For those beset by suffering, every assistance is offered.

If we are beset by suffering, if we are experiencing the drawbacks of samsaric existence, Tara assists us in overcoming that. The drawbacks to samsara can be described in three ways.

One is just outright pain: physical and mental pain that nobody likes and everybody wants to get rid of.

The second one is the unsatisfactoriness of change, meaning that we are in contact with things that give us some pleasure, but that pleasure does not last. If it were real pleasure, the more we are in touch with that situation or object, the more pleasurable it would be. But that is not the case. For instance, the more we eat, at a certain point, our stomach begins to hurt. The more you are with the person whom you thought is fantastic 24/7, the more you wish, “Gee it would be nice to talk to somebody else for a change.” None of these brings us real lasting happiness. They are all dependent, so we are frequently left dissatisfied.

The third kind of unsatisfactory condition in samsara is that our body and mind are under the influence of afflictions and karma. If you have a body and mind under the influence of ignorance, afflictions and polluted karma, that is never going to bring happiness. Ignorance and afflictions do not see things accurately, so they are not going to bring good results. Being in that state means that even when we are not experiencing gross pain, we are on the edge of the cliff all the time. Any small change in our circumstances and our whole feeling of happiness instantly changes.

If we are in this kind of situation, which all samsaric beings are, Tara offers us every assistance. The way she helps is by teaching us what to practise and what to abandon: in other words, the law of karma and its effects. She teaches us bodhicitta. She teaches us the wisdom of realising emptiness. By practising love, compassion and bodhicitta, we get along much better with others, and we are more peaceful within ourselves. By gaining the wisdom of understanding emptiness, we cease these afflictive and crazy mental states — these impulses that pop into our mind that are not well thought out and which we think are going to bring us happiness but instead create one mess or another. We begin to do away with those. It is through Tara’s guidance and teachings that we become empowered to create the causes of temporal and ultimate happiness, and abandon the causes of temporal and ultimate suffering.

That is how Tara guides us, and how all the Buddhas guide us. Isn’t it wonderful that there are beings in this universe who can do that? If there were nobody who could teach us about karma, and nobody who could teach us about the essence of reality, then it will be really hopeless for us. Having these Buddhas who can really guide us gives us a lot of hope and optimism.

“365 Gems of Wisdom” e-book is out now!