Green Tara Practice – Compassion And Wisdom

Green Tara, seen as an embodiment of our basic goodness, is the beloved female buddha of the Indo-Tibetan tradition of Buddhism. As an expression of our own highest wisdom, compassion, and skillful activity, Tara is both a compassionate guiding presence and a powerful symbol of engaged altruism for the world.

This visualization practice can be augmented by the recitation of Tara's root mantra, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA.

Transcript

TARA Tara is a female Buddha whose practice is very widely done in the Tibetan tradition.

And meditating on the image of Tara is a way of reconnecting with our basic goodness that is embodied in this vibrant,

Compassionate image of a benevolent female presence that is always ready to aid sentient beings and guide them.

In order to begin this practice,

Settle your body,

Speech and mind in a state of relaxation,

Stillness and vigilance.

Take some time to let go of the physical tension and establish a basis of stillness in the body.

Gradually release physical tension as your body is breathing in and out,

Free of your control,

Naturally releasing tension and everything that might prevent your practice from being successful.

Settling in this state of relaxation,

Stillness and vigilance.

Being aware of this relaxed stillness in the body while your breath is moving naturally,

Allowing the breath to soothe you.

Settling in this relaxed state,

We are now generating a positive motivation for this practice,

First thinking about our highest spiritual and psychological aspirations,

A purpose that we consider to be the most benevolent,

The most noble,

Most kind to ourselves and to others,

And actively aspiring for that right now,

Thinking that this practice might eventually contribute to that highest aspiration.

And then also thinking about our more immediate goals,

Some smaller good that we might bring about through this practice,

And also aspiring for that,

Truly wishing to bring great happiness,

Great benefit to all beings,

But also to contribute to everybody's well-being in small ways right now.

If we are doing this practice in a traditional Buddhist context,

We would generate a firm resolve to attain the full awakening,

The state of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings,

Aspiring to become like the enlightened Buddha of activity,

Tara,

And aspiring to benefit all beings through our boundless activity in this world and throughout all the worlds.

Where that motivation is our basis,

We are now using our imagination,

The creative powers of our mind,

And generating an image of Tara in the space in front of us,

Seeing Tara as a shining being sitting on a lotus flower and a moon disc,

A flat moon cushion.

Tara's enlightened body is made of light.

It's luminous,

Vibrant,

Transparent.

But it's not a flat image,

It's not a statue.

It's an actual being that is sitting in front of us with her body made of green,

Shining light,

Youthful,

Graciously beautiful,

Because every feature of her body is an embodiment of her compassion and wisdom,

Her love for all beings and her ability to help every being in accordance with its own needs.

To embody that willingness to help,

Tara's right leg is extended,

And her left leg is drawn in.

Her right hand is resting on her right knee,

In a gesture of great generosity,

With her palm towards us and all beings.

And with her left hand,

She is making the mudra,

Or the gesture,

Of the three jewels at the level of her heart,

In front of her chest.

So her thumb and her ring finger are holding the stem of a beautiful blue utpala flower that is blooming next to her left ear.

She is dressed in beautiful clothes of silk,

Adorned with jeweled ornaments.

And both her clothes and her ornaments signify the different aspects of her enlightened mind,

Such as her generosity,

Her perfect ethical discipline,

Her patience,

And so on.

Her face is graciously beautiful,

And she is smiling in a compassionate and yet slightly wrathful way,

Signifying her great love for us and all beings,

But also her ability to cut through our delusions,

Our afflictions,

Our misconceptions,

And everything that prevents us from following our path and bringing true benefit to ourselves and others.

And right now,

All of that,

In this unified green form,

Is abiding right in front of us,

Seated on a lotus flower and a flat moon cushion,

Looking at us,

Seeing our mind,

Our body,

And our speech directly,

Knowing everything there is to know about us,

Our problems,

Our hopes,

Our fears,

Our aspirations.

So imagining Tara in front of us,

At least in a very vague form or with great detail,

We're also taking a moment to actually feel her presence.

Not just her presence as an imaginary being,

But her presence as an actual embodiment of our own future awakening,

An actual embodiment of all the goodness in this world,

Embodiment of all the awakened beings,

And the basic goodness of all the unenlightened beings around us.

