White Tārā appliqué

Object location: Bedroom

Sangharakshita’s friend and teacher, Dhardo Rinpoche, regarded meditation on White Tārā as having great importance and had himself requested at the age of thirteen to be given the practice. He performed this meditation daily for the rest of his life. He gave the White Tārā initiation to Sangharakshita in late 1963, before Sangharakshita left India, in order that he should not be held back by any threat to his life-force. 

The thangka, which dates from the nineteenth century, had belonged to Rinpoche’s previous tulku and was one of Dhardo Rinpoche’s most precious possessions. In 1986, through the gift of this thangka, Rinpoche sent his blessings to Sangharakshita.