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Elaine Yuen

Contemplative Chaplaincy – Buddhist Chaplaincy

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Being Tara

January 12, 2022 By Elaine Yuen

These days, uncertainty and suffering seems to pervade our experience – whether it be connected to environmental change, political posturing, or social unrest.  Buddhist contemplative practices encourage the practitioner to connect to Tara through images and supplications for her for health, longevity, and protection from obstacles.  Tara is often invoked as an energetic quality – a diety who embodies compassion and wisdom.  We are encouraged to *become* Tara – through the confidence that our mind is inseparable from the enlightened brilliance and peacefulness that Tara represents.

How to take this leap into unconditioned brilliance?  Perhaps the practice of meditation, which calms the yearnings and discursiveness of our ego, is momentarily put on hold, set aside, so that this intrinsic brilliance can manifest.

Tara is represented in many thangkas (Tibetan Buddhist painted representations) as a support for how we might “become Tara.” Let’s take a closer consideration of how these images point to a living and breathing experience.

A felt experience of space – Tara’s “field of merit” allows her to become more than a two-dimensional image.  Perhaps imagining her walking into your house and being seated in a nearby cushion, holding a flower in her left hand, her right hand in offering.  A gentle breeze is blowing the scarf adorning her shoulders, and the scent of lotuses is apparent.  Her seven eyes adorn not just her face but also the palms of her hands and feet, indicating the knowing wisdom that emanates for activity as well as seeing.  The clarity of her suddenly arriving in your practice space is supported by descriptions in the sadhana practice.

Another aspect is her purity – the unconditional quality of her existence.  She represents a purity that is beyond a conventional experience – the flowers, her expression and posture of offering – is an unfettered expression of brilliance and radiance.  And yet this brilliance is not afraid to directly interface with our difficulties – the relative kitchen sink experiences of our experience – not shying away but instead reaching out with her hand into our worldly experience.  She is peaceful and grounded, but also interactive and in communication with this relative world in need of compassion and healing.

These aspects of visualization are sometimes called “creation stage” or “uttpattikrama” – of using our mind and senses to envision an energetic field of activity based on Buddhist principles.  By honing our awareness to imagine Tara’s clarity, purity, and intrinsic energy – an opening occurs that is beyond personal experience, allowing blessings of Tara rain down upon us.

From the Blog

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Upcoming workshops and classes

So, What’s It Like To Be Asian In The Shambhala Community?

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Date: Sunday, February 6, 2022 (3 PM EST or 15:00 -16:00)
Patron Price: $20.00

I’ve been in the Shambhala community since the early 1970s, but recently, in the midst of current conversations around race, ethnicity, and belonging, took some time to consider my Asian American identity, and how it “shows up” in different contexts. What are the cultural and political differences, and how do I “belong” to diverse social/community groups? Using a personal lens as a starting point, I would like to invite you to join me in considering how our experiences of culture – learned from birth as well as from current contexts – intersects with behaviors and stances that variously evolve into group belonging or political activity. Of particular interest is how Shambhala practices and teachings of meditation and warriorship might support this contemplation.

calendar-details – Shambhala Online

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Being Tara

Interested in visualization practice?  Tara practice encourages us to tune into her quality of compassion that protects from obstacles to health and supports long life.  This talk will explore how Tara practice works with our thoughts, emotions and sense perceptions to create a field of kindness, clarity, and power.  I hope to see you there!

January 9, 2022 at 11 am EST – White Tara Practice (Online) with Dr. Elaine Yuen | Shambhala Meditation Center of Philadelphia

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The Buddhist Journey: An Overview of Teachings and Practices

Part I:  First Turning Teachings – September 16 – October 21, 2021

Part II: The Mahayana Path – November 4 – December 16, 2021

Online from 7-9 pm Eastern Standard Time

Register and info here: The Buddhist Journey: An Overview of Teachings and Practices Part I (Online) with Dr. Elaine Yuen & Thomas Berthoff | Shambhala Meditation Center of Philadelphia

This two-part course will explore the transformational aspects of teachings and practices of the Buddhist Path within the context of Buddhist history, texts and traditions.  Beginning with insights into how humans generate confusion and habitual patterns, we will explore how those insights become the foundation for compassion and skillful means to work with others in contemporary contexts.

Part One: First Turning Teachings will outline historical as well as psychological aspects of early Buddhism found in the Abhidharma.  Buddhist articulations on the nature of mind, along with important practices, will be included in Part One.

Part Two: The Mahayana Path will explore how compassion is engendered, and the path of the Bodhisattva (Awake Being).   An overview of Vajrayana perspectives and practices, such as Dzogchen and Mahamudra, will be included.

Although Parts One and Two are best taken as a sequence, Part One is not a pre-requisite for Part Two, and they may be taken separately.

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Finding Balance in Challenging Times

I’m on a panel with my colleagues in India and Thailand – check it out at  https://www.buddhistdoor.net/news/deer-park-institute-announces-webinar-finding-balance-in-challenging-times

Saturday, 27 February, 19:00–21:00 (New Delhi)
Saturday, 27 February, 08:30–10:30 (Montréal, New York)
Saturday, 27 February, 05:30–07:30 (Los Angeles, Vancouver)

The event is open to everyone and is free of charge. To register, email: info@nulldeerpark.in

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Friday Night Talk: Cultural Humility: Opening the Heart and Listening to Basic Goodness with Elaine Yuen | Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston

January 29 at 7 pm Eastern time, 8 Atlantic, 4 Mountain, 5 Pacific time

Especially these days, genuine communication and connection with all people and their manifestation of basic goodness is key.  Cultural humility is a practice that encourages respectful partnerships through the exploration of similarities and differences between the histories, priorities, goals, and capacities of these groups, and is a lifelong process of self-reflection and self-critique that supports cultural difference. This presentation will explore how we might open our hearts to others, as well as listen and allow for conversation, longings and desires.

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Mindful Communication in Modern Times / October 4 and 18 

In October, I’m zooming in with young folks at Dharma Drum Mountain in Los Angeles.  Contact me if you’re interested!

 

 

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Contemplative Caregiving / October 29 / 7:00-8:30 pm EST / Philadelphia Shambhala Center

In this program, we will discuss specific ways that our Buddhist understandings of suffering and basic goodness directly inform caring for self and others in contemporary times.
For more details and to register: https://philadelphia.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=463743

 

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Contact Elaine Yuen • elaineyuen@aol.com