Hymn to Beauty: Puja to Tara 

Worship
To all the compassionate ones
I offer earth's beauty
Through my folded hands
Come streams of sunset light
Through my open heart
Fall petals stars and dew
Oh compassionate ones
Oh mother Tara
I offer these things to you

The last leaves that cling
To the naked trees in winter
The first jewels of green
That sweetly herald spring
Birdsong and the sacred hush
Of roses at nightfall
Voice of stream
Shadow of cloud
Oh beauty
Beauty that is the mirror of love


Tara mantra


Salutation
With reverence I bow down
To those who've reached the furthest shore
And love flows from my heart
To all my dear teachers
Companions in this life
Precious beyond compare
May we never be parted

 

 

Going for Refuge
Knowing life is short
Knowing what is of worth
Today I take my refuge
In love and wisdom both
Today I find the courage
To walk the path of beauty
In the company of friends
I go for refuge


Refuges and Precepts


Confession of Faults
Forgive me
All whom I have wronged
My heart is not yet wise
And often I have faltered

Failing to perceive
The outcomes of my actions
Failing to recognise
The sensitive hearts of others
Failing to receive
My own worth and beauty.
Caught up in duality
And feeling far from home

In truth there is no ‘I’
In truth – only conditions
And knowing this is so
I pray to forgive myself
from this time forth.
I will observe the precepts
As deeply as I can
With body, speech and mind

Rejoicing in Merit
The hand of gentleness
That lifts a broken creature,
The hand that reaches out
To those in fear or pain.
I rejoice in love, in kindness,
In all who light the world
In ways that move the soul
In all who tend the Earth
With love for all that grows

Especially I rejoice
In the arising of the awakening Mind
In those who teach the Dhamma
And those who walk the path


Entreaty and supplication
May the Buddhas and bodhisattvas
Ever bless the world
May the holy Dharma
Never disappear
Oh Tara, Queen of kindness
This is my heartfelt prayer


Transference of merit and self surrender
So long as any creature hurts
No matter how small
So long may I work
For the benefit of all

And when I come to die
May I know that I have given
My soul to living life
My heart to giving love
There is no separation
Between myself and others
All that lives is holy
And everything is love
And so my heart rejoices
In finding life's true meaning

Everything is shunyata!
All is blessed with Buddha mind!
May my life be for the good
Oh Tara, make it so.

Shunyata mantra         Or               Closing mantras

 

Sahajatara