Susan Macauley was named the WHITE TARA when she took her official vows at Buddha House, in Adelaide South Australia on March 18 (Day of miracles) in 2003. 13 other people took their vows at that particular dawn ceremony which was conducted in Tibetan and lasted approximately 2 hours. The precious teacher – the Venerable Geshe Pema Tsering, led them all through the ceremony and Susan took all of the lay vows she could. At the end, all approached one by one with the white Kata scarf and a gift for Geshe-La. Whilst bowing before him, he proclaimed their new Tibetan names. Susan approached and her eyes met with the teacher for a moment and he turned and whispered her new name to his female interpreter. It was handed to her on a small slip of paper and she quietly whispered to the interpreter “Please can you tell me what my name means?” She replied “You are a White Tara”.

As she backed away bowing, she saw 2 Rainbow Lorikeets at a window just to the right of the altar. They flew off and she knew so well their cry because she owned and still owns her own Rainbow Lorikeet and has done for 6 years. She raised it from 3 weeks old and it sits on her shoulder nearly every time she goes out. At first she didn’t see the connection, but a little later that day, Susan began to realise just how important her name was and the parts of her life that had led her to this amazing time. Susan was the only person on the day to have been given the name of a God or Goddess and it was almost inconceivable to her that she could possibly have been given the honour of sharing the name with the best loved female Buddhist Goddess of them all?

Susan was 34 when she took these vows (almost the same age at which the Lord Buddha gained enlightenment). When she went home after taking her vows, she researched the WHITE TARA and found out that she was a beloved Goddess, full of compassion for all, she had the ability to heal and to grant people long lives – and she was the Goddess of Rainbows. This is what shocked Susan and a revelation suddenly occurred to her. For in her life, she always saw rainbows in the sky when she had an important decision to make. She saw then when she questioned if she was on the right path and whenever she saw a rainbow, she instantaneously knew what each one meant. She began seeing these signs when she was 28. Everyone who knew her would always give her cards with rainbows on. Or photos, pictures and calendars and every time they saw a rainbows they thought of Susan.

But, this story began much earlier. Susan was an abused child and her early years were filled with much pain and suffering, so much so, she once looked up at the sky and prayed for someone to help her, to lead her, to rescue her. Shortly after this, Susan was given a very special message. She was 12. It occurred in a cottage garden out in the country that belonged to an older relative who had passed away. The garden was once a place of immense beauty, but now it was overgrown with weeds. But over in the back corner she noticed some beautiful large iris flowers. They rose up high above the weeds and looked very striking and majestic. From that moment on, Susan fell in love with the Iris flower. She gazed upon them and suddenly she heard a voice, very loudly and very clearly and she will never forget what she was told. The voice said “Susan, please hang on, and if you do, the day will come when you to will escape these weeds (that are just like your suffering) that are grabbing at you and you will surpass them all and one day you will be an Iris, just like these, standing glorious above it all – for all to see”

So she loved this flower and it was only when she started seeing Rainbows in the sky that she learned another incredible fact. Iris was the Greek Goddess of Rainbows. So the Rainbow truly was her symbol.

Did Geshe-la see this all in her mind when he named her?

Susan studied and practiced Buddhism for 5 years before she took her vows. She wanted to be ready to take all the vows she could for life. Susan was introduced to Buddhism in a very special way. She got to spend a week with the Gyuto Monks in North Queensland where they visited. Her life was never the same again. Never had she been with such joyous, loving and compassionate people in her whole life. The head Rinpoche was always grabbing her straw hat and walking around with it on his head. At one stage, she found herself in a room with a much older monk. She had been told that he was in Tibet when the Chinese invaded and he saw many of his fellow monks, killed by a bomb. Susan approached him and bowed her head and brought her hands together in reverence for him. He in turn put his hands on the outside of hers and she looked up and into his eyes. Tears welled, as something special seemed to transfer to her. He was so incredibly kind and full of love and compassion radiated from him. Not a word was spoken. This brief moment was very special. So Susan spent a very special week with these monks and her life was never the same again.

Susan is seriously ill. She has 2 incurable diseases, she sleeps in an oxygen mask at night and she has to take 11 tablets a day including double lots of morphine. She combines western and eastern medicine and meditation to help her get through the tough times. Her wonderful husband David (a beautiful soul) gave up his career in the army to be her full time carer. But when people pity her for her illness, she says, “No, it is a very special gift and a tool – I would not change my life one bit, even if I could. Being this ill makes me feel great compassion and empathy towards others and I just seem to be able to help so many people, just by talking with them and listening. She has healing hands and often cures sick and dying animals with her touch. Wild animals flock to her. Wild large brushtail possums come to her door each night to be patted and fed by her. She also has an incredible sense of humour and spends most of her day laughing with her husband – they are so very happy together. When she could no longer stay in the workforce, she began writing and is a published Australian Children’s book author. She specialises in humorous poetry about Australian animals.

The miracles. In the last few months, Susan has been experiencing many miracles. Rainbows appear ONLY over her house and property. She lives in an old farmhouse in the forests of Tasmania Australia on 3 acres. Even neighbours comment that they see rainbows only over her home with the 2 ends of the rainbows always touching the ground on the inside of her boundary fences. She has a front deck that has a Buddhist statue on it and one day she went out her door and walked towards it. Next to it was an Iris she was growing in a pot. It was a tightly closed bud. She took 7 steps towards it, but at each step she took, it opened fully right in front of her as she reached it. This happened in a matter of a few seconds. She thought she imagined the Iris opening as she approached it, but she saw her mother in the lounge room looking out shaking her head in disbelief and her mother said “I saw that”. She had witnessed it happening. Susan rushed back inside for her camera and knelt and took a picture of the flower next to her Buddha, full,open and in the background of the picture, there was – a rainbow.

Susan has a baby picture of herself on a wall with 5 other photos of other people. Recently, in the afternoon, sun shining through their front door has caused 12 perfect tear shape rainbows on the wall and they look like they are falling from the bottom of her baby picture, for inches down the wall. They look like the baby picture is crying, and each tear is a vibrant mini rainbow shining in stunning neon colours.

Susan calls herself “A Goddess in Training”. She has oftened wondered if perhaps Geshe-la could have been mistaken. She is humbly so honoured to have been given the name of the White Tara. But if you ask anyone who knows Susan, they will tell you that she is a very different and caring person, who does not let her illness stop her for being empathetic and showing compassion to others. She is determined to continue to study hard and it is her hope that she will meet other White Tara’s through this page.

Email: Susan and David Macauley <trowuttatwo@dodo.com.au>
Website: http://susanmacauley.tripod.com/