The Liberating Power of the Female Buddha (Book Review)

Last year I found a book called TARA: the Liberating Power of the Female Buddha, by Dr Rachael Wooten. The author is a depth psychologist and Tara devotee. It had been on my desk for months. Whenever I'd walk by I'd think to myself, I need to sit down and meditate. Green Tara has such a cool vibe but her energy felt distant somehow. I finally started reading it again this week after meeting up with a friend; it turns out she'd been connecting with Tara too 😅

Tara is a powerful female Buddha - known as Wisdom Moon in her early incarnations. Wisdom Moon is said to have taken on the challenge of becoming enlightened. At the time, the common belief was that only men could become enlightened (haha). What it means to be enlightened is a separate topic, but if it includes clarity, compassion and having a bigger picture view of life - there is no reason why men and women couldn't both become enlightened. 

The name Tara translates as Star. The idea is that the goddess Tara connects you with that infinite light that lights up your life. Her energy is very specific. Tara appears as one of 22 colors or manifestations - almost like a prism. Each color vibration has a specific effect on our hearts and minds. This is where Tara's energy flows easily with energy healing or depth psychology. We can connect with the color vibration that resonates with the part of the psyche that we want to heal and integrate. For example; White Tara is calming and soothing, Green Tara embodies compassion, Orange Tara releases spiritual & emotional poverty. Black Tara is fiercely protective. 

Her purpose is to free us from fear and insecurity and ultimately, to free us from the cycle of rebirth known as samsara. Green Tara is best known; she fills us with healing and compassion, similar to Quan Yin in other traditions. The Green Tara mantra invokes all of these protections: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha. Then each color vibration is associated with a specific intention, mantra and healing power. 

As a Healer, I've found it helpful to connect with Tara and then to visualize whatever color vibration I need at that time. I have tried connecting with Tara by following the energy healing steps in Chapter 5 of Chakra Healing & Magick; just setting the intention to connect with Tara after attuning to divine light. Funny enough, I included a bright shining star in many of the book's energy healing visualizations. Bringing Tara in consciously was an easy next step. 

There are also traditional (beautiful) ways to connect with all aspects of Tara. Dr Wooten goes through a full Tara practice in the book including mantras and many visualizations. It's amazing how the energy shifts after a few dozen repetitions of the basic Green Tara mantra. What I love is that it's always the same energy that we're connecting with - a bright shining star. It's just the vibration that changes with our spiritual, emotional and psychological needs. 

Reiki hugs, 

Regina 

*** 

Regina Chouza is an energy healer, angel medium and the author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. Blogging at Diary of a Psychic Healer since 2010, her passion is bringing the qualities of love, joy and empowerment to healing pursuits. Read her books to heal yourself. Find her on Instagram.com/reginachouza or on Facebook, as DiaryofaPsychicHealer.

> Español: @AngelMedium33

Image: canva .com  

The Indian & Tibetan River of Buddhism (Class Review)

I’m enrolled in an online class at Columbia University called The Indian & Tibetan River of Buddhism. Signed up when quarantine began and I am glad I did. The class is taught by Dr Robert Thurman - one of the founders of Tibet House in NYC. We are only on the second week, but I wanted to share it now as you can still sign up. 

We’ve covered the history of Buddhism: what society, culture and government were like 2600 years ago and why the Buddha's approach to happiness, compassion and freedom was appealing to so many people, especially freedom from the hierarchy of the caste systems. It also feels like a  lot of the concepts are still relevant today, for example, the study of the nature of reality and how we can find happiness.  

The class looks at the concepts of Dharma (as far as I can tell, a search for truth), the Eightfold Path and how these lay the groundwork for enlightenment through meditation. To become enlightened is to have your human mind grow to the point where it is obvious that we are interconnected and that personal gain is an illusion*. When someone else hurts or is in pain, a part of us is too and doesn't know it. 

Before we align ourselves with the collective's happiness, as part of a win-win scenario, we have to work on our inner selves and find our own happiness. Your happiness always comes first, and that isn’t necessarily dependent on external factors. It also helps to have an understanding of what it means for everyone to win. This made me think about why it is important to heal ourselves, working through anger, doubt or sadness -  and to express those feelings by journaling or other means, rather than suppressing our emotions. 

To quote Professor Thurman:

"Only a self-fulfilled truly happy person can embrace the happiness of others as his or her own heart-felt goal"

The other thing that I loved about Professor Thurman's class is his interpretation of meditation in one of the last steps of the Eightfold Path. When the texts speak of meditation, the translation is not just to meditate / concentrate - but to bring into (your) Being the quality that you are meditating on. This resonates 100% from an Energy Healing and intuition point of view because whenever I have tried to connect with Buddha, I kept getting the message to meditate on Happiness and I didn't know that that meant  😅

Buddhism emphasizes love, compassion and impartiality - though it is not selfish to want to be happy, as I had to remind myself. Please join me in meditating on health and happiness. Start by grounding yourself so that it is easier for you to relax. 

