Green Tara of Wealth Teachings Part 1

By His Holiness Dungse Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche

May 2013
The following is the first section of teachings Rinpoche gave last Spring at Yeshe
Nyingpo. The remaining two sections will be posted over the next couple of months.

Motivation/Inspiration

t is important to develop the right motivation. Recognizing the infinity of sentient

beings limitless as space all connected to us as our fathers and mothersin order to free
these sentient beings from the ocean of suffering, in whatever state of existence they
may bethen we will listen to this teaching of Green Tara, Tara of Wealth (Tib.
Norgyunma). By swift blessings may we accomplish the two purposes, the liberation of
self and others.

The Three Kayas of Tara

Now so far as the practice of Tara is concerned, different schools have different ways of
interpreting the three kayas of Tara. In general, the ultimate Dharmakaya Tara practice
is Kuntuzangmo or (Skt. Samantabhadrani). In the Sambhogakayaa aspect she is Dorje
Palmo or (Skt. Vajravarahi). In the Nirmanakaya aspect, which is the tulku aspect, then
she is Jestun Trma or Mother Liberator and she also appears as Dorje Yangchenma
and Lamo Palchemo. Another Nirmanakaya manifestation is as the Twenty-one Taras.
These are in the general teachings

Taras Aspects
According to the Nyingma Tersar she manifests as the outer, inner, secret and extremely
secret in these four aspects. In this lineage, the profound secret is the same as
Samantabhadrani, Kuntuzangmo; inner is Kuru Kule; and outer is, Trma, Kroda Kali;
and outer is also the twenty-one main manifestations of Tara. That is one way. In
another way, the extremely secret is Kuntuzangmo; then inner is Dorje Palmo; outer is
Trma Ngagmo; and again there are the manifestations of all the twenty-one Taras,
including Yeshe Tsogyal and the many many wisdom dakinis who have also manifested.
These are the whole host of dakinis that have appeared from then on. This is another
way of looking at it.

Swiftest Liberator of all Fears and Sufferings

Therefore, the feminine principle points to the way of bliss and the way of liberating that
bliss. Now as far as the practice of Tara is concerned, she is called Drolma Palmo, noble
mother Arya Tara, the liberator of all fears and sufferings. In one sense she can liberate
our mind streams and in another, whatever mental fears we have, she can give
protection, she is swift at that. She can dissolve all the sixteen fears that are there. She
can subjugate all demonic forces, all illnesses and all epidemics all of these. There is
no one swifter than Tara to remove them. She is known for her swiftness when you ask
her for help. There are some deities who will not respond so quickly. But in the case of
Tara she is very quick and immediate to respond to your call when you call for her.

Taras Vajra Statement

Similarly with any sudden fears that come to us, if you can just utter the words, Noble
mother Arya Tara, you who know, please liberate me from this suffering,
this is all you say. You do not need to go into a very elaborate recitation. No need. All
you need to say is this, Noble mother, Arya Tara, you who know, please liberate me
from these sufferings. Thats not hard. In addition, she says that if you say these words,

she will definitely come and remove that suffering. That is her vow; that is her promise;
that is her vajra statement. This is the vajra statement that she said to Dudjom Lingpa,
His Holiness predecessor, when she appeared in front of him and said, These two lines
are the essence of my practice; just call out to me by these two lines. Thats it! So with
great devotion in your heart, pray to her, invoke her, do her practice.

Tara in this Practice

Now in this practice that we are doing, we would consider Samantabhadrani as the
Dharmakaya, Kuru Kule as the Sambhogakaya manifestation and Trma as the
Nirmanakaya. Then in the general manifestion, the practice is Jetsun Drolma. This is all
Tara. Then before Tara appears we have to visualize the four cardinal mothers
manifesting in the East, West, South and North: in the East, Yangchenma; in the West
Rigchema; in the South, Ursema; and in the North, Norgyunma, Green Tara of wealth.
Then in the four directions you also have the four protectresses the feminine
manifestation of the four protectresses and you have the twenty-one Taras relating to
the sixteen fears; whether it be fire, epidemic illnesses, earthquakes, war, famine,
disease, whatever; each of the twenty-one Taras has the skillful means to swiftly remove
specific fears and suffering we have.

