Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 49-minute teaching, Geshe Sonam Rinchen introduces the foundational practice of Tārā through a step-by-step visualization and recitation method. He begins by establishing the necessity of refuge and altruistic intention, then explains Tārā both conventionally as an enlightened woman and ultimately as the purified wind element of the body and the inspiring energy of all Buddhas. Rinchen guides practitioners through a complete sadhana cycle: visualizing oneself with a white moon disc and green syllable at the heart, inviting the living Tārā to appear before you on a lotus and moon disc with the gesture of wish-granting and the blue utpala flower, then receiving twenty-one other Taras and Buddhas dissolving into you like snow before reciting the praise. He emphasizes visualization of the mantra syllables radiating light in all directions and remaining in the identity of Tārā throughout daily life. The teaching also touches on generating the four immeasurables and the insight meditation on emptiness as complementary practices. Suited to practitioners new to or preparing for formal Tārā practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 T.mp3
UUID: f0405445-7340-41a4-b6c6-23430f380b1e
Teacher: Geshe Sonam Rinchen
Collection: Tārā (Geshe Sonam Rinchen)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.8 minutes
Words: ~3,571
The Sadhana root text says that if you want to create a real bond between yourself and Tārā, then you first of all need to take refuge, that is seek protection from the Three Jewels, and generate the altruistic attitude, the attitude which seeks enlightenment for the sake of all living creatures. So the refuge keeps us from following wrong paths, paths which won’t take us in the right direction, and generating the altruistic attitude keeps us from falling into lower paths, paths which don’t lead to the same goal. Because people here are interested in the Tārā practice, I’m going to explain how it should be done and how the mantra should be recited. If we put our trust if we put our trust and our reliance in Tārā, we’re not making a mistake. So when we talk about Tārā, we can talk about her from two different aspects, the interpretable meaning and the definitive meaning.
So on the one level, on the conventional level, she was a woman, and she made the resolve to attain enlightenment as a woman, to be reborn in all her lives as a woman and to attain enlightenment in this way. And from the definitive point of view, what is Tārā? Tārā is the purified version of our air element, the wind element in the body. So our body consists of six elements. The normal four elements that is earth, fire, water, and wind and then consciousness and space.
So these are the six elements constitute our bodies. And when we talk about Tārā, she’s the embodiment of the purified wind aspect or air aspect of our bodies. And, also, she embodies the inspiring energy of the Buddhas. Of all enlightened beings, she embodies the the inspiring energy. So when Buddhists are active in relation to living beings, it’s through, as it were, it’s through Tārā they enact whatever needs to be done.
So she is like the inspiring energy that is the basis for their activity. So if we wish to accomplish, accomplish Tārā by way of the twenty one praises to Tārā. So each of these praises is directed at a different form or aspect of Tārā. And each Tārā has her own practice as it were. If you want to make her real, if you want to make her real, in other words, become Tārā yourself.
So there’s a different practice for each of these aspects of Tārā. But Geshe-la says tonight he’s not going to talk about these individual practices, but he’s going to talk about the general practice you do to accomplish or make Tārā real, to make her real. So how should we begin? How should we begin the practice? We should begin by taking refuge sincerely, by seeking protection from the Three Jewels sincerely, and by generating the altruistic attitude.
So this needs to precede any of our practices as a Buddhist. So these verses have been translated into English. Now you think of yourself in ordinary form. You just think of yourself, imagine yourself. And then at your heart, you imagine the syllable ah.
Yeah. So this ah is white in color. And this syllable ah, the white ah, transforms into a radiant white moon disc at your heart. So when we talk about the heart in these practices, we mean actually the center of the chest, not where your normal heart is. And you imagine that there is a white, radiant white moon disc there.
So the moon disk is flat. It’s like a saucer, like a saucer, but flat at the heart. And standing on that, standing on that radiant white moon disc is the syllable tham. And the syllable thamb is green in color and also radiant. So just think of that.
You think of the ah transforming into a white moon disc, and on the white moon disc now is the syllable thum, which is green in color. And now around the edge of the moon disc in a clockwise direction, stand the syllables Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svāhā. So they’re ten syllables, and they stand around the edge of the moon disc. So it’s really hard to visualize those syllables, but the important thing is to feel that they’re there. That’s the important thing.