* My View of Personal Gain: We do have individual needs and aspirations and it’s unhealthy to deny that. Maybe “having it all” means the personal and the collective are satisfied, but for that to happen, we have to get over the ego’s whims and insecurities.  

Along the same lines, the things that we think will make us happy are often just placeholders for deeper emotional needs - read my book to work your way through that: Chakra Healing & Magick 💛

Reiki hugs, 

Regina 

Thank you for reading! Join me below

 Facebook / Instagram / Youtube

Read my books (Amazon)

Reiki hugs, Regina 

An Unexpected Happiness Boost

One of the things that I’ve toyed with is going vegetarian to reduce my environmental footprint, but rational arguments aren't always strong enough for us to give up something we love. And my favourite foods are veggies, salads, steaks and cheeseburgers. The compassion plea might be stronger.  If we think about how animals are kept in factories, it is worth it to choose free-range beef and chicken. Let's say the animal had a humane life and we believe in the food chain (animals eat each other in the wild); there is nothing morally wrong with eating animals. Moderation is healthy too. 

Then three months ago I went on a heart healing workshop where we connected with our Higher Selves and with teacher guides such as Buddha or Quan Yin. It sounds like science fiction, but we can all learn to receive their messages and guidance if we meditate with this in mind. Beyond a certain level, the messages that come through are meant to help us and these highest level guides never ask for anything in return. My Reiki Teacher calls it the Third Heaven level where all we encounter is compassion; no duality, no give and take, no agendas. The messages are about helping you.

The message that I received from a spiritual being that shone like a thousand suns, was that going vegetarian would make me happier, as I wouldn't be eating certain emotions. It made me think about it…

I'm Testing Vegetarian Waters 

This was in March. Two weeks ago I finally thought I would go cold turkey for a month. I love meat - I really do - so in the long term my plan is to become a weekday vegetarian and eat burgers and hot wings on weekends. Tacos too - it's really hard to be Mexican and live in Mexico and never eat a taco again (although my favourite taqueria has a vegetarian menu). I went to a nutritionist to get tips on how to substitute protein, iron, B12 and all of the others nutrients that we get from meat. Two weeks have gone by. I had a spoonful of ceviche the first week, and chicken enchiladas on Wednesday, but otherwise no meat products. 

 

And guess what? I have never been happier. It took like 10 days for my mood to adjust and another few for me to notice. But I feel like my Aura is full of light, my mind is clearer and my Solar Plexus Chakra is radiating. Nothing has changed in my life - actually, there are a few things that make it less than perfect. But I am happy for no reason, except for the biological one ... 

Science On Vegetarian Happiness 

Yesterday I was thinking about how I feel so much happier and was there a scientific reason for it? I googled "happy after 2 weeks as a vegetarian" and came across a clinical study that looks at the acids in animal meat and the effect they have on the brain. This particular acid is called Arachidonic - our body needs it to function properly, but if we have too much, the studies show a correlation between depression and animal consumption. The trials run with meat eaters showed that after just 2 weeks on a vegetarian diet, people who previously ate meat were happier. 

So I had no idea about this before I started - other than my intuition telling me that I would be happier as a vegetarian. The archangels have told me repeatedly that our personal ability to channel miracles into the world depends on how happy we are - but also, that if we are super unhappy they can help us with a bit of divine intervention. Thank God for that, literally. 

 

I would never presume to tell anyone to become vegetarian. But if we can't bring ourselves do it for environmental reasons or out of compassion (I couldn't manage it despite those reasons), test it for your own happiness. Just for two weeks to see how you feel, and if you are happier, think about adding a few meat-eating days so that you are able to benefit from the mental uplift as well as your favourite dishes. At this point I don't know if I will stick with it forever but I am loving the happiness boost. When this month is over I might choose the weekday vegetarian plan as that gives us freedom to eat anything on Saturdays and Sundays - then again I may run with it and go vegetarian 99% of the time. The main benefit is happiness; for me, for the animals and the planet. 

Vegetable Protein Sources

Knowing what to eat is the biggest challenge and to be honest, I didn't stock up on protein alternatives so by the end of the first week I was feeling tired. Plus my favorite workout is spinning á la SoulCycle, so I had to up my protein game. I have been relying on a few ingredients and I'm actively looking for more. The tiredness went away with these: 

• Fage Greek Yogurts have 20 grams of protein in one pot, which is almost half of what I need in a day (at 63Kilos) - amazing. 
• Feta, Goats Cheese, unsweetened peanut butter are good too. 
• Pastas made from Lentil, Garbanzo have 8-10 grams. 
• The Veggie Protein Shakes at GNC are great. 
• Lots and lots of greens like Spinach etc
• Lentils, beans, garbanzos, nuts and seeds.
• Quinoa is a famous protein grain but I am really loving another one called Freekeh that is very filling and has lots of protein. 
• Eggs for breakfast are wonderful. 