Wealth is Wisdom
In this particular case, we are talking now about the teachings of the Tara of Wealth.
Please dont misunderstand wealth to mean only material gains. Rather, in this context,
it is important to understand wealth as wisdom. There is no higher wealth than wisdom.
Within wisdom everything is spontaneously self-accomplished. If you have wisdom you
will have the skillful means of executing that wisdom. In this Tara practice, you not only
have the root mantra of her practice: Om Vasudharani Soha but you also have Om
Tam So Ha at the end for the four activities of pacifying, empowering,
magnetizing, and subjugating.

Right Motivation

Now, when you do this practice of Green Tara, please have the right motivation. To
have the appropriate motivation in the beginning is crucial. It is critical that you develop
it correctly. Dont just say, May I attain this and that Your motivation must be for the
benefit of all sentient beings at the beginning, middle and end of your practice. In
particular, when you begin the practice since we are following the Vajrayana path,
Vajrayana is practice with a big mind, that is, expanded practice for all; practice that
involves all beings. So when you begin, you have to think of all sentient beings. In this
respect, think of your father and mother on either side of you; think of your friends in
front of you; think of the host of all sentient beings behind you; the infinity of all
sentient beings are with you doing the practice. That is important. The more you can
expand your mind and include them, the more will be the merit. If you think only of
yourself, what merit can there be? But if you think of the infinity of all sentient beings,
then this is like a drop of water that you take on you finger; if you put this in the ocean
then that drop which mixes with the ocean will never dry out. It becomes infinite.

Working with Bodhicitta

Bodhicitta that includes all sentient beings is important. Work with bodhicitta you
have to work with the bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is not about paying mere lip servicejust
saying things like, I love you, I love allI love everyone It is not some kind of lip
service, which has no meaning at all, but just sounds good to the earnothing more.
Just knowing that you can get butter and yogurt from milk is not enough. By just
looking at milk and saying, butter and yogurt! you are not going to magically conjure
up butter and milk. You have to churn the milk to get butter and yogurt. Similarly, you
have to work with bodhicitta. You have to work with your mind training, exchanging self
for others (Tib. tonglen) and your post-meditation (Tib. jethop) practice. This is vital.
Therefore the training on the thirty-seven practices of a bodhisattva is very important;
the training on the four joys and the six paramitas is also extremely important. The
blessings all depend on how much youve managed to open your mind. What kind of
devotion do you have to the teachings not just to this teaching in particular, but to the
words of the Buddha, and the wisdom they contain in general? How much confidence do
you have in these? Much of the blessings is based on your own mind and how mature it
is.

Wealth for All

In this practice, when you think of wealth, think of the wealth for all sentient beings and
say, May I remove the suffering of all beings; may I be a gem, a wishfulfilling gem that fulfills the wishes of all my parent sentient beings. With

this practice have the kind of awareness that you are a gem that fulfills the wishes of all
beings and that youre the kind of person whereby whoever comes into contact with you
gains a sense of the blessings of realization, a sense of what the truth really is a sense
of the truth itself.

The Eight-Petaled Lotus at the Heart

In the practice of Tantra we visualize an eight-petaled lotus in the heart,
upon which is a sun and moon along with all the syllables sitting on this sun
and moon. All your inner yidam practice sits on that sun and moon. The
eight-petaled lotus signifies the feminine bliss principle of realization. These eight petals
of the lotus are the eight blisses of realization. They are the eight drops. Later on, in the
practice of trekchod and togyal, when you come to the atoms, these are the eight atoms
that will fuse into ultimate Dharmakaya. That is what we visualize in our heart. So we
visualize the lotus in our heart upon which all deities manifest. That means, the base in
our heart is the wisdom Dharmakaya within which all must manifest.

Pure Vision
So therefore then, in most of the pictures you will see Yeshe Tsogyal totally naked,
holding a curved knife and a kapala. She is standing up. In most of the deity pictures you
will see something like that. What shes saying is, Dont see me as a sexual object.
Because if we see a feminine principle as a sexual object, that is the very thing that will
throw us into samsara. What she is saying by her nakedness and her white reddish color
is, Dont abandon your poisons take them onto the path. Through the practice of union
all union you experience liberate that union into the union of the kayas. So, we have
to free that concept and have a purer vision towards the feminine principle. You should
see them as your source of enlightenment, thats what it is.

