ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author explores the ways in which her relationship to the healing imagery found in Vajrayana Buddhism has allowed her to more fully enter into and utilize the healing imagery of her clients. In the Tibetan tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, also known as Tantra, the author had been learning and practicing a form of meditation that seemed to touch on the primordial longing for love and connection free from all the shadow content that comes with human closeness. The practice of Tantra, one quickly finds, is powerfully relational. The author explores how her own meditative practice seemed to intersect with her clients' use of healing imagery. She develops a deepening respect for the many ways in which the healing methods found in Tibetan Buddhism can be used for recovery from psychological trauma.