The Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing from the Female Buddha

by Gelek Rimpoche, Brenda Rosen (With)

Tara is the best-known and most beloved feminine deity of Buddhism. Having famously vowed to help others while always remaining in the female form, Tara is traditionally called a mother, a virgin, and a queen. Like a mother, she provides unconditional love. Like a virgin, she is whole and complete unto herself. Like a queen, she is noble and generous.

Containing a 96-page book, a white Tara resin figure, and a keepsake box, The Tara Box opens to create a mini-altar and portable shrine for the exquisitely carved Tara statuette. The altar can be used in conjunction with the book's rituals and meditation practices, which are aimed at compassionate healing, long life, and protection from life's travails. The book — which slides snugly behind the altar for easy reference — explains who Tara is and how to reach out to her. This unique gift set is for those interested in healing, ritual magic, women's empowerment, Buddhism, and exotic Asian art.

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Kyabjé Gelek Rimpoche (Tibetan: དགེ་ལེགས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, Wylie: Skyabs-rje Dge-legs Rin-po-che) is tulku (incarnate lama) of Drepung Monastic University, where he received the scholastic degree of Geshe Lharampa, the highest degree given within the Gelug tradition.

Gelek is a nephew of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. He was tutored by many of the same masters as the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.

In 1959, Gelek fled to India from Tibet and gave up monastic life. He is the founder and president of Jewel Heart, "a spiritual, cultural, and humanitarian organization that translates the ancient wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism into contemporary life." Beat-poet Allen Ginsberg was among the more prominent of Jewel Heart's members.