The Three Experiences of Meditation

All union, in the general sense, is for health but in the inner sense it is for realization.
But as I said earlier when you do shin or whatever practice, an ultimate aspect of the
practice is bliss. (Tib. dewai nyam, selwai nyam, and metog psi nyam) the experiences
of bliss, clarity and non-thought. The three experiences of any meditation are to do first
with dewa. What is dewa? dewa is bliss. And what is bliss? Bliss shatters the

conceptualizing mind. Thats what bliss shatters. Bliss is healing, bliss is medicine and
bliss will shatter the gross phenomena. Thats what bliss will shatter.

f we look into the practice now, first it begins with Namo The namo itself is,

Praise be, obeisance, I bow my head down to you. I offer you my respects. Namo is
bowing yourself down with respect. In another sense it is like you are offering a
prostration. And prostration is what? The act of prostration symbolizes surrendering
your ego. When you surrender your ego you put yourself lower down on the floor; you
say, You are greater than me, I surrender myself to you and I take refuge in you. Its a

sign of taking refuge in the ultimate. That is a full, lying down prostration. At the same
time, lying down has the symbol of asking the mother Buddhas to witness your taking
the vows to benefit others and the earth mother Goddess to accept you. As your knees,
hands and head the five points touch the earth, you surrender the five poisons for
the five wisdoms. This is the symbol of you prostrations. You are not bending down and
lying out flat to make someone happy. Rather it is about surrendering of your poisons
and transforming them into the natural wisdom that is there. Within wisdom there are
the poisons; within the poisons are the wisdoms. They are inseparable; they are one and
the same. So, Namo, I prostrate; obeisance to Tara; who is the mother of all the
Buddhas; whos venerated by all the Buddhas; who is the embodiment of all the kayas
and buddhafields; who is holder of all the teachings; to you noble one who is swift in
giving and granting me blessings; dispelling my fears; removing all sickness, demonic,
physical, mental; along with all fears that are connected to and which disturb my mind;
I pay homage to you the dispeller of all my fears; Mother Tara to you I pay homage. You
recite this verse of refuge with all of this in mind.

Mother Tara Lama

Now from the point of Vajrayana, here Mother Tara is your lama, your yidam and your
khandro. That is exactly what she is. So here la ma means exalted; something that is
heavy with blessings and heavy with virtue. Lama has the sense of most exalted, going
beyond; nothing nothing more excellent than that. She is called La ma Nye Pa, and
the la ma here means excellent exalted mother. Ma signifies motherliness. So, the lama
is undeceiving; the lama has these great qualities. The lama is not like a god who has
anger and jealousy and still has poisons. Even though they may live for an inconceivably
long time, they are not realized, thats the point; they still hold to phenomena with
pride. The lama is one who does not hold to the phenomena of duality; he does not hold
to anything. He understands the absolute and the relative truths; he has combined
these. Lama is the diamond mind that cannot be cut; that cannot be destroyed; that
cannot be contaminated; that cannot be polluted. That is the nature of lama;
indestructible, strong and fixed. Those are the qualities of the vajra and the lama is the
vajra. So, that word lama has a great meaning to understand

Bodhicitta
You Jetsun Ma you are the embodiment of the buddha, embodiment of the dharma
and you are the embodiment of the sangha. You are the three Jewels embodied. With

devotion to you, I and all sentient beings equal to space go for refuge I have already
told you that your practice always involves you, me and all beings. So from the start we
must begin with the correct motivation of including all sentient beings in our practice.
Thats what this implies, I and all, it doesnt imply, I take refuge only for myself; may I
have the blessings only for me that only for the self is not here. It does not entertain
your self-existence; it does not entertain that at all. So, the correct motivation begins
with taking refuge for myself and others me and all.

Liberating Poverty and Suffering

In order to liberate all sentient beings from extreme poverty and suffering So this
poverty and suffering is not only a reflection on material wealth but it also refers to the
suffering of the mind. In addition it refers to the wish that, May I gain wisdom so that I
dont make stupid mistakes and fall into suffering again. Most of the time suffering
arises due to unskillful decisions that we take and execute. That is where suffering
comes from. At the same time we think these unskillful actions are right and positive. So
in the general sense, here we are asking to be woken up from ignorance and to be
granted wisdom.

