Green Tara sadhana (short)
Praises and requests to the 21 Taras
-
a sadhana of the tradition -
Green Tara
-
Jun 5, 2007
Taking refuge and generating the altruistic intention
I take refuge until I have awakened
In the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Sangha.
By the merit I create by engaging in generosity and the other far reaching practices
May I attain Buddhahood in order to benefit all sentient beings.
The four immeasurables
May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings not be separated from sorrowless bliss.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.
Visualization
You are in your ordinary form. At your heart appears a white AH, made of light. This transforms into a white moon disc. At its center appears a green syllable TAM, the essence of Tara’s blissful omniscient mind of wisdom and compassion. Standing clockwise around the edge of the moon appear the letters of the mantra om tare tuttare ture soha, made of green light.
From the TAM, rainbow colored light radiates in all directions and invokes Tara to appear in the space in front of you. She is seated on a lotus and moon disc. Her body is made of emerald-green light, youthful and exquisitely beautiful. Her right hand on her right knee is in the gesture of giving; her left hand at her heart is the gesture of refuge and holds the stem of a blue utpala flower that blooms by her ear.
Her left leg is drawn up and her right leg is slightly extended. Her face is very beautiful and she smiles with loving kindness at all sentient beings.
Surrounding her in space are 21 other Taras, as well as all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Surrounding you are all sentient beings. You lead them in reciting the prayers and requests to Tara.
Seven-limb prayer
Reverently I prostrate with my body, speech and mind
And present clouds of every type of offering, actual and mentally transformed.
I confess all my negative actions accumulated since beginning¬less time
And rejoice in the virtues of all holy and ordinary beings.
Please remain until cyclic existence ends,
And turn the wheel of Dharma for sentient beings.
I dedicate the virtues created by myself and others to the great enlightenment.
Homage to the 21 Taras
OM I prostrate to the noble transcendent liberator.
- Homage to Tara swift and fearless
With eyes like a flash of lightning
Lotus born in an ocean of tears
Of Chenrezig, three worlds’ protector. - Homage to you whose face is like
One hundred autumn moons gathered
And blazes with the dazzling light
Of a thousand constellations. - Homage to you born from a gold blue lotus
Hands adorned with lotus flowers
Essence of giving, effort and ethics,
Patience, concentration and wisdom. - Homage to you who crown all Buddhas
Whose action subdues without limit
Attained to every perfection
On you the bodhisattvas rely. - Homage to you whose TUTTARA and HUM
Fill the realms of desire, form and space
You crush seven worlds beneath your feet
And have power to call all forces. - Homage to you adored by Indra,
Agni, Brahma, Vayu and Ishvara
Praised in song by hosts of spirits,
Zombies, scent eaters and yakshas. - Homage to you whose TREY and PEY
Destroy external wheels of magic
Right leg drawn in and left extended
You blaze within a raging fire. - Homage to you whose TURE destroys
The great fears, the mighty demons
With a wrathful frown on your lotus face
You slay all foes without exception. - Homage to you beautifully adorned
By the Three Jewels’ gesture at your heart
Your wheel shines in all directions
With a whirling mass of light. - Homage to you, radiant and joyful
Whose crown emits a garland of light
You, by the laughter of TUTTARA
Conquer demons and lords of the world. - Homage to you with power to invoke
The assembly of local protectors
With your fierce frown and vibrating HUM
You bring freedom from all poverty. - Homage to you with crescent moon crown
All your adornments dazzling bright
From your hair knot Amitabha
Shines eternal with great beams of light. - Homage to you who dwells in a blazing wreath
Like the fire at the end of this age
Your right leg outstretched and left drawn in
Joy surrounds you who defeats hosts of foes. - Homage to you whose foot stamps the earth
And whose palm strikes the ground by your side
With a wrathful glance and the letter HUM
You subdue all in the seven stages. - Homage to the blissful, virtuous, peaceful one
Object of practice, nirvana’s peace
Perfectly endowed with SOHA and OM
Overcoming all the great evils. - Homage to you with joyous retinue
You subdue fully all enemies’ forms
The ten-letter mantra adorns your heart
And your knowledge-HUM gives liberation. - Homage to TURE with stamping feet
Whose essence is the seed-letter HUM
You cause Meru, Mandara and Vindya
And all three worlds to tremble and shake. - Homage to you who holds in your hand
A moon like a celestial lake
Saying TARA twice and the letter PEY
You dispel all poisons without exception. - Homage to you on whom the kings of gods
The gods themselves and all spirits rely
Your armor radiates joy to all
You soothe conflicts and nightmares as well. - Homage to you whose eyes, the sun and moon,
Radiate with pure brilliant light
Uttering HARA twice an TUTTARA
Dispels extremely fearful plagues. - Homage to you, adorned with three natures
Perfectly endowed with peaceful strength
You destroy demons, zombies and yakshas
O TURE, most exalted and sublime!
