Not being able to find an important citation online, got me into cleaning my art studio, which I hadn’t done for a very long time. I found the document I was looking for that had the information I needed and, a bonus gift alongside it. This rather crumpled yellow sheet contained handwritten notes and a poem I had written during a visit to the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan several years ago. I thought to myself, “What a fabulous example this is of how art helps us process our losses and our lives.” The museum was founded in 2004 and contains nearly 4000 Himalayan art objects spanning 1500 years of history.
Now to my history–when my husband and I visited the Rubin a few years ago we took part in an art activity that began with the docent helping us understand the art images of the protector goddesses that surrounded us in the gallery, Durga, with the power to destroy evil, Green Tara, mother of all Buddhas who helps us find liberation from suffering, and White Tara, known for maternal compassion and healing. The docent then left us to medicate, write and/or draw our responses. Each person brings to the experience whatever is up for them in their own lives, and with whatever skill we have, we create our own art piece related to its inspiration.
Here is the poem: Ode to Tara
When the demons overtook my beloved,
I became the grandmother goddess,
calling on all the archetypes of
Feminine Protection. First off to protect
myself, that I might survive the onslaught
of deranged forces. The test now is whether
love is truly stronger than hate, and
whether the forces of compassion can
outlast the forces of fear and dis-ease.
Oh Tara!
Fully enlightened being
Born of tears, now seated
in royal ease. Assist us,
emersed in our own vale
of tears, challenged by
many demons, of new names
and no names. Help us float,
as you do–– through
the dark times.
