Tara,
The female Buddha of enlightened activity,
Has many red forms,
Generally representing magnetizing qualities,
Or the quality of establishing control over that which needs to be brought to order.
The specific form for this meditation is named Mirmapamo in Tibetan,
Or Turavira in Sanskrit,
Or Swift heroine in English.
She represents an intense level of bodhicitta,
Or the awakened attitude,
That propels both Tara and us to swiftly come to being's help.
The teachings on this specific practice come from the lineage of the great Nyingma yogi Jigme Lingpa.
To begin our meditation on this Tara,
We adopt a comfortable stationary position,
And then explore the profound innate state of ease deep within our body,
Speech,
And mind.
To do that,
We allow our body to breathe naturally,
Taking some time to release all types of deliberate physical activity,
And resting in stillness.
We also release all acts of speech,
Both outer and inner,
Even releasing the inner dialogue or the inner narrative,
No longer feeding the multiple stories we tell ourselves and others.
Equally,
We release the self-identification with our thoughts and mental images,
With our desires and emotions,
Therefore connecting with the underlying quality of mental spaciousness,
Or spacious clarity.
Out of that spacious clarity,
Then arises a benevolent motivation for this practice.
We aspire for our highest spiritual goals to be fulfilled for the benefit of all sentient beings.
And at the same time,
We can also think of our more immediate goals,
Needs,
And aspirations.
All the goals,
Needs,
And aspirations that we might want to entrust to Tara's enlightened qualities.
We also establish the foundation of refuge by mentally turning towards the safe direction of the Buddha,
The Dharma,
And the Sangha,
Entrusting ourselves to their enlightening influence.
After that,
We generate bodhicitta,
Which in this case means a strong wish to become fully awakened for the benefit of all sentient beings,
Just like Tara herself.
Finally,
We generate the quality of devotional openness.
Feeling that the transformative energy of Tara,
Other enlightened beings,
And lineage masters can truly help us transform our mind.
We appreciate having established a connection with the lineage of Tara practice and with Tara's qualities,
And mentally supplicate all the masters that have come before us,
Including the historical Buddha.
With that,
Out of the spacious empty clarity of our mind,
Arises Tara's pure realm full of natural beauty all around us.
Within it,
In the vast blue sky in front,
Appears a fresh lotus flower covered with a shining moon cushion.
On that flower,
Appears the red Tara Nirmalpamma,
Swift Herring,
Herself.
She is sitting in a posture of royal ease,
With her right leg extended and her left leg drawn in.
Those symbolize the union of her swift activity and her profound meditative equipoise.
She is smiling fiercely,
Showing her teeth,
And her facial expression is semi-wrathful.
Her right hand is on her right knee,
Palm towards us,
In the gesture of supreme generosity.
With her left hand,
She holds the stem of a blue Utpala flower,
Which blooms at her left ear.
And upon that flower is a white conch shell,
A symbol of the Buddha's teachings.
This conch is self-sounding,
And its sound fills the entire universe,
Bringing love,
Compassion,
And joy to all beings.
The sound of Tara's conch also brings the two aspects of bodhicitta,
Conventional and ultimate,
To all beings across the multiple universes.
Professional bodhicitta is the highest form of altruism,
The wish to become a Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings on the basis of love,
Compassion,
Empathetic joy,
And equanimous openness.
Ultimate bodhicitta is the perfect understanding of the empty and luminous nature of the mind,
And the true nature of all phenomena.
The natural warmth of these two bodhicittas in union melts the ice of self-grasping and self-centeredness.
And that ice becomes the freely flowing water of awakening,
Wisdom,
And love,
All across the universe.
The sound of the conch also manifests as words of consolation,
Words of advice,
And words of guidance,
Whatever it is that sentient beings need.
The sound and these words fully awaken our Buddha nature,
Helping us release all of our anxieties and bringing a profound sense of contentment.
While imagining that this process is happening for all sentient beings across the omniverse,
We chant and recite Tara's 10 syllable mantra,
Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Resoha.
Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Resoha Om Tare Tu Tare Tu Resoha Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha We then imagine that all beings have gained the perfect qualities of bodhicitta,
And that the ice of their dualistic minds has become the freely flowing water of awakening.
The red tarab bodhicitta,
A swift heroine,
Then melts into light and becomes an orb of ruby red energy that absorbs into our heart.
We release all images and all thoughts,
And rest with the experience of oneness.
Our body,
Speech,
And mind,
Tara's body,
Speech,
And mind,
And the body,
Speech,
And mind of our spiritual mentors are one.
We then take a moment to rejoice in our practice.
And out of that spacious sense of joy arises the dedication of merit,
The energy that we have created by doing this practice.
We dedicate our merit so that all beings,
Including us,
May quickly gain the awakened state of Tara,
And so that all types of suffering in the world may instantly be dispelled.
May everything be filled with bodhicitta,
And may all beings be guided by Tara,
Cultivating infinite levels of wisdom and compassion.
We then bring our awareness back to the body and its sensations,
Introduce some movement to the body,
And conclude the practice as we invite the bell.
