QUESTION
Dear Robina,
My name is T. We have never met but a common friend of ours introduced me to your meditations about Green Tara.
It has been nothing but a gift that found me in a very dark place and I want to express my deepest gratitude for it.
Since discovering your meditations I have followed some of your lectures on YouTube and I feel rather lost in this new spiritual journey I am embarking on.
The Green Tara meditations resonated very very deeply with me. I felt extremely connected with her. I went from finding the iconography silly to feeling why you call her image so beautiful and radiant deeply within me, almost feeling an endearment towards her, and it helped me release a lot of buried emotions.
I am writing to you to seek guidance on how to approach this connection to Green Tara. Is it wrong to feel like talking to her? I have felt a motherly connection to her and often feel a need to seek her guidance and talk to her as a friend, yet I am not sure if this is appropriate as this is very new to me. I really want to approach this from a point of view respectful of tradition.
Do you have any guidance or advice on this matter?
Thank you for your reading this and the work you do.
Best regards
T
ANSWER
Happy to hear from you, dearest T.
And so so pleased that you have connected with Buddha Tara. Yes, for sure, rely upon her: she is enlightened mind, buddha mind, manifesting in a female form. Tibetans refer to her as Mother Tara.
She’s wise, brave, proactive, compassionate; she cuts through the obstacles, gets things done. Think of her as a mirror image of our own potential: she’s showing us our own potential.
By identifying Tara in the above way and seeing her as a manifestation of those very qualities is a direct way of growing them within yourself. It’s very practical psychology. The lamas say that in these practices we are “bringing the future result into the present.”
We also rely upon her, take refuge in her, request her support and blessings.
This is how to use these practices in Tibetan Buddhism: it’s very effective.
And when we develop a relationship with a teacher, we can think of them as being Tara for us in human form.
Here’s a document with various teachings and practices related to Tara, as well as other teachings, which we used for a retreat.
And here’s one of the prayers: A Song of Longing for Tara the Infallible by a young meditator monk 150 years ago, translated by Lama Yeshe.
From my heart I bow to Divine Mother Tara,
Essence of love and compassion,
The most precious objects of refuge gathered into one.
From now until I reach enlightenment,
Hook me with your great love and kindness to liberate me.
By the witness of the Three Jewels,
Not just from my mouth but from the depths of my innermost heart and bones,
I pray to you morning and evening.
Show your blissful face to me, Loving One.
Grant me the nectar of your speech.
Great gurus and small gurus cheat us with their made-up teachings,
Selling Dharma, teaching without comprehension, not observing who is qualified and who is not,
Being concerned about their own happiness and the eight worldly concerns.
Since I can no longer trust friends of this degenerate age, you are my principal guru.
Inspire me, Divine Mother, essence of love.
Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
I take refuge in you, Tara; like you, no Buddha could ever deceive me.
But understanding the odd character of these times, most Buddhas have gone into the bliss of nirvana.
Even though they have great compassion, we have no connection.
Since for me there are no other deities, you are my principal deity.
Bestow realizations upon me, Divine Mother, essence of love.
Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
Most Dharma protectors do not show their powers.
Tired of those who invoke them, they do not act.
Other protectors, lacking insight but proud of their power,
May be friendly for a while but will later do me harm.
Since I cannot rely on other protectors, you are my principal protector.
With divine action, Wisdom Mother, essence of love,
Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
To ordinary view the names of objects are the same as their meaning.
Like this, they produce afflictions and bind us to samsara.
When it is time to die, unless I understand the true nature,
Could a wish-fulfilling gem enable me to carry even a sesame seed with me?
Since I do not trust in illusions, you are my real richness.
Please grant my desires, Divine Mother, essence of love.
Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
I cannot rely on non-virtuous friends for even a day.
They pretend to be close to me and all the while have in mind the opposite.
They are friends when they wish it and enemies when they don’t.
Since I cannot trust in this kind of friend, you are my best friend.
Be close to me, Divine Mother, essence of love.
Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
You are my guru, my yidam, my protector, my refuge, my food, my clothes, my possessions and my friend.
Since your divine quality is everything to me, let me spontaneously achieve all that I wish.
Although I am overwhelmed by my habitual, uncontrolled mind,
Please cut these self-centered thoughts
So I will be able to give my body and my life millions of times without difficulty to each sentient being.
Inspire me to be able to develop this kind of compassion to benefit all.
Empower me to cut the root of samsara, self-grasping,
And to understand the pure doctrine,
The most difficult middle way free from the errors of extremes.
Inspire me to practice as a bodhisattva, turning away from what is worldly,
Dedicating all my virtues to teaching living beings,
Never for even one instant thinking of just my own happiness.
Let me wish to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all.
Empower me to actualize as much as possible the most subtle vows and to keep them without a careless mind,
Thus becoming the most perfect bodhisattva.
Outwardly, let me be simple in my practice,
While inwardly, actualize the depth of the diamond vehicle with the strong wish to practice the two stages.
Inspire me to attain enlightenment quickly for the benefit of all.
Divine Wisdom Mother Tara, you know everything about my life —
My ups and downs, my good and bad.
Think lovingly of me, my only mother.
I give myself and all who trust in me to you, Divine Wisdom Mother Tara.
Being completely open to you, let us be born in the highest pure land.
Set me there quickly with no births in between.
May the hook of your compassion and your skillful means transform my mind into Dharma
And transform the minds of all beings, whoever they are.
They have all been my mother, the mother of one unable to follow the Conqueror’s teachings.
By reciting this prayer three times a day and by remembering Divine Wisdom Mother Tara,
May I and all beings who are connected to me reach whatever pure land we wish.
May the Three Jewels and especially the Divine Wisdom Mother, whose essence is compassion,
Hold me dear until I reach enlightenment.
May I quickly conquer the four negative forces.
If, as long as you live, you recite this prayer three times every day, not just from the mouth (in words only) but strongly linked with your mind, you will have close connection and will see Tara’s face. No hindrances will be experienced and all wishes will be fulfilled. You will have a close relationship with all buddhas and bodhisattvas, and they will hold you dear. If you recite the Homage to the Twenty-one Taras and this prayer, you will attain the Divine Liberating Mother.
Stay in touch, for sure!
Love to you,
Robina
QUESTION
Thank you so much, I was really hoping for some material to study. I also want to say thank you for your YouTube lectures; they have been very helpful for me in understanding Buddhist teachings. Wish you and all beings a blessed day.
ANSWER
I am pleased, T.