Tashi delek. Today is the fourth day of our prayers for the pandemic to subside. Today we will recite the Prostrations and Praises of the 21 Taras.
This practice is extremely widespread in Tibet. For centuries, all Tibetans, whether male or female, young or old, have recited it either in the morning or the evening. We have a strong belief that Tara will help us. My mother, even though she cannot read, learned Tara orally and recites it daily.
Tara is an emanation of Chenrezig — a manifestation of his compassionate activity. Chenrezig is the embodiment of the love of all the buddhas. When he appears in the form of a goddess, we feel even more strongly how his nature is like a mother’s love.
At this time when the entire world is faced with suffering, thinking of others with love is even more necessary than at any other time. We need to counter corona with karuna.
If all our countries and peoples come together and bear the responsibility together, it is certain that we will soon be freed from this ordeal. Every day we hear in the news and social media of many situations that move us. Our heroes on the front line, the doctors and nurses, are making great sacrifices to battle the epidemic.
Likewise delivery workers, police, soldiers, volunteers, and many others are working hard for our sake.
Because of this, I have the feeling that our problem is not that there aren’t enough loving people in the world nor that we lack compassion. It’s just that many people don’t have enough courage and lack someone to inspire them. They need to know someone like Tara is there to support them and has got their back. Thus, we all need to do our bit to inspire each other and to comfort each other. That is the basis for the happiness of humanity.
Sadly, in a few places, this pandemic is being used as a way to discriminate against certain groups of people. A group of people is not a single entity; it’s made up of individual human beings. No one—no matter who they are—wants to be infected with the virus. No one wants these hardships. At such times as these, it’s important to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and reflect.
Now we will recite the Prostrations to Tara together. So that everyone can follow me, I will use the melody that I composed.
Thank you.