Removing the Mental State of Poverty

In addition, in the inner sense it is asking to have all poverty removed the poverty that
has stricken us so that we cannot move from this mental state of dearth. Therefore we
pray to Tara, Please liberate us from this extreme poverty and suffering whatever is
causing harm and suffering in my mind please liberate us from that. So in order to
liberate that, what we need to do is to determine that, I will accomplish the state of
Goddess Tara of continuous wealth so that I can help others. The predominant point
here is others; self is not there. If you help others, self will be included in others. If you
think of self and dont include others, then there is nothing included for yourself. By
thinking of others you receive the blessings and the benefit. By not thinking of others,
but only thinking of yourself, you will not get anything. The collective karma that you
can give happiness to, is what you will enjoy as the fruit. So you have to repeat this
refuge and bodhicitta prayer three times at the beginning of the practice. It is important
that when you repeat this, you repeat it with sincerity and meaning, thinking, Yes, this
is what it really is.

Visualizing the Luminous Body

When you visualize her body, you have to visualize her body luminous absolutely
luminous. Dont visualize her body as solid like ours. Dont visualize like that; that is not
right. Her body is like hollow glass. Buddhas dont have organs like we have. For them,
their bodies have already radiated into luminosity. Thats what it is. So you have to
visualize her body extremely luminous with nothing inside; just like hollow glass. In
addition she is smiling radiantly and seductively.

The Crown Five Buddha Families

On her head she is wearing the crown of the five Buddha families; Om Ah Hung Tram
Hri Ah up on the crown, meaning the five Buddhas are her sons and she has also been
empowered by the five Buddha families to become their mother. Om is in the centre and
the Ah Hung Tram Hri Ah are arranged around it, on the top of a precious jeweled
diadem (crown). The Om Ah Hung Tram Hri Ah is woven together on this precious
diadem made of precious jewels.

Satellite Connection
This light of hers is going out saying, You are my mother and father sentient beings, I
love you all. Whatever your suffering is, Ill remove it. This is healing light; blessing
light; light that is healing and blessing at the same time. So this light must touch
everything. Whenever you have a thought, even remote thought, this light touches that.
There is nothing that it will not touch. So this light now, you have to see it as a
connection. It is connecting all the six realms to Tara. The light is like a satellite that it
going out and connecting. We are creating the line of communication. These lights are
molecules that are touching and going, touching and going. Touching in what sense?
They are gathering the blessings of all the buddhas, lamas, yidams and khandros. All the
blessings are being absorbed and traveling back to the six realms. She is now making a
link of receiving and sending; receiving and sending. Thats important. In fact, she is
getting energized by all the buddhas. Then shes sending out that energy, back to all
sentient beings. So the stream of light is coming in and the stream of light is emitting.
That is what is happening. From the infinite she is taking the blessings and then to the
existing world she is transmitting the blessings.

First the Outer Absorption

So stay a little bit in that absorption. Lets not rush immediately into the Tam at the
heart. Lets first purify the outer form. Thats what this light is doing. Then we can purify
the inner awareness of the mind, which is the Tam. Lets wait and do the outer first. As I
told you she is radiantly smiling because shes seductive. She will use seduction to get
those that will not be subdued by any other means. So first this light is just going from
the body. At first, lets forget the light from the Tam; First just concentrate on the light
from the molecules of the outer body that are now collecting and transmitting; collecting
and transmitting.

Second the Inner Absorption

(Rinpoche refers to the text again)The next stage In the centre of her heart is the
green letter Tam. So now, here its time to get into the next gear. The next gear involves
her heart, which should be pointed upwards. Now we come to the meditation on the
inner, that is, on the heart. Here it says that standing at the heart, on a moon disc, is the
letter Tam. Now in this case you may visualize a sun and moon disc upon an eightpetaled lotus, or just a moon disc on the lotus, along with the green syllable Tam on top
of this.

Tam at the Heart Faces Out

So this syllable Tam, which sits on a lotus and moon disc, is the heart essence of
Norgyunma its her heart essence -Tam. Now, generally people think, as you visualize
this, that the Tam faces flat or sideways on the heart, on the lotus sun and moon disc.
But that is not the way it is. The back portion of the Tam must come straightforward, so
the back of the Tam faces out (i.e. the right side of the Tibetan syllable faces out.)