Now you’re imagining yourself in ordinary form with the moon disc at your heart and the syllable thumb on it, and the thumb now gives out rainbow colored lights, which go in all directions. So it suddenly gives out light, emanates light. And the light is rainbow colored, and it goes in all directions. And we imagine that these rainbow colored light rays invite Ārya Tārā to the space in front of us. And how does she sit?
She sits on a lotus cushion. And on the lotus cushion is a moon disc, a radiant white moon disc. And she’s seated on that. So she’s green in color, emerald in color, and she has one face and two arms. Her right hand is stretched out and downwards downwards in this mudra, down by her knee.
And this denotes that she is willing to give whatever one wishes. So the granting of one’s wishes are signified by that hand gesture. So it’s a promise. It’s a promise. She’s promising that if you make requests to her, she will grant you your wishes.
And her right hand is at her heart and between and the the thumb and ring finger. The the thumb and ring finger held like this, hold the stem yeah. The shooing. Hold the stem of an Utpala flower, which is a blue flower. Yeah.
And the Utpala flower is actually at her ear. So she’s holding the stem at her heart, and then it goes up over her left the stem goes over her left shoulder, and the flower is open, blooming at her ear. So there are actually three flowers there. There’s one which is fully open, one which is half open, and one which is still in bud. And these three stand for or connote the Buddhas of the three times.
So past Buddhas, present Buddhas, and Buddhas to come future Buddhas. So the two fingers, two fingers holding the stem and three fingers upwards. Three fingers extended upwards in this way, and those three fingers stand for the Three Jewels. And the two fingers, the thumb and the ring finger, which are pressed together holding the stalk of the flower symbolize the inseparability of skillful means and wisdom. So what that signifies, that whole hand gesture signifies, is that if you practice to gain spiritual insights, keeping skillful means in conjunction with wisdom, keeping the two always together, then you will yourself become the embodiment of the Three Jewels.
In other words, Tārā, who is a fully enlightened being. So you yourself will become the embodiment of the Three Jewels by practicing skillful means and wisdom inseparably. Her two legs. One leg is drawn up in the meditation posture, you know, the way you sit when you’re meditating. And one leg is extended downwards, is extended downwards as if she was just about to get up.
And that foot is resting on a little lotus pedestal. It’s like a footstool. And you should imagine her ravishingly beautiful and young, youthful, and adorned with the most lovely jewels. So can you imagine how she’s just arrived in front of you as a result of being invited by those rainbow colored lights? And then if you can, if you can imagine it, then you can think of her surrounded by twenty one other Taras and Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
If you’re capable of it, you just imagine all the objects of refuge, all these enlightened beings in the sky before you. And you imagine all those who take refuge, who seek protection from these enlightened and spiritually realized beings, all those who are taking refuge and seeking protection surrounding you on the earth. So now according to what one can imagine, once imagined her there in front of one, once invited her, and now we have to do something. So now we should make offerings to her by way of the seven part practice. So that too is being translated.
That was one of the things that we recited in Tibetan at the beginning, and it’s been translated into English. And you begin by paying homage to her by making prostrations, paying homage and then making offerings and so on. So there’s seven different parts. So if you have a place like this to come to or in your own home, you can actually get up and you can make prostrations. You can either make full prostrations where you stretch out your whole body, or you can just make the shorter prostration.
You can actually physically do it if you so feel inclined. Yeah. And we can do this either here or we can do it at home where if we have a private place to do it, it’s possible to do it there. And then as soon as one has done this and made the offerings, one can instantaneously transform into Tārā one’s self. So you can imagine yourself instantaneous ly transforming into a Tārā exactly like the one that you invited.
And she’s on a lotus seat and then a moon disk on top of that and sitting in exactly the same way, adorned in exactly the same manner. You can imagine yourself really beautiful in exactly the same way she is. Yeah. So you’re exactly like her sitting in the same position with your hands in making the same gestures. So now you go through the same process that you did initially.
