus that in the realm of Bodhisattva there is neither male nor female but only androgynous being (androgynous meaning ‘partly male and partly female in appearance; of indeterminate sex’).

Tara made a promise:

“There are many who desire Enlightenment in a man’s body, but none who work for the benefit of sentient beings in the body of a woman. Therefore, until samsara is empty, I shall work for the benefit of sentient beings in a woman’s body.”

Samsara is a result of the accumulation of bad karma. It is the endless cycle of death and rebirth, forever bounding that person to the material world. Tara’s main purpose is to free us from this suffering, liberating us and getting us closer to reaching full enlightenment. She acts as a spiritual facilitator, guiding us through potentially difficult times and helping us to overcome samsara.

“Tara is the power to transcend all things.”

Isn’t it amazing how, even so many years ago, there were women who stood up for themselves and denied that men were superior? This story can be so inspiring, especially if you look deep.

Don’t forget to always believe in yourself. Stand strong when you know you’re right, and stay poised even when you’re not.

(read more on tara here)

Thank you for adding Tara’s story; I was thinking of doing the same thing today and you beat me to it :) Her story is one of my favorites, and I credit Mother Tara with bringing me to the Buddhist path.

I have so much respect for Buddhism. I remember distinctly the story of a buddhist teacher (I unfortunately can’t remember the name of his role) who was asked about the lack of female buddhist teachers. He apologised, stating that it wasn’t the fault of Buddhism or in the teachings of the Buddha that this occurred, but a result of the cultural influences on people themselves and serious issue.

That was Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, my Guru/Spiritual Guide, who gave that reply to a woman who asked him that question. He’s done a lot to remove the sexism within Mahayana Buddhism, or within the New Kadampa Tradition at least, which is one big reason why myself am in the NKT.

Photo

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:44:36 -0500

Repentance.

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:22:29 -0400

Repentance. :

poeticislam:

إذا ما قال لي ربي .. أما استحييت تعصيني
وتخفي الذنب عن خلقي .. وبالعصيان تأتيني
If my Lord asks me
“Have you no shame in disobeying me?
You hide your faults from my creation
yet full of sin you come to Me”

فكيف أجيب يا ويحي .. ومن ذا سوف يحميني
So what will I answer? O’ Woe to me,
and who shall protect me do you see?

أسلي النفس بالآمال .. من حين إلى حين
I keep forestalling my soul
with thoughts of hope from time to time

وأنسى ما وراء الموت .. ماذا بعد تكفيني
And forgetting what is to come after death,
and after I am warped in the sheets of the dead

كاني قد ضمنت العيش .. ليس الموت يأتيني
As if I have guaranteed living forever,
and that death will not overcome me

وجاءت سكرة الموت الشديدة من سيحميني
Then the harsh drunkenness of death overtakes me,
who now will be able to protect me?

نظرت إلى الوجوه أليس منهم من سيفديني
I looked at the faces, is there not from amongst them
who will ransom me?

سأسأل ما الذي قدمت في دنياي ينجيني
I will be asked
what have I put forth in my life to save myself

فكيف إجابتي من بعد ما فرطت في ديني
So what will I answer,
after I’ve been neglectful regarding my Deen

ويا ويحي ألم أسمع كلام الله يدعوني
O’ woe to me, did I not hear the
Speech of Allah calling out to me??

ألم أسمع لما قد جاء في ق و يس
Did I not hear what has come in Qaaf’n, wa Yaseen’i

ألم أسمع بيوم الحشر يوم الجمع والدين
Did i not hear of the day the crowds will be summoned,
the day we will be collected, and the day of al-Deen’i

ألم أسمع منادي الموت يدعوني يناديني
Did I not hear the caller of death
calling me; seeking me

فيا رباه عبد تائب من ذا سيؤويه
O my lord a slave to you I come repenting,
who than shall grant me shelter?

سوى رب غفور واسع للحق يهديني
Other than an oft-forgiving Lord,
to the truth he will guide me

أتيت إليك فارحمني وثقل في موازيني
I have come to you, so have mercy on me,
and make heavy my weights

وخفف في جزائي أنت أرجى من يجازيني
And lighten my reckoning you are the best
of who will bring me to reckoning.

Photo

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:20:19 -0400

wondrous

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:16:08 -0400

wondrous