Mantric Motor
Of course, this syllable is surrounded by the mantra syllables Om Basu Dharani Soha,
which are arranged anti-clockwise; spinning clockwise. Now Om Basu Dharani Soha
surrounds this Tam completely with no gap in between. It has to be sealed very
carefully. It is like a coil. You know when the coil spins you get the power like in a motor.
Thats exactly what this is this is the dharma motor. But as I said earlier, at this
moment, you will not be able to spin, so dont try spinning. This will happen after you
have really recited a lot correctly. Then when you have concentrated properly on the
syllable Tam, the syllables Om Basu Dharani Soha will slowly try to rise up to the middle

neck of the Tam. When you have reached that level then you are already quite
enlightened I will come for teachings then! (Rinpoche laughs.) So in the beginning,
dont force these syllables to move; just visualize them going around but dont put your
minds energy into it; dont push it. There is nothing to push. Everything is natural. If
you push it then the result wont be good. Rather, leave it there and feel that it is going
to spin one day. Thats it then it will spin. So say Om Basu Dharani Soha, Om Basu
Dharani Soha as much as you can. Recite that. In the process of the recitation, then, as
I told you, sometimes say Om Tam Soha, which relates to the four activities of pacifying,
empowering, magnetizing and subjugating.

The Heart of the Meditation

Now let me get into the heart of the meditation. Just as this Tam is green in color, so
obviously Om Basu Dharani Soha is also green. Please dont try to make this multicolored, just keep it green. She comes from the green Buddha field, called Yalo Kaupa so
the green signifies her buddhafield. The quality of this field is emerald, that is, the stone
connected to Green Tara is emerald. So keep all the letters surrounding the green Tam
in the center, green. Now we are required to do the inner meditation of Tam. From Tam
a stream of light shoots out again. So now there are two lights. First is your general light
of the body of Tara, which is one thing but now there is the inner mind, clarity and
awareness of Tara, which is another. This is her mind syllable, the essence of her heart
and mind. This Tam represents her buddhafield and it represents the mystic power that
she has. Within Tam, its power will create and destroy. The Tam is both creator and
destroyer. It is like a hydrogen bomb. The instant it is let out, it will destroy everything
into nothing and in one instant the same Tam can create all phenomena. So this is the
most powerful energy of Tara. The Tam is the creative and destructive energy all in one.
When these two are in one, there are also tremendous blessings to receive with the
power of this Tam.

Radiating and Absorbing from the Heart

Now inwardly you will meditate on this Tam and the surrounding syllables.
First, from the surrounding syllables, energy that has already radiated out will now be
absorbed into the Tam. It is the fuel for the fire. You need wood to get fire, no? The Om
Basu Dharani Soha is the fuel that needs to heat the Tam so that the Tams energy can
be created. So from this Tam and Om Basu Dharani Soha, all the lights go into the Tam,
and the Tams light then shoots out into millions and trillions of rays. Now these lights
are multicolored they are not just green because they represent the five wisdoms. So

multicolored lights will shoot out of the Tam and go to all the buddhafields, making
offerings, just as you were doing from the body before, but this involves more inner,
inner offerings now. This has more potential. So this light will go and reach all the
buddhafields, yidams and all the dakas and dakinis; innumerable male and female
sages; male and female bodhisattvas; the infinity of all the practices that we have been
doing and within which all the peaceful and wrathful buddhas are arising this goes out
as an offering to all of those fields and realms. In fact this light touches all the atoms of
the space. It touches in that it provokes that mind. It requests these buddhas to, Please,
please turn your mind towards us sentient beings we are suffering. It is invoking their
mind to look down and not remain in absolute meditation, but to just look down. At the
same time the light radiates out again to all the six realms. Again, just as you did earlier
with the visualization using the lights of the body, animate and inanimate objects are all
purified; they are all blessed; their sufferings are removed.

Removing Obstacles Blessings Faith

In particular, these rays of light that are now touching all of us will remove all our
corporal negative karma and mental pain that we have. This is about blessing and
removing obstacles of the body and, of course, the mind, and removing all the negative
spirits that are there. So whatever kind of suffering we have, this is the ultimate blessing
that will remove that. Whatever needs to be removed for whoever desires it, this will
now be removed. It is based upon your wish of whatever needs to be removed. If you
have a nerve disease or something that you want removed, this is the time to take the
blessings; then it will be healed. Actually there is nothing that it will not heal and
nothing that it will not cure. If your faith in her is strong enough, any seemingly
incurable disease can be cured. That is the power of the blessing. The only thing that
limits the blessings towards you, are your own minds limitations. It has nothing to do
with Tara.

