One of the simple things about non-duality is that what we are teaching is that there is no shortcut. All of these religions really, when you when you stop and look at them, teach this same thing. Being a human being is complicated because we need to get along with each other in a world that we continually make more and more complex. No matter what good thing you do, the next day you gotta get up and do it again.
And the same with the negative… no matter how often you fall into some sort of pitfall, you gotta pull yourself back up from it and do it again. That’s what the Green Tara Mantra this week is talking about.
Om Tare, Tu Tare, Ture Soha.
In this simple little melody, that we’re singing to Tara, what we’re looking for is Liberation from our own craziness. The seven pitfalls that were given to us from the first Dalai Lama: pride, jealousy, getting lost in delusion, etc.
Words are the problem
Because we have to live in a world of words, and because words never really describe what’s going on, getting lost in delusion is an everyday thing. It’s like we have to constantly look and wonder: did that really happen, or was that my interpretation of it?
The bottom line is that there are no shortcuts.
So our spiritual traditions are about helping us gain the strength and clarity needed to be able to continuously move through life. Life is movement. So much is going on, and we need to learn to treat ourselves as a human being: like the magical creatures that we are, the complex creatures that we are, the interesting creatures that we are.
We’re capable of so much goodness but it’s not the default mode. Things fall to pieces if they’re not constantly being cared for, weeded and considered. This is why it is good to have a healthy critical mind. We think with our with our critical mind and we can mange that with principles of logic. But we also must manage the mystical. The mantras are medicine there.
We can use these mantras for spiritual health. As we do so, we start bringing in a wider perception. We’re also treating our entire body with this medicine. Our body, our mind, our soul (whatever labels you want to give to all of these things) all come together to create you.
Music and movement awakens this full self. We start bringing these things all together so we can use this full capacity for consciousness that we have.
