Tara is Dancing in Japan

Felicity Oswell has been sharing the Tara dance in Australia and Japan for many years. An accomplished dancer and long time student of the dharma, she is a jewel in our dancing Tara mandala.

Felicity and the dancing Taras of Japan have accomplished an unprecedented opportunity – permission to dance Tara at the shrine of the Sun Goddess in Ise, Japan, April 2010. One of the holiest sites in that land of sacred treasures, this pilgrimage promises to be a powerful prayer for peace in our world.

For more information:
http://www.taradhatu.net/PREMA/Taradhatu/StudentTeacherSchedule.html

Here are some of Felicity’s thoughts as she prepares to lead the pilgrimage.

Dear Fellow Pilgrims,

I want to share with you some thoughts and feelings on the process that we are embarking on. In our Dancing Tara retreat in Hakushu, Japan last month we deepened our practice in preparation for our offering at Ise. Dancing at Ise is an opportunity for us to become transparent, as clear and as bright as Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess Herself. We are embarking on this journey together, as a whole sangha. Even if you are not coming with us, you can ride on the energy of our journey to purify, simplify and clarify any part of your life.

In Japan last month an old kamikaze pilot who had survived the war, spoke of how the war experience had shaped his life. He has been lecturing on making

peace with others and within ourselves ever since the war. He then said something, with tears pouring down his face, that went straight to my heart. Sixty five years after the crash, when confronted with a wreck of the plane that he had flown which had recently been pulled up from the ocean, he confessed that he still could not look straight into the face of that experience.

A voice welled up within me that shouted, “I want to look straight into all the places inside myself that up until now I have averted my gaze from. I want to look at them clearly, see them for what they are, and shed the light of acceptance and forgiveness upon them.”

This is, for me, the message of this pilgrimage and offering to Amaterasu. The sun’s gaze is uncompromising, illuminating. It sees all without judgment and ultimately is enlightening, for we understand that it is all in the looking. As the legend goes, when she gave her symbol, the mirror, to her nephew, empowering him to become the first Emperor of Japan, she said, “When you look into this mirror, you will see my face.”

This process of revelation has already started for me in ways I never imagined, and it’s tough. Difficult issues may percolate up for you if you embark on this journey. Pilgrimages are traditionally an opportunity to purify and accumulate blessings or merit. The road can be twisty and rocky but we have faith that just around the corner, a beautiful vista awaits.

The important thing to remember is that we are sangha, we can support each other and get inspiration, support and guidance from the teachings and our teachers. Please feel free to contact me, Prema, or other teachers and get support if you need it. The boat of the dharma is here to take us all across the sea of suffering. We need all hands on deck to keep the boat on course and to get us across the stormy seas.

When looking deeply at yourself, remember that we are doing this with the motivation to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering, so that we may attain enlightenment and thereby free others from suffering and the causes of suffering, so that they too may attain enlightenment.

Hold your suffering as Mother Tara Herself would, with complete love, compassion and wisdom. Dedicate your suffering, your pleasure and your pain to the benefit of all beings. May all be happy and free!!