Sedona Celebrates “Gems of Wisdom”

Tuesday, March 8, 2011, 9:00am-12:30pm

At the Hilton’s Canyon Ballroom in Village of Oak Creek

International Women’s Day is a global day that honors the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. Events are to be held across America and throughout the world. The Women’s’ Information Network will broadcast on live stream internet in 10 cities.

Sedona and the surrounding communities will be part of this historic, festive event, celebrating with speakers, entertainers and the participation of women from the greater Sedona area. Madonna Ministry International and the Hilton Sedona Resort & Spa will host the celebration. The Sedona-based gathering of women from all walks of life and many organizations will celebrate their own accomplishments of the past century. It will be acknowledged how far women have come, and their stories it took to bring them to today. All Sedona women are invited to share their “gems” of wisdom at this gathering. The words, phrases, quotes, that have inspired them-given to them by their grandmother, mother, sister, and friends-can be shared and passed on to future young women. Bring these contributions to be placed on the “Gems of Wisdom” Centennial Collection Board, which will be displayed for the remainder of Women’s History Month at a location to be announced.

For anyone who would like to become an event sponsor, provide giveaways, donate services, or share information with women’s groups, organizations, communities, and activities, this event will be an excellent opportunity for promotion. Join us for a fun filled morning that celebrates every woman in Sedona.

For more information about the event and how to become involved, contact, Bishop Diane Deluna, Madonna Ministry International, Sedona Temple; bishopdiane@sedonatemple.com 928-282-8511

The Madonna Ministry International is a global, spiritual community-A Church Without Walls. Celebrating 40 years of service around the world, the Madonna Ministry International cultivates opportunities for global enhancement that value compassion, service, inclusively, integrity, and support in the areas of education, community, technology. Ministers are world servers whose goal is to serve with heart, while encouraging others to express their essential Divinity by using their creativity. Respectfully nourishing the Divine Grace leading to the ONE. Individuals who filled called to minister through good will, unconditional love, gratitude, spiritual insight, intuition, discernment, and humility are encouraged as we all seek to foster revelation and enlightened understanding. For more information on Madonna Ministry International programs please visit the website at www.madonnaminstryinternational.net

Creation of Man by Mother Goddess from an incomplete tablet of the Babylonian creation story.

The River

The river is flowing,
flowing and growing,
the river is flowing,
down to the sea.

Chorus
Mother carry me,
A child I will always be,
Mother carry me,
down to the sea.

The river is flowing,
flowing and growing,
the river is flowing
down to the sea.

This song is one of my favorites because it always takes me immediately into my heart. Then I remember that I am not a single drop of water, I am one with the boundless Ocean of Consciouness. Sound is powerful and can be very healing. Tantra uses mantra and songs as tools for awareness, healing and transformation. If you are feeling alone and separate singing this song can be very helpful. While this is not a traditional Tantric song it reminds me of the Divine Mother, Tara.

Tara is a tantric meditation deity whose practice is used by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist virtues.

Tārā has many stories told which explain her origin as a bodhisattva. One in particular has a lot of resonance for women interested in Buddhism and quite likely for those delving into early 21st century feminism.

In this tale there is a young princess who lives in a different world system, millions of years in the past. Her name is Yeshe Dawa, which means “Moon of Primordial Awareness”. For quite a number of aeons she makes offerings to the Buddha of that world system, whose name was Tonyo Drupa. She receives special instruction from him concerning bodhicitta — the heart-mind of a bodhisattva. After doing this, some monks approach her and suggest that because of her level of attainment she should next pray to be reborn as a male to progress further. At this point she lets the monks know in no uncertain terms that from the point of view of Enlightenment it is only “weak minded worldlings” who see gender as a barrier to attaining enlightenment. She sadly notes there have been few who wish to work for the welfare of beings in a female form, though. Therefore she resolves to always be reborn as a female bodhisattva, until samsara is no more. She then stays in a palace in a state of meditation for some ten million years, and the power of this practice releases tens of millions of beings from suffering. As a result of this, Tonyo Drupa tells her she will henceforth manifest supreme bodhi as the Goddess Tārā in many world systems to come.

With this story in mind, it is interesting to juxtapose this with a quotation from H.H the Dalai Lama about Tārā, spoken at a conference on Compassionate Action in Newport Beach, CA in 1989:

There is a true feminist movement in Buddhism that relates to the goddess Tārā. Following her cultivation of bodhicitta, the bodhisattva’s motivation, she looked upon the situation of those striving towards full awakening and she felt that there were too few people who attained Buddhahood as women. So she vowed, “I have developed bodhicitta as a woman. For all my lifetimes along the path I vow to be born as a woman, and in my final lifetime when I attain Buddhahood, then, too, I will be a woman.”

Tārā, then, embodies certain ideals which make her attractive to women practitioners, and her emergence as a Bodhisattva can be seen as a part of Mahayana Buddhism’s reaching out to women, and becoming more inclusive even in 6th century C.E. India.

Namaste’

Getting comfortable bringing yourself to climax is an empowering act. It also makes it possible to communicate to your lover how you like to be loved. Learning to communicate how you like to be loved is a great way to deepen intimacy with your partner and increase the likelihood of being touched the way that most pleases you.

Try this: Self-pleasure several times this week. As you pleasure yourself stay very present, noticing what you like in enough detail that you could tell a lover how to do it in the same way. Notice if any resistance comes up around self pleasuring.

If you have a lover and feel ready, self pleasure in front of him, showing him how you love yourself. Arrange a time when you can tell him how you like to be loved as he pleasures you.

C)Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
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