Tibet

Lindy with her mala

Since we launched our 10,000 Names Project in March people from near and far have added their name to the scroll in support of the Nangchen Nuns of Tibet. We are so deeply grateful for the shower of love and support!

For every 10,000 names we will donate $1,000 to the Nuns whose lives are dedicated to prayer for the blessing of all beings. As a token of our love we will also present the Nuns with a scroll of the names.

For every 50 names added, 10-year-old Samantha, who loves the Nuns, will randomly choose a new name from the list and that person will receive a handmade empowerment mala of their choice.

Our first winner is Lindy! She happened to be one of the first people to add her name to the scroll. On March 26th she left us this beautiful comment:

om tara!
Sacred hearts of this blessed dream of being
Thank you for the illuminated jewels of your essence
of simplicity and gentle nature
I see me in you
as we are one

Each day we are moved to tears of joy and gratitude because we connect with individuals like Lindy, and you dear reader whoever you are.  Thank you!

About the Nangchen Nuns

For centuries these Tibetan Buddhist nuns have dedicated their lives to the practice of constant prayer, sending their love and compassion out all beings. Right now they are praying for each and everyone of us to be liberated from suffering! These devoted women live without electricity, heat, running water or adequate medicine and our dedication to them is supported by our non-profit, Tara Malas and by this community of sacred living. Visit our Tibet page for more about the nuns and our non-profit work in Tibet.

If you haven’t yet, simply post your name in a comment on our 10,0000 Names page to add your name to the scroll and be automatically entered to win an empowerment mala. By adding your name to the scroll you affirm that you share our vision of intentional living and participate fully and courageously in the sacred journey we all share.

Namaste

Among our greatest inspirations are the Nangchen Nuns. Quietly living in the remote plains of eastern Tibet are between 3,000 and 4,000 nuns who reside in approximately 30 different monasteries scattered throughout the countryside.

For 250 years these nuns have dedicated their lives to the practice of constant prayer, sending their love and compassion out to all of us. In the words of Tsoknye Rinpoche III:

“These women embody the full richness of Buddhist love, compassion and wisdom in female form.  It’s quite rare, I think.  If this light of tradition is gone from this earth, even though we have text, the experiential warmth and blessings of this living women’s tradition will be gone forever.”

These devoted women live without electricity, heat, running water or adequate medicine and our dedication to them is supported by our non-profit, Tara Malas and by this community of sacred living. As a token of our love,  we will present the Nuns with a scroll of 10,000 names.

In addition,

For every 10,000 names we will donate $1,000 to the Nangchen Nuns of Tibet whose lives are dedicated to prayer for the blessing of all beings.

By adding your name to the scroll you affirm that you share our vision of intentional living and participate fully and courageously in the sacred journey we all share.

Simply post your name in a comment on our 10,0000 Names page to add your name to the scroll.

Namaste,

Matsya Siosal

The Birth of Tara Malas and our Non-Profit

Was it in January when I realized that reaching the ?old? age of 60 was just 6 months away? As the psychotherapist, I spent decades witnessing my clients, as well as friends and family, go through a sort of ?birth canal? as they prepare for certain important initiations in life. God, the thought of turning 60 and having my life stay the same as it currently was, was absolutely appalling! It wasn?t that any particular part was appalling; it was just the overall stuckness of it.

Tara Statue

I prayed one of the big prayers. You know, the ones where you say, ?Dear God, Buddha, Tara, Mary, all the angels, Jesus, anyone else who might be listening, I completely and totally surrender my life to you. Please take me and show me my very highest purpose. I completely trust, I let go. I only know that this is not it. No matter what you want, I will do. I hold on to nothing.?

Then nothing happened ? for about a month. . . .

Tara and the Nangchen Nuns

My husband Porter makes malas, aka prayer beads. We decided to design a new line of wrist malas for women. We?d had this business (actually a hobby)  for years. It could have been a prototype for ?mom and pop operation? with a bit of daughter thrown in. He?d perfected his mala making to beautiful pieces of spiritual jewelry. Carlos Santana, Jack Kornfield and many other notable spiritual seekers purchase and use his malas. Daughter, Kristine, made us a homemade website that Porter occasionally upgraded.

Anyway, he did this design around the beginning of February and named them ?Tara Malas?, due to the fact that there are 21 beads and 21 praises to Tara. We had dinner with our friends Debra and Geo a few days later. Now here we were sitting in our favorite meeting place, the Lotus Restaurant, eating the same round of food that we have been eating together for 5 or 6 years. Somehow it is comforting to know that we will probably be going to this same restaurant, eating the same round of food for another 10 ? 15 years.

Tara Malas

I was wearing the new Tara mala, a beautiful jade with garnet and carnelian and a gold guru bead, as Debra went on the say that Lama Palden, our mutual dear friend, would be doing a Women?s Day long Retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. The event was entailed ?Empowering the Awakening Feminine ? A Benefit for the Nangchen Nuns? and, of course the divine Tara was the focus of the Awakened Feminine.

Do you ever get one of those feelings inside when magnificent possibility meets with auspicious serendipity? I have a tendency to bubble over with enthusiasm, which I immediately tried on calm and ground. But I just ?knew? that somehow the ethers had parted and grace was looking me right in the face. I called my friend Lama Palden the next day and we set up a meeting at her house. I offered that we sell our Tara Malas at the event with the proceeds going to Nangchen Nuns (who I still knew nothing about!) Palden spoke to me then about these dedicated women, the plight of their survival, and the great work that Thoknyi Rinpoche was doing as their avid supporter. Almost simultaneously, we thought of the possibility of the nuns making Tara Malas as a cottage industry. Through the course of multitudes of tweaks and changes, pounds of trust and patience and a mountain of divine grace, here we are in Tibet.

Living with intention

Connecting with and honoring our selves despite the many demands of everyday life is a fundamental part of living with intention. Daily personal practice that engages body, mind and spirit connects you to the sacred and affirms your intentions.

Our Mission

The mission of Touchstones of the Sacred is to create and nurture community while providing tools, resources and diverse paths to explore along your own sacred journey of intentional living.

Creating interactive community

Much more than the average blog, Touchstones of the Sacred is an interactive community of resources and inspiration, a forum to exchange teachings and share in the journey of intentional living and sacred connection with others.
When we live in touch with the sacred we live in a state of gratitude for all that we are blessed with. Our deepest intention is to serve you in touching the peace, joy and fulfillment that is within each one of us – the source of all gratitude and compassion.

Cottage Industry in Tibet

Among our greatest inspirations are the Nangchun Nuns of Tibet. We are passionate about helping sustain these extremely impoverished women whose life work is to pray for the blessings of all beings. The nuns are supported through our non-profit cottage industry Tara Malas and 5% of Celedra profits are donated to the nuns.