You imagine you’re imagining yourself as Tārā now, not a not your ordinary self. And now at your heart, there is a white syllable ah, which transforms into a moon disc. So we’re no longer in ordinary form. Now we’re transformed. We’ve become Taras ourselves.
And the syllable ah, the white syllable ah, transforms into moon disk. On the moon disk is a green syllable thumb. So now if you can, you imagine around the syllable this time at your heart, you imagine the syllables of the twenty one praises. See that’s a bit difficult to do. Can you admit that that’s a little difficult to do?
But you can just imagine that it’s there. You just feel or imagine that that whole praise, that all the syllables of that praise are there. You wouldn’t believe it. There are some people who can say the twenty one Taras the normal way and backwards as well. It’s actually, I mean, at the beginning, it seems rather overwhelming that one would be able to say them by heart, but it’s not difficult to learn it by heart.
So now you’ve got that moon disc with the syllable thumb in green syllable thumb with the syllables of the of the twenty one taras, which is like a really like a long mantra standing around the tham. And then the tham gives off light rays, countless light rays. And now these light rays bring back from the heaven which is Akanishtha. So it’s the highest heaven of all. And from every kind of pure land and every every world, they bring back Taurus.
So countless Taras coming back at the end of the light rays. The light rays go out, and then they come back again. And each of them brings a Tārā from a different place, brings back, draws in, all these Tārā’s. So now you imagine them all coming back and, also all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the form of Taras. So they’re all coming back.
And you can imagine them entering you like snow, like snow falling. So they just melt into you all these different Taras. And they’re all, I mean, looking similar. They’re all the same. And you imagine them melting into you falling like snow.
Or you can imagine that they all melt into one Tārā above your head. And then that Tārā dissolves into you, whichever is the most comfortable. So this is a very important practice when you imagine all these enlightened beings melting into you. And then you imagine that you yourself have become the embodiment of all qualities of enlightened beings. So you yourself have become an enlightened being at that point, you imagine.
And through all these Tārā’s, all the different Tārā’s melting into you, dissolving into you. And then ideally, at this point, you begin to recite the twenty-one Taras, the praise to the twenty-one Taras. And you imagine that you’re reciting it. It’s like reading, reading the mantra which is there. The syllables are arranged around the tham.
So you imagine that you’re reading the praise. Yeah. So this is being translated also into English, and it’s possible to recite it. If you if you have it by heart, then that’s good. If not, you can read it and familiarize yourself with it.
And gradually, you will know it by heart. So why do you recite it? So why do we recite it? We should think that we’re reciting it not just for ourselves, but for all living creatures, all living creatures who are overwhelmed by suffering, who are constantly facing different problems and difficulties, and who day by day are worn down, worn out by the different problems and difficulties which they meet. So we’re reciting it to free them so that they can become free from all of this.
Now you should imagine that although you’re actually reciting it and it’s the sound is coming from your mouth when you recite it, you should imagine that all the pores of your body are emitting the sound. And then you imagine that not only are you alone reciting it, but all the living creatures around you are also reciting it. You should imagine that the sound is coming from everywhere, from all that you imagined in space in front of you, from yourself, from all the living creatures around, that there’s this arising of the praises. So this is how we should recite it. We should imagine that this is all going on while we recite it.
Do you think that this you can remember this? Do you understand what I’ve explained? So now that’s one way you can do it by imagining the twenty one Taras, the praise of the twenty one Taras there at your heart. And if you’re not able to do that, then you can imagine the mantra, Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svāhā, at your heart around the syllable tham. So you can imagine that instead.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now when you say you were reciting the twenty-one Tārā praise. So while you were reciting that, you know, you visualized yourself in this way and the objects of refuge in the space in front of you with the central Tārā there.
And when you finish, when you feel that you want to finish, then you imagine that the lotus and the moon disk and all that and the flower which she’s holding, that these dissolve into that central Tārā. And then you imagine the Tārā, the Tārā dissolving into you. So she then comes and dissolves into you through the crown of your head. And then when you’re about to go and do your ordinary daily activities, then you imagine that your own lotus, your own lotus that you were sitting on and the moon disk dissolve into you, and that your flower dissolves into you. And then you’re just a Tārā with able to have two free hands to go about your daily activities.
