As a Buddhist, I do not view the opposite sex like my fellow sentient beings do.
Although I admit to objectifying women, I try not to make a habit of telling other men within earshot of women.
For those of you who remember the pictures of naked women, women showing cleavage, and the the picture of the shapely cosplay woman which I called "dakinis", a dakini is a celestial being, separate from Tara, who was originally an Indian goddess who vowed to be reborn as a bodhisattva in the Realm of Desire consisting of the six realms of the hells, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demons/asuras/demigods, and gods.
Am I saying that Tara walks among the sentient beings who dwell in the human realm?
Yes, that was included in her vow to be reborn in the human realm out of compassion for all sentient beings. Her task is to Help human beings to realize their purpose in life, which is to be of service to others, and to be helpful to all sentient beings, regardless of whether they are animals or human beings.
For Tara represents both the teacher and the nurse, and even the people welcoming you at Walmart.
And what are dakinis? They are the wrathful form of Tara who are able to dance high up in the sky. For they are Skywalkers.
I am sure Star Wars fans will pick on that: Luke Skywalker's last name was borrowed from the term that describes a dakini.
As well, "sky" symbolizes the freedom of space. It also suggests another freedom that Westernized people might object to, depending on their culture and upbringing. I am referring to the freedom of being unclothed and dancing naked in the sky.
Please note that I have associated a dakini with Tara, with the latter being the closest thing to a Buddha, for she is a bodhisattva out to save all sentient beings.
However, I refered to the two young women as dakinis for wearing little or no attire, as it helps me to keep my distance from lust. By keeping my distance, I hope to avoid being reborn in the hells both literally as I would rather go to the Pure Land, and figuratively i.e. by making inappropriate comments about either lady.
For having an open mind is a dedicated skill involving controlling one's secret wish to kill a person for speaking inappropriately. I am sure this is why chat features on GooglePlus are useful to privately talk with another member who is in my circle, if I so desire.
However, I have had my fill of chat using Facebook, Microsoft Messenger and Yahoochat as well as chat services on other web forums.
If I wanted to chat one-to-one with a woman, then it'd be IRC on the #sex channel of dalnet. However, there are children who would kick me off chat on dalnet, thus proving "absolute power corrupts absolutely" and confirming that most of the time, children do not have open minds.
Returning to dakinis and Tara, it is quite possible that Tara "magically" created clones of herself, as there is a White Tara, a Blue Tara and a Green Tara. There may also be yellow Tara, but I have yet to hear of a Red Tara.
In this way, she could enlighten more people than as plain vanilla Tara.
I have read in a Chinese sutras about a multitude of buddhas in their Pure Lands. So it stands to reason that there are a multitude of bodhisattvas as well as dakinis.
If even one god or demigod were to have the Buddhadharma preached to him, then it would lead to rebirth in the human realm.
Sometimes a Buddha will do that so that all sentient beings bond to the Buddha, and protect that Buddha from non-believers — an avatar of a sentient being who was non-human would be reborn as human, and might remember his life in the realm of god. However, even when an avatar of a god cannot remember her past life, she will eventually become a Buddhist.
After making a commitment to Buddhism and following the precepts, she may attain the past life samadhi. Even so, that happens after decades of mindful practice, both meditation and the works of charity, including volunteering at the Buddhist temple of which she is a member.
For the siddhi of past life memories takes a long time to be acquired since everything that happens to a devoted Buddhist practitioner is supposed to prepare you for that. If it is done within a setting that has no cultural means of such preparation, then surely we live in the age of Mappo —the degenerate age when only the Pure Land practice of Buddha Recitation is the sole means to be assured of being reborn as a bodhisattva and much later, a Buddha.
However, it is said that worship of dakinis and of Tara in any of her forms, be it spiritually/supernaturally or worldly, earns merit for the Tibetan devotee. Though, I am NEVER going to worship a woman dressed up as one, face-to-face.
References
Tara as tantric deity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_%28Buddhism%29#T.C4.81r.C4.81_as_a_Tantric_deity
