rainbow tara

Last night I went to bed somewhat unhappy, and woke up the same way. For a second while waking, some nameless joyous thing briefly appeared in my mind, peripherally, something like a gorgeous overlay of jellyfish and jewel-planed diatom, like a thought form carrying a time-release capsule of happiness.

Later I felt a little better realizing that I wasn't upset because of some one's behavior, but in fact all responsibility rested with my attachments. No attachments, no disappointments. So who's to blame for my suffering? My attachment to things that never existed outside of my mind in the first place. Perhaps it might seem like semantics, but it might also have been a flash of wisdom that freed me from wrestling with blame and liberated me from victimhood.

I treasure those moments when such liberating wisdom suddenly appears in my mind, if only briefly. It reminds me of the occasions when I've gone to Prospect Park and am elated, without fail, by the appearance of one of the hawks, whose clear vision and acuity never cease to inspire. What's to stalk? Ignorance and self delusion.

Above, a Thangka of White Tara that hung in the room where I worked on Friday, somewhat distracting me from the rather difficult photographic challenge I faced that day. I'm completely fascinated by the eye in the red-painted palm of her hand. I'm not sure who to attribute the painting to, most likely it was painted by the Tibetan artist Romio Shretha. If you double click the top image you get a closer look at the way the artist suggests Tara's compassionate wishes for true freedom and happiness for all beings with the rainbows spiralling from her third eye and heart. Sigh, sigh, sigh.