" Green Tara is one of the most beloved figures in Tibetan Buddhism. As a bodhisattva, she helps people pass beyond the troubles of earthly existence and move toward enlightenment. She also protects people from numerous worldly dangers. The loving expression on the sculpture’s face embodies Tara’s maternal compassion.
‘Tara’ means ‘Rescuer’. She is so-called because she rescues us from the eight outer fears i.e the fears of lions, elephants, fire, snakes, thieves, water, bondage, and evil spirits, and from the eight inner fears i.e he fears of pride, ignorance, anger, jealousy, wrong views, attachment, miserliness, and deluded doubts."
Not sure how accurate but seems like a decent resource:
Saw the brightest meteor I’ve ever seen last night on my way home from work. It was pure white. Was listening to this mantra. I’ve noticed dashcams never really do meteors justice. This one was really bright .
The dashcam video:
"In this mantra:
“Aad Guray Nameh” means I bow to the primal wisdom.
“Jugaad [meteor] Guray Nameh” means I bow to the wisdom true through the ages.
“Sat Guray Nameh” means I bow to the true wisdom.
“Siri Guru Deve Nameh” means I bow to the great, unseen wisdom.
This mantra is a way of showing respect and seeking guidance from the eternal and timeless wisdom that the Guru represents."
I just came across this portrayal of Kali - this is the most intense portrayal that I’ve seen and incorporates a Kali chant. She is definitely the Goddess of Impermanence and she is eventually coming for all of us.
“Allah Hoo” performed by Nusrat Akbar Fateh Ali Khan, the great Qawali master of Pakistan. Qawali is Pakistani Sufi music. (Sufi’s are Islam’s mystics - emphasizing direct mystical union with the Divine).
Nusrat remixed by Michael Brook. This whole album “Night Song” is awesome!
Ooh I love Nasrat. He was a master of qawwali music. So many beautiful soulful chants.
Speaking of sufis, here’s a chant that I really love. I know it’s Bollywood but this song is so beautiful. Not sure where the song comes from whether it’s an adaption of a real song or the composer wrote it, but I think it does a good job of capturing sufi spirituality.
“Khwaja” is an honorific tile for a sufi master, “mere” is Hindi for “my”, so the title means “Master my Master.” Given their dress and twirling the sufis here are from the Mevlevi Order, which is Rumi’s order. Not sure how historically accurate that is, the Chhishti Order is traditionally the most common sufi order in India now and in Akbar’s time. I don’t think the Mevlevi Order ever had a strong presence in India. Still I really like the song .
@_Matt-of-Ohio. Yes one of my good friends in Seattle practices as both a Sufi and a Buddhist. He is in one of the Turkish Sufi lineages (his teacher comes from Turkey several times a year). I’ve been to several Zikr’s (Sufi ceremonies that combines chanting, movement and times of meditation) several times. One event was an all day affair in which a number of Sufi orders participated (including some very traditional black African Sufis from Somalia) and each order shared their own particular Zikr with the others.
Also here is an excellent American Qawwali ensemble that learned their music in Pakistan. I have heard them perform a number of times. The tabla player is from Pakistan but the rest are Americans.
You will see people throwing money at the musicians. That is a Qawwali tradition and a way that the musicians traditionally made a living.
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