Phyllis

Vancouver, WA

For Phyllis, Vajrayana Buddhism became meaningful not simply as a philosophy, but as an embodied spiritual path. Drawn naturally to movement, dance, yoga, ritual, and devotion, she discovered a way of practicing that brought the Dharma out of the realm of ideas and into the body.

Her connection deepened through the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara, a Tibetan Buddhist practice weaving movement, visualization, mantra, creativity, and devotion together. After first witnessing the dance on a cliff in Kauai, Phyllis gradually found herself drawn into its mandala. What initially felt intimidating became a profound way of embodying Tara—the feminine expression of compassion, wisdom, protection, and awakened activity.

Through years of practice, Phyllis has witnessed the Tara Dance touch people far beyond conventional meditation. For her, this is part of the beauty of Vajrayana: awakening does not have to remain confined to the meditation cushion. The body can become part of the practice, movement can become meditation, and creativity can become a doorway into transformation.

Phyllis’s journey offers a vivid example of Buddhism lived beyond the cushion—where devotion becomes movement and the teachings are not simply understood, but embodied.

Experience

30 Plus Years

Tradition

Vajrayana

Background

Phyllis traces her introduction to Buddhism back to her teenage years in the early seventies. Initially inspired by Herman Hesse’s books and Eastern philosophy, she delved into yoga and explored various spiritual practices. Despite being more drawn to dance and social activities, her interest in Buddhism grew during her time in California, where she encountered a Zen community. However, it wasn’t until she moved to Maui in the late seventies or early eighties that her connection deepened. Lama Tharchin Rinpoche presence on the island prompted Phyllis to consider taking refuge. Despite finding traditional teachings initially dull, she appreciated the energetic and devotional aspects of Sufi practices.

Her pivotal moment came during a stormy evening at a red Tara event with Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. In the midst of the teachings, Phyllis experienced a profound awakening – the Earth seemed to shake, and her heart opened wide. Without hesitation, she decided to embrace the path of vajrayana and the foundational practices of Buddhism. Despite differences in personal experiences, Phyllis felt a strong, personal connection to Lama Tharchin Rinpoche, highlighting the subjective nature of spiritual journeys.

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For Phyllis, the Buddhist path gradually became less about searching for something outside herself and more about discovering what genuine inner freedom might actually feel like. Her journey into Vajrayana Buddhism led her into a tradition where meditation, ritual, movement, devotion, and relationship with a teacher all became ways of working directly with the mind and heart.

In her full conversation, Phyllis reflects on the importance of spiritual teachers and the delicate balance between devotion and discernment. She describes a teacher as being like a tuning fork—someone whose presence can help a practitioner recognize something deeper within themselves. At the same time, she is candid about the need to distinguish the personality of a teacher from the wisdom toward which the teacher is pointing.

Her practice also extends far beyond seated meditation. Through Chöd and other Vajrayana practices, Phyllis explores how identification with personality can loosen and how practice can leave, as one of her teachers described it, a “deep footprint in the heart.” Most visibly, this comes alive through the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara, where sacred movement becomes an expression of devotion, creativity, compassion, and the feminine principle.

Phyllis also shares how these teachings entered everyday life—particularly her relationship with her son. Rather than imposing Buddhism on him, she tried to embody kindness, presence, responsibility, and compassion in the way she parented.

Her story ultimately returns to the question that has followed her since childhood: What does it mean to truly be free? Register to explore Phyllis’s complete profile and discover how decades of practice transformed that question from an idea into a lived spiritual path.