And truly feeling that this embodiment of wisdom and compassion knows our mind,

Knows everything there is to know about us,

And actually truly cares,

But not in a sticky way,

Not conditionally.

Tara is present in front of us in order to liberate our mind,

Help us liberate ourselves from all of our fears,

Including the primordial fear that is the ignorance about the true nature of reality,

The true nature of ourself,

The true nature of phenomena.

So we feel great joy at the prospect of actually becoming liberated and fully awakened for the benefit of all sentient beings.

If we already have a spiritual teacher in this world,

A teacher that is guiding us on the path to awakening,

Or a number of such teachers,

We're imagining that it's their enlightened mind,

It's their Buddha nature,

It's their goodness that is manifesting as Tara for our sake.

And if we don't yet have a qualified teacher that we would entrust our spiritual progress to,

We can imagine that the future teacher that we would one day meet is manifesting for our benefit as Tara now.

Essentially,

Tara is our own basic goodness,

And any teacher that we would meet would for us be the manifestation of our Buddha nature.

So we're just basking in Tara's presence and the beautiful rays of light that come forth from her body,

Soothing us and soothing all the sentient beings that we imagine around ourselves.

Healing,

Guiding,

Protecting,

Chasing away all the fears,

All the sense of loneliness,

All the sense of separation,

And all of our ignorance about the nature of interdependence that makes us blind to the suffering of others,

That makes us self-centered,

That prevents us from seeing the nature of causes and effects.

Thinking about all the ways that we might want to be of benefit to others and to the world,

Thinking about all the ways that we might want to change in,

We can address Tara with a simple request,

Worded in our own way,

A simple request for guidance,

Blessings,

Inspiration,

Help,

Protection,

Love,

Compassion,

For ourselves or for others,

For all beings eventually.

And then we imagine Tara actually accepting our request,

Agreeing to guide us until we do become truly awakened.

And after we have made that request,

Tara sends forth her guiding and blessing lights.

First there's a ray of white light that's coming forth from Tara's forehead,

Streaming into our own forehead,

And fully purifying our body,

All the negativities of the body that we have ever committed,

All the negative imprints associated with the body,

All the ignorance about the nature of the body,

All of that is becoming fully purified,

And our body,

Every cell,

Every atom,

Becomes truly infused with Tara's blessings.

It gains the ability to be of true benefit to others,

To be a true vessel of compassion and love.

Our body gains the qualities of Tara's body.

And then we imagine a stream of red light coming from Tara's throat and entering our throat.

And this blissful red light fills our entire body,

Now purifying all the negativities of our speech,

All the ways in which we have harmed others with our speech in the past,

All the delusions about the true nature of our speech and its ability to be of benefit,

All the impediments of speech,

All of that is becoming fully purified,

And our speech gains the qualities of Tara's enlightened speech,

The same ability to be of benefit to others,

And the same resolve.

And then we see a stream of blue light coming forth from Tara's heart,

The area of her heart in the center of the chest,

And entering our chest,

Filling our body with blue light,

Radiant and blissful,

Purifying our mind,

All of our disturbing mental states,

All of our delusions,

Our ignorance,

All the negative actions we have ever done with our mind,

Our negative intentions,

Our ill-will,

Our wrong views,

Our greed,

All of that becoming fully purified,

And our mind gaining the qualities of Tara's mind,

The blessings,

And the great resolve to be of benefit to others.

With us imagine that we have gained the true blessings of Tara's body,

Speech,

And mind,

And then we see those streams of light coming forth together,

White from her forehead,

Red from her throat,

Blue from her heart,

Entering us and blessing our body,

Speech,

And mind together,

Purifying even the most subtle remaining negative imprints,

Granting us true blessings of Tara's body,

Speech,

And mind of her qualities and activities.

And then in order to guide us further,

We imagine Tara coming to our crown,

Becoming smaller in size,

Melting into green light and absorbing into our body,

Speech,

And mind,

So that we are resting in this perfect oneness with the body,

Speech,

And mind of Tara and of all of our spiritual mentors.

Our body,

Speech,

And mind,

Tara's body,

Speech,

And mind,

Are completely one,

Resting for a few moments without any conceptual aberrations.

And then out of that state of oneness,

We imagine Tara reappearing in our heart,

In the center of our chest at the level of our heart,

Once again seated on a lotus flower and a flat moon cushion,

Radiant and brilliant,

Just as before.