And so then, wherever you go, whatever you do, when you lie down to go to sleep, when you get up, and whatever activity you’re involved in, you think of yourself as Tārā. So you should never allow yourself to be separated from this idea. You should continually imagine yourself as Tārā and identify with Tārā. So this is simple practice. It says, have you understood that?
So now this is the most simple way of doing the practice. This is a very simple way of imagining the practice. So now what I’ve told you is how you recite the praise, what you should imagine when you’re reciting the praise of Tārā. So you set up this whole visualization, and that’s how you what you’re thinking about when you’re reciting the praise. So now there are many other things that you can do also.
But they all begin in the same way by taking refuge and then generating the altruistic attitude. So there’s something that we can do which is called meditation on the four immeasurables. And if we take one of these immeasurables and describe what you think. For example, when you’re meditating on immeasurable compassion, so you begin by thinking, why shouldn’t all living creatures be free from suffering? So that’s how you begin.
You you begin by thinking, why shouldn’t they all be free from suffering? So then the next thing is you think, wouldn’t it be wonderful if they were free from suffering? And then you think, I will take it upon myself to free them from suffering. So accept the responsibility yourself. And and this you do with the other three immeasurables also.
So by doing that, you create a lot of positive energy. So it’s important for us to have a good stock of positive energy. And by doing this kind of meditation, by expanding our hearts in this way and thinking about all living creatures and their well-being, then we create such a stock of positive energy. So in order to create positive potential, to accumulate positive potential, we do this kind of practice. And now in order to accumulate insight or wisdom, we do a different practice.
We imagine that everything, everything, both the environment and the living creatures within it disappear, become invisible. And then you imagine that this vacuity that you’ve just created, the vacuity that you’ve created by making everything disappear, both the environment and the living creatures in it that this vacuity is not just a mere vacuity, but that it actually connotes the lack of inherent or intrinsic existence of things. That nothing exists in the concrete or solid way that things normally appear to us. That, in fact, their real mode of existence is non inherent, non intrinsic, not at all existent from their own side. So you imagine that this vacuity stands for that, the fact that they don’t exist in the way that they normally appear to us.
So when we think in this way, when we create a vacuity in this way, and then take cognizance of the fact that things don’t exist in the way that they appear to us, that they’re empty of existing in this way, the kind of existence that we normally think there is, is a figment of our imagination. When we take cognizance of that, we’re collecting wisdom or insight. We’re accumulating wisdom or insight. So actually, of course, the environment continues to exist. Living creatures in it continue to exist.
But you’ve just pretended that they’ve all vanished, right? You’ve excluded them from your perception at that point. Yeah. Now in that vacuity, in that complete voidness, you imagine a syllable PAM. And that syllable, PAM, transforms into a lotus.
And on the lotus appears the syllable ah, a white ah which transforms into a radiant moon disk. And on the white moon disk appears the green thumb, the green syllable thumb. And the green syllable thumb transforms into an Utpala flower. So an Utpala flower is is a little bit like lotus, but it’s blue in color. And this Utpala flower, this has at its center a syllable thumb, a green syllable thumb.
So now you’ve got a moon disk there. You’ve got a lotus. On the lotus is a white moon disk, a radiant white moon disk. At the center of that is an Utpala flower marked with the syllable thumb, as with the syllable thumb at its center. And the green tham gives off radiant lights in all directions.
And now this light goes out in all directions and strikes the environment and all living beings. So the environment and living beings are still around. But for the time being, we’ve lost them from our sight. We’ve created a vacuity. So they’re still around.
And the lights which go out from the Utpala flower from the tham at the center of the Utpala flower strike the environment and all the living beings in it. And then as the lights strike the environment, the environment becomes completely purified. It’s purified of all defects. And as the lights strike the living beings, they become completely purified, they become completely purified of all negative energy, negative actions, and obscurations and limitations. And they’re all transformed into Taras.
And then the lights are reabsorbed into the Utpala flower and the syllable tham, which instantaneously transform into a Tārā, into a green Tārā. And she’s exactly as we described before, with you know, green in color and radiant with all her jewels and so on, just as described before. So you imagine her clothed in the most beautiful celestial garments. And if you want some inspiration, you can look.