My nutritionist suggested switching my carb intake to bread, rice and pasta that take longer to digest. Some carbs give us more energy - and I have to include the right type of carbs, protein and fat in every single meal or snack. The only thing that's been cut are pastries, candy and sweets (or fruit after 2pm as it disrupts digestion). The bread that I am eating is called Ezequiel or Centeno in Spanish; the rice is usually wild or a bit harder, no white or processed carbs for me.  

The Bigger Picture 

We get a lot of nutrients from meat, chicken and fish - not just protein. Iron, B12 and other minerals need to be substituted as well. I am no expert on this - clearly I’m just starting out. But the past weeks have seen such a HUGE SHIFT IN MY HAPPINESS that I anticipate being mostly vegetarian for a long time. How many of us would love to feel a little bit happier. If a plant-based diet does it for you, going vegetarian is a pleasure, not a sacrifice.

There are plenty of rational reasons to not eat meat and you will find them in this 4 Minute TedTalk on being a Weekday Vegetarian. But we humans aren't entirely rational - so many of our decisions are made emotionally. So do it for yourself - for your happiness, and if you feel a difference it will be very easy 😇

Why I'm a Weekday Veg (TedTalk)

I hope you enjoyed this post and please don't unsubscribe - we will go back to energy healing and intuition posts next week. And if you'd like to give this a go - see a nutritionist. The last thing you need is to miss out on nutrients and think that being a part-time vegetarian is exhausting, when it just requires planning and knowledge. And of course, every physical body is different, please pay attention to what you need. 

One last plus to going vegetarian, you usually have room for dessert!

Reiki hugs, 

Regina 

2025 Update: ... I was a vegetarian again for about a year and a half, until the pandemic. Couldn’t make it stick. Sorry! 

Thank you for reading! Join me below

 Facebook / Instagram / Youtube

Read my books (Amazon)

Reiki hugs, Regina 

Reaching Enlightenment Through Dreams

Hello Chickpeas, 

This week’s post is based on a book that I am currently reading: The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying, by Sogyal Rinpoche. It is a fantastic read and not the least bit depressing, despite the fact that it is meant to prepare us for the unknown. The chapter I am on now looks at dream states and how the phases we go through while we sleep are similar to the soul's journey when we cross over.

In the Buddhist worldview, the transitional period that comes in the moments after we die (referred to as a bardo) presents a unique chance to pierce the illusions of the mind and become enlightened. Unfortunately, it will also be a new experience for most of us. Even if you believe in reincarnation, very few remember going through that experience. I know I have no recollecting of being born, or of dying.

So how would we prepare for such an event? And how can we be sure that our state of mind will be "with it" enough that we will be conscious of what is going on; that we won't be scared, confused or in a daze? If that moment is our best chance at breaking free from Samsara - the endless cycle of death and rebirth - what can we do about it?

Enlightenment Through Dreams

I do not have a complete answer to this question, but I will come back to you as I continue reading. The author tells us that our dream states are similar enough to the bardos that we can practice mindfulness while we sleep to prepare for the unknown. 

There are several key phases to watch out for:

• When we are just dozing off. 
• When we are sleep but haven't begun dreaming.
• When we are actively dreaming.
• When we begin to wake up.

The biggest opportunity to prepare for the bardos is when we are asleep but not yet dreaming. Personally, I've never been self-aware at that stage but I imagine that adopting a daily mindfulness or meditation practice could help us become conscious in our sleep, though I am not sure how it would come about. The book hints at something called sleep yoga but has yet to explain what it is. 

A quick aside - if you'd like to remember your dreams, that last phase when we are coming out of sleep is the best time to remember them. We can take advantage of this by setting our alarm 10 minutes before we need to get up and jotting down our dreams.  Just be sure to set another alarm in case you fall asleep again. Try it out for yourself!

Similarities With Lucid Dreaming

Mindfulness can also help us with  lucid dreaming; when we are aware that a dream is a dream and we can then decide to fly or to walk through walls, etc. The theory is that by becoming aware of our thoughts during our waking hours and shining a light on the unconscious, including ideas, fears and scenarios that it may fabricate, our unconscious mind begins to lose its grip on our dreams. 

When we realize that a dream is a dream, we can take control of the dream and create our own adventure.  It is meant to be fun and while I have not tried it for myself, I would certainly love to know how it feels. On another note, if we know that a dream is a dream, does that mean we could also do away with the fiction and see what is actually real?

Disconnecting From the Matrix

Have you ever though that life is the dream, and that when we sleep, we wake up? I still have a lot to learn about consciousness, but I have a hunch that lucid dreaming and meditation can help us disconnect from the matrix and see things clearly. Maybe that is what enlightenment is about; seeing things for what they really are.