And then we also imagine being surrounded by all sentient beings,

Those we feel uncomfortable about,

Those we feel close to,

And all the other beings that we normally don't care much about.

Taking a moment to recognize that all of these sentient beings want happiness and don't want to suffer.

They are equal in their desire to be happy,

And they are also equal in their basic goodness,

Even when that becomes obscured by their ignorance,

Their delusions,

Their mental afflictions.

And so with a genuine wish to help beings,

To guide them towards manifesting their basic goodness for the benefit of all,

We extend Tara's blessings to them,

Imagining that a multitude of tiny Taras comes forth from our heart,

Goes towards all of these beings and blesses them.

All of these Taras are light on the crowns of all sentient beings,

Guiding them,

Protecting them,

Enlightening them.

So there is a true blizzard of brilliant green Taras coming forth from our heart and eliminating all the suffering in this world,

Guiding every being towards the awakened state of Tara and transforming the environment into Tara's pure land,

Her kingdom,

Reaching every corner of the universe and guiding each and every being.

So while experiencing this visualization of a multitude of Taras helping all beings,

We can either abide in silent meditation or chant Tara's mantra a few times.

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha For a short while you can abide in silent meditation or quietly recite the mantra to yourself.

And now imagine that all of the beings in the universe have indeed become Tara.

Their body,

Their speech,

Their mind have gained all the qualities of Tara and the environment has fully become Tara's enlightened beautiful realm.

Every being is now truly wise and compassionate,

Aware of the great interdependence of things.

And every being is full of love,

Compassion,

Wisdom,

Generosity,

All the other positive qualities.

All of the sounds have become Tara's mantra,

All forms have become Tara's form,

And all thoughts,

Emotions,

Mental movements have become the play of Tara's wisdom,

Her joyful wisdom.

Eventually we let go of all the thoughts,

Images,

Concepts,

Letting our awareness simply rest in a stream of cognizance.

Not taking interest in any particular object,

But allowing this natural luminosity to emerge in its own.

And out of this empty cognizance,

Out of this emptiness,

We dedicate all the energy that we have created through this practice.

We dedicate it to all living beings.

May they all always be guided by Tara in whatever form.

May they all gain her enlightenment,

The qualities of her body,

Speech and mind.

May they always be protected from the great fears,

The suffering,

The causes of suffering.

May they always be full of wisdom,

Love and compassion.

May the world and all the worlds be free from suffering and its causes.

And may all beings right now gain the love,

Protection and help that they need,

So that no being in this universe ever feels lonely,

Unloved,

Unworthy,

Undeserving of the great compassion that is Tara's essence.

With this compassionate thought and aspiration,

We gently conclude the practice while inviting the bell.

Reviews

wonderful voice, beautiful practices so true so vibrant ! A true connection to Tara Goddess

That was lovely & profound; Just what my practice needed.

Very calming, peaceful, and connecting. Thank you!

Wonderful meditation practice, so calming and soothing. I feel refreshed, and brand new.
Thank you so much for sharing. 🙏🏻🪷☯️

That was truly lovely delightful and insightful
Thank you 🙏 ✨

A different practice for me but nevertheless beautiful and profound. 🙏

Informative and peaceful session.

This meditation helped me to connect in levels I haven’t achieve in a while. Thank you very much for sharing

What a wonderful meditation, Michael. Thank you very much.

Thak you for this wonderful guidance. The visualizations are so helpful. Very inspiring! Tara is a model of altruism for all beings.

Thank you. Grateful for this visualization practice. I will return to it—wanting to learn more.

A deeply supportive practice which I will return to again and again. Thank you! 🙏🏼📿

Thank you for this wonderful and transformative practice

So beautiful, inspiring, insighful, loving
💚🤍
Thank you kindly,
Namaste 🙏🏼 🌺💫

Beautiful guidance towards experiencing the power and grace of Tara. 💚🙏💚

My mind wanders in the breaks my own fault but thought could use the info.

Wonderful meditation and visualization on the embodiment of Tara.
I have used this daily for a few weeks and the shifts have been profound. Thank you

Amazing! I am going through a change in my life and this was what I needed to hear. Namaste!

Compassionate guidance presented from a true love of Tara

Profound, moving words for this day. Thank you for sharing this beautiful practice. 🙏