My Mother was bipolar, and we had an intense love-hate relationship. Shortly after I moved to Santa Cruz, my mother-- who was going through a phase of feeling very positive about our relationship-- moved to Santa Cruz to be near me. My Dad had Alzheimer's and she found a good home for him there. Within a few months, she went into one of her depressions, blaming me for everything that had gone wrong in her life. As I sat in meditation, feeling deeply confused about this painful relationship, and praying desperately for help, I felt inundated by swirls of pink energy. Then I felt an incredibly compassionate, reassuring female presence who introduced herself as Pink Tara.

Thereafter, Tara visited me every morning for several months. Her gentle council enabled me to salvage the difficult relationship with my mother. Pink Tara has appeared numerous times since, both in response to my personal needs and to the calls of my clients. Later I learned that the Goddess Tara had been worshipped in India and Tibet since the seventh century AD. The Buddhists consider her the female form of Avalokita, the Compassionate One. Some people consider her a sister energy to Kuan Yin (from China) or Mother Mary.

Historians have been unable to explain when and where this female form of Avalokita emerged. Male historians seem reluctant to admit that this Goddess appeared among women and peasants long before scholars and royalty took notice of her. Many stories are told of Tara when she was the daughter of the Emperor, before she became a Goddess. She was well loved yet deeply misunderstood by her father. Consequently, her heart goes out particularly to those who have familial difficulties.

Tara is well known for being accessible to anyone who calls to her out of great need. Unlike those elite deities who require complex and demanding rituals before they deign to make themselves known, shrines to Tara and Kuan Yin are found all over the Tibetan and Chinese countryside, where any peasant can walk in and make a humble offering. The proliferation of these shrines bears witness to how many people have been blessed by visions of the Goddess and by the granting of their prayers.

Just as Tara herself has no clear historical origin, Pink Tara has emerged quietly, through myself and several other people. Pink Tara is the embodiment of the pink heart ray. She is the Goddess of Gentle Strength. Pink Tara is a kind but incisive, honest counselor for those who seek guidance about personal relationships and matters of the heart. Many of my clients and students have met her through me, and then some of them have been able to invoke her presence in their own meditations. She comes to some in a visual form, to others in spoken form, and to others as a profound sense of well-being. I do not actually see Pink Tara, but one of my students, who does see her, created the image above.

I have transcribed many of Pink Tara's readings, and 25 of them can be found in a self-published booklet, Pink Tara--Teachings of the Heart from a Goddess of Gentle Strength. I also offer Pink Tara readings in person and by phone (808 345-5838).