This is very much a student's "diary entry" as I am just beginning to explore these topics. Please get in touch if you have read this wonderful book or if you have studied lucid dreaming, consciousness, or Buddhism for yourself. And stay tuned for part two in a few weeks as I continue to read The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying.

Hopefully we will have some answers soon. For now, ask your guardian angel to help you fall asleep tonight with a bit of consciousness. And set your alarm clock a little bit earlier than usual so that you can start to become aware of your dreams.

***

Regina Chouza is an energy healer, angel medium and the author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. Blogging at Diary of a Psychic Healer since 2010, her passion is bringing the qualities of love, joy and empowerment to healing pursuits. Read her books to unlock your intuition. 

Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Youtube

> Español: @AngelMedium33

Dive Into The Ocean of Your Thoughts

I have been meditating for six years but I didn’t know what Buddhist meditations were about until recently. And even though admitting this makes me feel incredibly foolish, I thought I would share my findings in case you have been reading this blog for years and are equally clueless about meditation, beyond contacting angels, which we all love =)

There are different kinds of meditation and the one I have practiced all along is focused on connecting with my intuition, chatting with my angels and asking for guidance. It has been wonderful, but it can also take you away from the real world, instead of bringing you to a place where you can feel peace in the moment.

Then last month, I walked into a shop and a bright yellow book caught my eye. It had a mandala on the cover. The color drew me in even though the title was a bit of a downer: The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying, by Sogyal Rimpoche. 

I was drawn in by the themes of healing, compassion, reincarnation, life and death. It is full of jewels, but for me, the Buddhist take on meditation was the first eye opener: 

 

1) We Meditate to Witness the Light of the Mind. 

This happens when the clouds clear and we can see the sun in a clear sky, because the author likens our thoughts and emotions to tempest floating across the sky. Our true mind is the sun and the blue sky. We don't tell the clouds to go,  instead, we just look at the sky, clouds and all, and wait for those brief moments of clarity. These moments of clarity might be brief, small spaces between the clouds, and with time, those gaps become longer and longer but still. we are never attached to the gaps. They come and go, like the clouds and we just watch the sky.

 

2) Posture and Breathwork Are Key. 

By keeping your back straight and your breath calm, and natural, we prepare physically. I had experienced this already in my angel meditations, intuition flows when you are sitting up straight and when your breath is rhythmic, not forced but it just sustains your rhythm. The Tibetan Book of Life and Death also suggests crossing your legs to represent the intersection of good and evil, where things are neutral, try it if you like =)

 

3) Eyes Relaxed, but Open! 

Whereas my intuitive and psychic meditations usually involve closing your eyes and taking your attention away from the physical world to the spiritual realms, in Buddhist meditations you want to keep yourself fully in the moment so your eyes stay open, and you are aware but indifferent to your surroundings, including noise and distractions. I quite like this and with my dreamy Piscean mind (mercury in Pisces), I find this to be incredibly helpful. It keeps me from floating away and then when I stop meditating and go on with my day, I am also more easily present =) 

 

4) Focus on a Mantra, an Object or Your Breath. 

The goal is to slowly train the mind so that you can observe your thoughts and not get stuck in them, or carried away by your emotions. To do this, we focus our attention on an specific thing - not obsessively - the author tells us to keep between 25 and 50% of our attention on the mantra, the object (a crystal, a flower or an image of Jesus, Ganesh, Buddha, etc) or on your breath. The rest of your attention will drift, and that is OK, we are learning to relax the mind. 

5) Make Peace With Your Ocean Of Thoughts 

 

Finally, the author gives us a second metaphor for the mind and emotions, one that resonated even more than the sky with the sun peaking through behind the clouds. Imagine that you are sitting in front of an ocean or a lake and watching the ripples across the top - those ripples are our thoughts, while the currents, changing temperatures and everything that goes on below the surface are our emotions. Sometimes our mind will be calm, with just a few ripples, sometimes the heat of our emotions lights it up and we have turbulence under the surface. 

In either case, we turn to our physical body for grounding, observing the ripples and the turbulence with love and with compassion knowing that it is just a temporary state and the peace will come soon enough. I thought that was quite beautiful, and I have been meditating on different mantras and crystals ever since. It has been grounding, and that is just what a grounding meditation is supposed to do, help us find solid ground when we are overwhelmed by a sea of emotions.

***

Regina Chouza is an energy healer, angel medium and the author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. Blogging at Diary of a Psychic Healer since 2010, her passion is bringing the qualities of love, joy and empowerment to healing pursuits. Read her books to heal yourself. Find her on Instagram.com/reginachouza or on Facebook, as DiaryofaPsychicHealer

 Facebook - Instagram - YouTube 

> Español: @AngelMedium33