Women’s Satsang: 21 Taras Mantra Mala with Chandra Easton, Genevieve Walker, and Nina Rao

Chandra, Genevieve, and Nina came together in 2017 at Tara Mandala in Colorado when in retreat with Lama Tsultrim Allione and Krishna Das. It was here that the seed was planted to form the 21 Taras Collective. Because they believe in the powerful wise and compassionate presence of Tara, the female Buddha, they’ve worked together remotely and in-person over these years to compose original melodies to chant these mantras as an offering to support practice. The first volume of 7 of these mantras has been recorded and is due to be released in early 2025.

Join us for a sneak peek into the chants and to hear why Tara is so beloved, and about her qualities that we wish to invoke in our own being through sadhana, meditation, and chant. Through practice Tara’s “enlightened intent” becomes accessible and alive for us.

“Just as a ray of light hitting a prism creates a rainbow, when Tara’s enlightened intent illuminates the prism of your own mind, it manifests as a myriad of colors, sounds, symbols, and moods that reveal her compassionate power. The twenty-one Taras’ iconographic, mantras, and enlightened activities are expressions of different enlightened qualities all radiating from the same source– the Great Mother, the womb of totality.” ~ Chandra Easton, Embodying Tara: Twenty-One Manifestations to Awaken Your Innate Wisdom

ABOUT OUR TEACHERS:

Genevieve Walker is a psychotherapist, Buddhist practitioner, violinist, and composer. She is well-known for her longstanding role as an accompanist for Grammy- nominated artist Krishna Das, with whom she has toured and recorded extensively. Her two solo albums, “Walking Home” and “Home Songs,” explore the intersection of music, motherhood, home, and spirituality. Genevieve, who was born and raised in Canada, lives in Northern California with her husband and two sons. She practices music, psychotherapy, and family life by the sea.  GenevieveWalkerMusic.com

Chandra Easton is a Dharma teacher, author, and translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts. She has taught Buddhism and Hatha Yoga since 2001. She studied Buddhism and Tibetan language in Dharamsala, India, and at UCSB’s religious studies department. During her studies, she co-translated Sublime Dharma: A Compilation of Two Texts on the Great Perfection (Vimala Publishing, 2012) with B. Alan Wallace. In 2015, she was given the title of Vajra Teacher, Dorje Lopön (Varjāchārya), for Tara Mandala Retreat Center by Lama Tsultrim Allione and H.E. Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche. Seeking to bring forth the voice of the empowered feminine in Buddhism, Chandra regularly leads retreats and classes for various organizations, develops programs and curricula for Tara Mandala, and teaches Dharma nationally and internationally. She is author of, Embodying Tara: Twenty- One Manifestations to Awaken Your Innate Wisdom released by Shambhala Publishing in December 2023. ChandraEaston.com

Nina Rao first learned sacred chants as a young girl from her grandfather in south India, and the chants stayed quietly with her as she lived and traveled around the world, until she rediscovered this powerful practice with Krishna Das in New York in 1996. Since then she has been KD’s business manager and accompanies him musically. In 1998 she met her guru, Sri Siddhi Ma in the foothills of the Himalayas and spent time with her regularly for 19 years, while Ma was in the body. Nina has been chanting regularly as her main practice, has recorded albums, Antarayaami and Anubhav, that are played around the world. She leads chant events, studies and shares Veda chanting and, spiritual texts, is a hospice volunteer, is a podcast host for Be Here Now Network, goes on (yatra) pilgrimage, and is a wildlife conservationist as chairperson for Saving Wild Tigers, and hopes that everyone will make a Homegrown National Park in their home by planting native species in their yards, balconies, or fire escapes in pots! In Dec 2024, Nina co-hosted and
released along with 10 women wisdom leaders, the audio course and program “Sita’s Gems”, lifting Sita Devi from victim to heroine of the Ramayana. NinaRaoChant.com

We look forward to sharing this sacred space with you.

For those who identify as Women, whether CIS, Trans, or non-binary

Women’s Satsang Mission Statement

The Women’s Satsang has been formed to help cultivate heart connection and allyship among people within the Ram Dass Community who identify as women, whether cisgender, non-conforming, or non-binary women. As an autonomous group, our purpose is 

1. to deepen into the teachings of Ram Dass and Neem Karoli Baba from a female perspective
2. to foster connection and mutual empowerment within the Ram Dass Community, and 
3. bring forward the wisdom of women for the benefit of all beings and the earth.

Our Values include:

1. Lovingkindness
2. Honoring relationality and inclusivity
3. Allowing for ambiguity and mystery
4. Celebrating the light as well as the dark, embodiment as well as ascension
5. Blessing the web of interbeing that connects us all
6. Respecting people over performances 

To register, sign up for the Ram Dass Fellowship, and check “Women’s Fellowship” under the Fellowship Group Options.  You will be added to the mailing list and will receive monthly invitations to events.