Thus the root mantra is praised
And twenty one homages offered.
Homage to the 21 Taras
Homage to the 21 Taras (download)
The condensed praise
OM to the transcendent subduer, Arya Tara, I prostrate.
Homage to the glorious one who frees with TARE;
With TUTTARA you calm all fears;
You bestow all success with TURE;
To the sound SOHA I pay great homage.
Benefits of reciting the homage (optional)
Those endowed with perfect and pure respect for these deities
The intelligent who recite these praises with most supreme faith
Both in the evening and upon waking at dawn
Will have fearlessness bestowed on them by this remembrance.
After being purified of all evils completely,
They will attain the destruction of all lower realms
And the seven million conquering Buddhas
Will quickly grant them every empowerment.
Thus they will attain greatness and go forth
To the ultimate state of supreme Buddhahood.
As a result, all violent poisons—
Whether abiding within or spreading to others—
That they have eaten or drunk
By this remembrance will be completely removed
And they will eliminate completely afflictions by spirits, epidemics,
Poisons and all various sufferings.
If for oneself or for the sake of others,
These praises are read sincerely two, three or seven times,
Those wishing a child will have one
And those wishing wealth will attain this as well.
Without obstruction all their wishes will be granted
And every single hindrance will be destroyed as it arises.
Visualization and mantra recitation
Visualize that streams of radiant and blissful green light from the TAM and mantra letters at Tara’s heart flow into you and into the sentient beings surrounding you. This light purifies the imprints of all negative actions, and dispels all sickness and interferences. In addition, it brings inspiration and blessings from Tara, thus enabling you to realize the entire gradual path to enlightenment quickly. While doing the visualization, recite as much as possible Tara’s peaceful mantra:
om tare tuttare ture soha
Requesting prayer
O compassionate and venerable subduer
May the infinite beings, including myself,
Soon purify the two obscurations and complete both collections1
So that we may attain full enlightenment.
For all of my lives, until I reach this stage
May I know the sublime happiness of humans and gods.
So that I may become fully omniscient
Please pacify quickly all obstacles, interferences,
Obstructions, epidemics, diseases and so forth,
The various causes of untimely death,
Bad dreams and omens, the eight fears2 and other afflictions,
And make it so that they no longer exist.
May the mundane and supramundane collections
Of all excellent auspicious qualities and happiness
Increase and develop and may all wishes
Be fulfilled naturally and effortlessly, without an exception.
May I strive to realize and increase the sacred Dharma
Accomplishing your stage and beholding your sublime face,
May my understanding of emptiness and the precious altruistic intention
Increase like the moon waxing full.
May I be reborn from an extremely beautiful and holy lotus
In the joyous and noble mandala of the conqueror
May I attain whatever prophecy I receive
In the presence of Amitabha, Buddha of Infinite Light.
O deity, whom I have accomplished from previous lives
The enlightening influence of the three time Buddhas
Blue green, one face and two arms, the swift pacifier
O mother holding an utpala flower, may you be auspicious!
Whatever your body, O Mother of Conquerors,
Whatever your retinue, lifespan and pure land,
Whatever your name, most noble and holy,
May I and all others attain only these.
By the force of these praises and requests made to you,
May all disease, poverty, fighting and quarrels be calmed,
May the precious Dharma and everything auspicious increase
Throughout the world and directions where I and all others dwell.
Dedication and auspicious verses
Due to this merit may I soon
Attain the enlightened state of Arya Tara
That I may be able to liberate
All sentient beings from their suffering.
By whatever virtue I have collected
From venerating these subduing blessed ones
May all sentient beings, without exception
Be born in Sukhavati, the Joyful Pure Land.
You who have abandoned all bodily defects and possess the signs and marks of a Buddha,
You who have abandoned all defects of speech and possess a beautiful, sparrow like voice,
You who have abandoned all defects of mind and see all the infinite objects of knowledge,
O brilliant mother of auspicious glory, please bring your auspicious presence to us!
The two collections are: the collection of merit (positive potential) which is the principal cause of the Buddha’s form body (rupakaya), and the collection of wisdom which is the principal cause of the Buddha’s truth body (dharmakaya). ↩
There are eight internal and eight external fears which are paired together: attachment which is like a flood, anger which is like fire, ignorance which is like an elephant, jealousy which is like a snake, pride which is like a lion, miserliness which is like iron chains, wrong views which are like a thief, and doubt which is like a carnivorous demon. ↩
