WBU Sunday Forum
Topic: “Practice of Tara in the Relative and Absolute”
Date & Time: June 1, B.E. 2551 (2008) 12:00-13:30 p.m.
Speaker: Associate Professor Krisadawan Hongladarom, Ph.D
Moderator Dr.Chris A. Stanford
Rapporteur Mrs. Sutthinee Yawaprapas
Synopsis of the topic:
The female Buddhist deity of compassion Tara has been an object of devotion and a living practice among practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet and beyond.
Her ten-syllable mantra is always on the lips of her devotees, no matter whether they are male or female, educated or uneducated. Her energy is evoked, particularly in this age when human beings are experiencing warfare, illnesses, natural disasters, conflicts and mental disturbances. The practice has grown so much that there are now a large number of Retreat centers around the world devoted to her.
Who is Tara? Is she an external reality or an abstract projection of our own mind? How can we understand Tara from the relative and absolute points of view? How can her practice clear away fears and negative emotions, prepare the practitioner’s mind for death, and lead towards ultimate realization? The talk will be devoted to providing answers to these questions from the perspective of a lay female practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism within the Theravada context.
Place: Meeting Room, the World Buddhist University, 3rd floor,
WFB Headquarters Bldg., in Benjasiri Park, Sukhumvit 24,
Bangkok, and 10110 Thailand. (5 Minutes from Prompong
BTS Station)
Fax.02-258-0372. www.wb-university.org
