The story of the Crystal Bead Mala:
I wore a crystal mala for many years since at least 2003, while dancing in many mandalas and asking many Lamas and Rinpoches to bless it. Prema Dasara – my beloved Tara Dance teacher blessed it, as well as Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche. I wore it during the 21 Tara Empowerments and many Tara Mandala Dance offerings.
In August 2019, Anam Thubten Rinpoche was here on Maui giving a weekend of meditation and dharma talks. At the end of the retreat, I asked him to bless my crystal mala. While Anam was blessing it, it broke in his hands! And when it broke, he was surprised and said, “Oh, you have completed a Siddhi, how auspicious – you accomplished something!”
I wasn’t sure what he meant at the time, but it sounded good to me! Then when I went home, I realized the next day that I had completed the 40-day Kundalini Yoga Tantric Kriya challenge that I was doing online with Jai Dev Singh! I did Kundalini Yoga exercises every day and ended with the Tantric Kriya, which is a specific meditation, with the hands held upward in front of your heart with fingers interlaced a little bit like the mandala offering but less complicated. The fingers look like a lotus flower opening in the heart chakra. And then you stare down the tip of your nose and chant Wahe Guru 16 times and do this for at least several minutes.
I wanted something to look at that would inspire me rather than just looking down at the carpet, so I found a card of the 5 elemental/wisdom Dakinis that I got from Tara Mandala, Lama Tsultrim’s center in CO. So, this practice magically and organically transpired and I have been doing it just about every day since! Praying very fervently to the Dakinis asking them to help me transmute my afflictions and negative emotions into wisdom nectar for the benefit of all beings! I would be happy to share more about this powerful practice if anyone is interested.
When the mala broke in Anam’s hands it was the last day of the Tantric Kriya Yoga challenge, I felt it was a confirmation from the Dakinis that they heard my prayers and that they would help me and they have! I am very grateful!! I also feel like this was how I then got to go to Bhutan – the Dakinis called me and opened the way for me to go – the way it all unfolded was Divinely guided.
I saw an email about the pilgrimage and felt the call to go so I went for it and got accepted. I wasn’t even sure they would accept as it said you should have 3 years of experience at Tara Mandala programs or equivalent Vajrayana experience. I think that maybe having got a Master’s degree in Ethnomusicology may have helped me get accepted as the main purpose of this Pilgrimage was to learn and document and to preserve the Chod Dakini Dances and melodies to the text (an ancient practice dating back to the 11th century from Tibet), and Lama Tsultrim Allione’s vision to bring this practice back to the West and offer this Chod ceremony at Tara Mandala someday.
Lama Tsultrim recommended that we bring crystals with us on this pilgrimage to have them blessed at all these sacred sites and then give as gifts to friends and family when we returned home so they too could receive the blessings of this ancient land and all the sacred temples and caves.
When I was on the Machig Labdron Pilgrimage to Bhutan with the Tara Mandala group made up of mostly Lama Tsultrim Allione’s senior students. I traveled with the crystal mala all over Bhutan to many sacred sites including Tiger’s Nest and Machig Labdron’s cave in Western Bhutan near Paro, which is an all-day trek to get to! I thought of the crystal mala and was very inspired to bring it with that intention – it was perfect!
I brought it with me into Machig Labdron’s temple at Druk Zangri Kharmar (DZK) Monastary in a very remote area in Northeastern Bhutan. That took 13 hours on a bus/van on windy roads up and down mountain passes as high as 8,000 ft in elevation in the Himalayan mountains where there was snow on the ground and then back down into the valley where it was tropical with banana trees and monkeys!! I had it with me when I received the Chod and Prajnaparamita lung and Pith instructions from Lama Rigdzin Longyang Rinpoche there at DZK monastery.
At Tiger’s Nest there is a beautiful waterfall and a story about a crystal mala. Yeshe Tsogyal flew down from where she was meditating in the cave and saved Guru Rinpoche’s mala from falling into the waterfall.
When I got to LMB, and we went to the site where we would offer the Tara Mandala Dance to Khandrola – there was a huge statue of the Buddha Ksitigarbha, who was holding a crystal ball and wearing a crystal mala!!! That to me was a sign and confirmation that I was to give every Tara Dancer and Protector one of these crystal beads!
At Land of Medicine Buddha, we were invited to Lama Zopa’s house which wasn’t far from LMB. His home was beautiful – practically every room was a shrine room. One room had a “relics” table with some of Lama Zopa’s remains as well as other accomplished high beings who have passed. I touched the crystal pouch to this relics table asking for blessings for the Tara Dancers.
I had the crystal beads with me during Khandrola’s profound teachings that week at LMB 6/29 – 7/3/23.
I was asked to dance Tara #21 Complete Enlightenment for this mandala offering. The mantra for Tara #21, from the Suryagupta lineage is: “Om Tare Tutare Ture Sarva Siti Sadhanam Soha”. Tara #21 holds a trident in her right hand and a mala in her left hand, similar to many versions of Ksitigarbha who holds a trident in his right hand and holds the crystal ball in his left hand. The very first time I ever danced Tara #21 was for Lama Kunga Rinpoche and I was 3 months pregnant with Camry which was in 2003 and I was wearing that crystal mala! Now Camry is 19 and she left the house for college this year, so I was dedicating my dance offering to her as I felt my time as her mother reached the end of a phase – a sense of completion to have raised her until adulthood.
The day before our Tara Mandala dance offering I magically had it blessed by: Lama Tsultrim Allione & Pema Khandro (both who just happened to be there at LMB for Khandrola’s teachings) and then I had them blessed by Khandrola Kunga Bhuma Herself! I asked all three of them to specifically bless it for the Tara Dancers! Then I got some thread from Summer Rose and stayed up late that night stringing one bead on a thread for each Tara Dancer and Protector to wear for our Tara Mandala Dance offering for Khandrola on 7/3/23.
May all feel the blessings and feel inspired and may that ripple out to all beings for the benefit of all! I am very grateful to all my teachers, especially Prema Dasara, and for all the paths and teachers who have helped me on my way. I am especially grateful for the Buddha Dharma teachings! We are very blessed to have been born during an era that the Buddha has given teachings and they are easily accessible!!!
Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha,
Priya (aka Barbara Gach) written on 7/11/2023
