Читать книгу Mongolia – Faces of a Nation - Frank Riedinger - Страница 9

When Buddha saw the hard life that the people were living, he started to weep. And the 21 tears he shed turned into the 21 female Taras. The Taras are good spirits for all mankind and they symbolise humanity. Twenty of the Taras sit in an open cross-legged position, so that they can stand up quickly if someone needs their help. Only the White Tara sits in the so-called lotus or closed cross-legged position, as she has eyes in the soles of her feet and in the palms of her hands so that she can observe and protect the people.

Many years ago, there lived an elderly married couple who had just one son. When the father died suddenly, the son set off into the world to study. “Go my son and study while I am still alive,” said his mother. “I will wait for you and when you return, please bring a White Tara with you,” she continued. The young man went to Tibet, and through his studies achieved enlightenment. He lived a contented life and completely forgot about his mother. On his return in autumn, he didn’t know where to look for his mother as she might already have moved into winter quarters. He also didn’t know what she would look like after the long years of his absence. He was worried that he wouldn’t recognise her again. Suddenly, he belatedly remembered his mother’s parting request to him and wondered what he should do. As he didn’t have a White Tara, he picked up a white stone from the ground and wrapped it in a khadag, a blue Mongolian prayer cloth. When he found his mother, she asked him whether he had studied a lot in Tibet and whether he had fulfilled her request. The son replied by telling her that he had studied a great deal abroad and that indeed, he had brought her a White Tara. He asked his mother however not to unwrap it and always to keep it covered by the khadag. For three years, his mother prayed to the white stone in the hope that it was a White Tara. When she reached eighty, she felt that her time had come to die. She begged her son to be allowed to see the White Tara. There was no way out for the young man and he unwrapped the white stone. To his great surprise and relief however, the stone had actually turned into a White Tara, thanks to the firm and devout belief that the mother had had in her son.