Green Tara

Green Tara, Sculpture in wood.

Green Tara is the most widely worshipped and beloved of all Taras in the Indo-Himalayan Buddhist world. Tara means both 'Star Lady' and 'She who carries across', that is 'Savioress'.

Green is a calming and soothing colour, which suggests that the green form of Tara is particularly effective for those who want to overcome anxiety and develop fearlessness.

How Tara was born
In one version, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, Lord of Compassion, appears in a cloudless blue sky, and seeing that despite all his efforts there is still so much pain and heartache evrywhere, he begins to shed tears. The tears fall to earth and form a great lake. From the lake grows a pale blue lotus , and on the lotus appears a pincess, her body made of green light.

Her mantra is Om tare tuttare ture svaha.

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The Tara you see above was given to me by my husband, when he came this time from Ladakh, interestingly enough he found the sculpture in Delhi !

She is beautiful and her beauty grows on me each day :) Prior to Green Tara I have only had with me two small Buddhas. One has to be ready for such a relationship with an image/sculpture of an evolved and compassionate being. Everything comes in its own time. Time being the sacred element. Earlier I would not have known how to relate to a deity but now I am able to which is perhaps why I asked Rigzin for a sculpture of Tara in the first place.

The Feminine Divine has always interested me which explains my being drawn to Tara. For this post, I have sourced two books - Female Deities in Buddhism by Vessantara, a nice informative slim volume, and Goddess Divine Energy by Jackie Menzies, a big book with full page colour templates, magnificent!


There is no realisation, within and without, so when I read and learn about these female figures ( female usually only in principle), I learn something not only about a culture through its mythology but I also feel myself being empowered.

It is as if I learned something about another aspect of myself, it could be a primordial 'me', which was dormant or unknown to myself and this knowledge, experience makes me feel more aware and complete.

Love & Light

Walking with child and feeling like one.

One of the simple joys of life is to take a walk with a child holding their hand, the exchange of energy is wonderful. As you can see, here I have presented two facing pages from Thich Nhat Hanh's book, The Long Road Turns To Joy on walking meditation.


Walking with a child is meditation itself, even having a child around invites you to meditate, that is, practise awareness in present moment. The child will stop you in mid-conversation about something that was'nt so important after all (but to us evrything is so serious). I like these moments when you must stop whatever is it that you are doing and pay attention to the world around you in the present moment.
My girl-friend Gaurika's little girl sure does a pretty good job at this, being two years and old and all. I love it when she makes momentraily interrupts our conversation, and for a while I have stopped thinking and am just being....Thich Nhat Hanh is right when he says, a child is a bell of mindfullness.

Love + light

Winter migratory birds off the coast of Bombay

Please Lower the volume as you play this - the engine is loud!

Every winter quite a few species of migratory birds visit the coast of Bombay (or Mumbai, the new name). One of the species to look out for are The Pink flamingos. They have finally come to Sewri as they do each year and I'm hoping to see those pink beauties :)

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The video here is of terns following the boat enroute from Elephanta island to The Gateway of India. If you throw crumbs of bread or biscuits, they catch them in mid-air, delighting the passengers with their arial feats.

Oh! and please ignore the muddy waters of the Arabian Sea even further muddied with Bombay's pollutants. But I promise you it was sheer delight after a morning of bird-watching, walking around ancient sculptures and carvings at Elephanta island ending with these innocent white terns and the cool morning air!

Love + light

Take a walk !

A shaky video taken by yours truly during a walk with B.N.H.S in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali, yes, this is in the city!

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As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth,
so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind.
To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again.
to make a deep mental path, we must think over and over
the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
A quote from Speaking Tree column in Times of India newspaper. Un fortunately, I cannot trace the name of the person who has been quoted.

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Waking is tone of he most enjoyable of physical activities for me. To put it simply, I must go for a walk! It seems to lighten me up, as if I have opened the windows of my mind for some good airing. And who says one has to walk in a zen garden or by some very scenic beach! So many times I am deep in some thought, and I notice a tree's leaves turning red, and I think oh! I must return with my camera next morning to capture it against the morning light. I'm taken out of my abstract world of thoughts and ideas and into the real world of change, decay, transformation, beauty and wonderment.

When you take a walk, it is as if you are at eye-level with the world, the beggar on the street, the kids running by you in the park, somewhere while mulling over the past and future issues you start observing the world outside and it is my belief , realisation is always within and without.

So there you have it, go take a walk, alone,with a friend or yur lover.

Someday I would love to learn walking meditation :) especially after reading Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh's pocket sized book, The Long Road turns to joy, A Guide to walking meditation,...mmmm....something to think about and look forward to :)

Happy New Year of the Ox! Happy Paths my freinds !

Love & Light