Homage to the Twenty-One Taras

mugzy

OM I prostrate to the noble transcendent liberator.

1. 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.

2. Homage to you whose face is like
One hundred autumn moons gathered
And blazes with the dazzling light
Of a thousand constellations.

3. Homage to you born from a gold-blue lotus
Hands adorned with lotus flowers
Essence of giving, effort and ethics,
Patience, concentration and wisdom.

4. Homage to you who crown all Buddhas
Whose action subdues without limit
Attained to every perfection
On you the bodhisattvas rely.

5. 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.

6. Homage to you adored by Indra,
Agni, Brahma, Vayu and Ishvara
Praised in song by hosts of spirits,
Zombies, scent-eaters and yakshas.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Homage to you with crescent moon crown
All your adornments dazzling bright
From your hair-knot Amitabha
Shines eternal with great beams of light.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. Homage to the blissful, virtuous, peaceful one
Object of practice, nirvana's peace
Perfectly endowed with SOHA and OM
Overcoming all the great evils.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. Homage to you whose eyes, the sun and moon,
Radiate with pure brilliant light
Uttering HARA twice and TUTTARA
Dispels extremely fearful plagues.

21. 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.

Tara's mantra:
OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (x7)

mugzy

In honor of upcoming Mother's Day, I wanted to repost this from Thubten Chodron's prayers and practices page, Homage to the 21 Taras. You can download an mp3 of the monastics at Sravasti Abbey chanting this on the same page.

Dakini

What 21 Taras? There are only two, unless you count the Nyingmapas' red Tara.

federica

OOh, Dakini.... please!! Research!

http://vortexcd.tripod.com/21tar.htm

http://www.fpmt-osel.org/meditate/21taras.htm

Dakini

Thanks. I've never heard of this.

Dazzle

The praise to 21 Taras is often a part of a much longer Green Tara practice in which there are various offerings and prayers.

dorje

In Tibetan Buddhism the practice of reciting the praises to the 21 Taras is part of the sadhana of "Tara of the 2 Accumulations", where the 2 accumulations are that of wisdom and compassion.

The praises are recited twice after the 7-limbed prayer, followed by an offering, then 7 times, followed by another offering. The praises are finally recited 21 times, followed by the usual traditional ending of the meditation, which includes offering, entreating, and so on. A very long text, but very powerful practice in my experience.

Jason_PDK

Just thought you might be interested, I found a description of the 21 Taras

1. Red Tara, the quick heroine who grants the power of control and effective persuasion,
2. The Great Peaceful White Tara, who pacifies spirit harms, negative karma, delusions, and diseases,
3. The Great Increasing One, Golden Tara, who increases life, merit, good fortune, wealth and fame,
4. The Great long-life Yellow Tara, who grants longevity,
5. The Great Hum-making Orange Tara, who brings other beings close to you,
6. Black-Red Tara, victorious over the Three Worlds, who protects you from spirit harm by making the spirits crazy,
7. Black Tara, slightly wrathful, who dispels all black magic and harmful spells,
8. Red Tara, destroyer of the enemy Mara, who destroys the four types of mara,
9. White Tara, the three sublime, who protects all beings from fear and danger,
10. Red Tara, destroyer of maras, who controls the world,
11. Orange Tara, eliminator of poverty, who brings wealth,
12. The Orange Tara of auspicious beauty, who makes everything auspicious,
13. Fire-Blazing Red Tara, who pierces your enemy but does not harm others,*
14. Black Tara, slightly wrinkled and wrathful, who pierces interference,
15. White Tara, the great pacifier, who brings harmony,
16. Red Tara, liberating with wisdom-Hum, for wisdom and increasing the power of mantras,
17. Orange Tara, shaking the three worlds, who controls the power of mantras,
18. White Tara, who eliminates poisons and overcomes their effects,
19. White Tara, from release from prison and overcoming quarrels and fights,
20. Orange Tara, for eliminating contagious diseases,
21. White Tara, whose venerable actions make all activities successful.

* the real enemy is the delusion of one's own mind

Jason

mugzy

Happy Mother's Day!