Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

52 Ruth

Fitzpatrick

groups

with

Australianwomen

involvedinGreen

Tara

practice.

However,

i

begin

by

elaborating

onwhatTara

practice

orTara

ritualsinAustraliaconsistof.Atler

providing

a

background

to

the

participants

and

methodsusedinthe

study.

I

outline

the

major

themestohave

emerged

inthe

focus

groups.

Thesewere

Tara'svow.

her

multiple

and

polar

characteristicsand

her

compassionateengagement

withthe

world.

The

way

Tamis

understood is

affected

by

herAustralian

cultural

setting.

As

such,

theresearch

revealsthatculture

plays

arolein

shaping

the

interpretation

of

religious

doctrines

and

practices.

Feminismin

particular

appears

tohaveinfluenced

how

Tarais

understood.

regardless

ofthe

practitioners‘

orientationtofeminism.

This isevidenced

by

the

significance

ofTara‘s

gender

tothe

participants

and

how

the identify

withherto

reconstructthe

meaning

of

being

t'emalc.‘

Through

conducting

the

ritual

practice,

thewomen

attempted

to

adopt

Tara‘s

qualities

in

a

mannerthat

modifiedthemselves

andtheirown

subjectivities.

Identifying

with

Tara

enabledthemto

testthelimits

ot‘womanhoodthathadbeen

imposed

onthem.

In

doing

so.

their

engagement

withTara

canbelikenedtoFoucault‘s

techniques

or

practices

of

theself.The

research

consequentlychallenges

thenotionthat

religious

practices

are

necessarily

oppressive

to

women.

arguing

thatamore nuanced

approached

to

understanding

theroleof

religious

practices

insocial

change

is

needed.

Tibetan

Buddhismand

TararitualsinAustralia

In

orderto

gamera

greater

understanding

ofhowwomen

develop

their

relationship

to

Tara.inthissection

I

provide

somedetailot‘thenature

ofTararitualsandtheir

place

withinTibetan

Buddhism.Forall

the

participants

in

my

research.l'ararituals

were

part

ot‘abroader

practice

and

commitmenttoTibetanBuddhism.Allbutone

ofthe

participants

becameinvolvedinTara

practicethrough

involvementwitha

Tibetan

Buddhistcentrein

Australia.As

such.theformationofTibetanBuddhist

centresin

Australiahasbeen

themost

significant

factorin

facilitating

Tara‘stnlYO'

ductionto

Australia.

Many

TibetanBuddhist

centres inAustraliaconductTara

rituals

regularly.

MostTibetanBuddhist

centresin

Australiaareaffiliatedwithone

ofthefourmain

TibetanBuddhist

schools:

Nyingma.

Kagyu.Sakya

and

Gelug.

Several

Sakya

centresoffer

the

practicedaily

andmost

(jelug

centresconduct

the

ritual

monthly.

ATara

ritual,

commonly

known

asTara

practice.

usually

involves

making

various

offerings

toTaraand other

deities.aswellas

chanting.

visualization,

meditationand

dedicating

thebenefitsofthe

ritualtothewelfareofall

sentient

beings.

Themain

aspect

or

theritualis

devotedto

chanting

the

‘Twenty»0ne

Praises toTara‘. The

prayer

is

usually

chanted in

bothTibetan and

English.

Throughout

the

practice.

Tanis

visualizedwith

light

emanating

fromher

body.

Initially.practitioners

visualizeTarain

frontofthem.Whenthe

practitioner

has

receivedinitiation
by

a

qualified

Tibetan

Buddhist

teacher.

sheis

permitted

to

visualizeherselfasGreenTarainthe
centreofacircle

(mandala)

01‘2t

l'mas

(Simmer-Brown

2001:

150),

Initiationor

empowerment

ceremoniesforTara

are

GreenTum

inAustralia 53

regularly

offeredinAustmlia.‘

SakyaTharpaLingregularly

offers

Tara

initiations.

asdoestheTibetanBuddhist

Society(Gelug).

bothlocatedin

Sydney.

Independent

visiting

TibetanBuddhistteachersalsootterinitiations.The

ceremony

involves

a

variety

of

prayers,

offerings

andvisualizationsthat

provide

the

practitioner

With

the

necessaryempowerments

to

panake

inthefull

practice

ofthe

deity.

A

large

ceremony

washeld

in 2009 ina

prominentSydney

suburbtownhall.conducted

byChimeyLudingRinpoche.

afemale

Sakya

TibetanBuddhistteacher.and

was

attended

by

around 350 Australians.“

.

Another

organizationoperating

in

Australia

associatedwithTara

practtccs

iscalledTaraDhatu. TaraDhatuconduct

ritual dances inhonourof

Tara.

combining

Indian,

Tibetan and western

ritual traditions. Tara Dhattt has

four

groupsoperating

inAustralia

(Sydney.

Adelaide.

BlueMountains and

Daylesford).

Focus

groups

To

gain

amoredetailed

understanding

ofAustralianwomen's

relationship

with

lara.in 2007 Iconductedfourfocus

groups

withatotalofI}Australian

women

involvedinTararituals

throughoutSydney,

Australia.Alltheresearch

participants

wereof

Anglo—Saxon

Australian

background.except

one.

All

participants

had

undenaken

teniary

educationandthreewereeither

engaged

in.

orhad

completed.

postgraduate

studies.Atthetimeoftheinterviewsthe

averageage

ofthewomen

was

53,

withan

agerange

of 42 tofit.Allthewomeninvolved

intheresearch

participated

inl'ararituals.

the

participants

wererccntitetlfromfourBuddhist

organi7ations

in

Australia.

Thefirstfocus

group

wasconductedwithmembersoftheTara

Dhatu

otganl—I

zation.Thesecondfocus

group

wasconductedwith

practitioners

from

the

Drogmt

RetreatCentre ofthe

Sakya

tradition.The third focus

group

was

conducted

withmembersofthe

Vajrayana

Institute.

abranch ofthe Foundation

forthe

Preservation

Mahayana

Traditionfromthe

Gelug

tradition.Thefinal

focus

group

wasconductedwith

practitioners

affiliatedwiththe

Kagyu

tradition.

whometin

one

ofthe

practitioner‘s

housedevotedtoritual

practice,

All

groups

met

monthly

to

conductGreenTam

rituals.

except

for

Drogmt.

whomet

weekly.Participants

from

all

groups

revealedthat

individually they

conducted the

practice

more

regularly.manyaspiring

tomaintaintheritual

daily.

Theseritualswereconducted

athome

or

parts

thereof

on

trains

onthe

way

to

work.

incarsandbefore

airplane

trips.

Ihefocus

groups

wereconducted ina semi-structured

way.

Aschedule of

questionswas

designed.

however.

inthe

process

of

conducting

thefocus

groups.

I

alloweddiscussiontounfoldinitsnaturalcourse.

interjecting

as

rarely

as

possible.

Questions

includedwere‘isTara‘s

gendersignificant'.

‘what

qualities

aboutTara

appeal

to

you‘

and‘howdoesTara

impactuponyour

life?‘Themost

significant

themesto

emerge

inthefocus

groups

wereTara‘svowtoincarnateasa

woman.

Tara‘s

multiple

and

polar

qualities

andher

compassionateengagement

withthe

world.