Tam like a Trillion Suns Taras Face like a Million Moons

So this Tam goes into all directions like the sun shining everywhere; going, collecting;
going, collecting thats what its doing. Due to the power of the buddhas, the Tam
becomes brighter and brighter and brighter because it takes the energy of the buddhas
to make it even more bright. So the Tam becomes like a sun of hundred, million, trillion
strength. The face of Tara herself is so beautiful, it is like a million moons shining at the
same time. That is how her face is described; that is how gorgeous it is. We may not
actually be able to look at her face.

Taras Manifestations
The kindness of Tara is such that her manifestations in the Nirmanakaya are vast and
infinite. Many of the Teachers consorts have been emanations of Tara many of them.
Dudjom Lingpas consort was Tara. When she finished her work, she said, I am now
going to Yalo Kaupa. Goodbye. and she took her body and went to Yalo Kaupa. Guru
Rinpoche often sends an emanation of Yeshe Tsogyal to yogis who need blessing and
realization. He just instructs them to go there. To give the last empowerment of rigpa,
the Rigpai Sel Wang, that is, the last empowerment involving the total dissolution of
your body into radiant, rainbow light; that blessing has to be received from a dakini.
The ultimate method must dissolve into wisdom thats what this means. The ultimate
realization must be from the dakiniss hand. There are no two ways about it. Because the
dakini is auspiciousness, (Tib. tashipo tendrel zangpo) Guru Rinpoche would send
Yeshe Tsogyal many times to many different yogis and practitioners, and many consorts
of yogis and practitioners have been emanations of dakinis. Their field and expression,
how they work to benefit sentient beings cannot be fathomed in our minds; we cannot
fathom that.

Rays of Light Offerings

So we visualize the Tam radiating masses of rays of light going, offering to the
buddhas then coming down and the Tam becoming even brighter. Then the rays of
light go to all phenomena, to all the worlds and universes that exist. In doing that, it
removes all the suffering of all sentient beings; it removes the poverty; it removes all the
calamities; it removes all the diseases. It is one activity that benefits every kind of
suffering that there is. Thats what it does.

The Full Activity of the Buddhas

So in that then, you should feel you are doing the full activity of the buddhas while
reciting Om Basu Dharani Soha and then sometimes reciting Om Tam Soha, Om Tam
Soha. Now Om Basu Dharani Soha is called Nyenpa; Om Tam Soha is called Lejur
what is accumulated and recited. Nyenpa and Lejor will come into every sadhana
practice. So Lejur is the skillful means of being beneficial to sentient beings. Later on
you will go into a more elaborate practice of the Tara; the sadhana will be longer and
there will be a mandala confession of Tara, which I did not include here because it is a

few more pages. That is there, where you can do the eight-mandala offering to Tara. In
addition, there are many different practices for Tara. This is a short one that His
Holiness has given us.

Dissolution
Now in the dissolution this is very short here, so those of you who have the elaborate
practice of Tara where you know her buddhafield you know the palace and you know
how the buddhafield is described if you know that, apply it here. Though it is not said
here, it is understood that when you instantly become Tara, you become the whole
buddhafield of Tara. It is not like you are in you ordinary surroundings in New York City
and you become Tara. First the buddhafield manifests. If you have the visualization of
the buddhafield of Tara then visualize this buddhafield, upon which you arise. Now
again if you have this full visualization then first dissolve the buddhafield and all the
activity within that field, dissolve this into yourself as Tara. The second dissolution is
that you dissolve into the Tam and the surrounding syllables. In the third dissolution,
the lotus petals now dissolve into the surrounding syllables. Om Bhasu Dharani Soha
then dissolves into the Tam. Now you are left with the Tam only; everything else has
dissolved. Tam dissolves from bottom to top into emptiness, until not even the bindu
remains nothing is left. So when you have dissolved directly into that, then please
remain for some time in this continuous mind-stream. This continuous mind-stream
that is without any reference, without anything to verbalize or describe, is the mind of
Tara. In that moment you are already in the innate mind of Tara, so just remain in this
quietly. There is nothing to utter, nothing to describe. You are in the moment
awareness, the very moment awareness of Tara. That is beautiful; that is such a
blessing. For a moment you experience your whole body and your entire mind
transforming into Tara. Remain for a while and absorb that understanding. You dont
have to verbalize anything here. Just remain. But, of course, you wont be able to remain
long; all of a sudden, your ordinary thoughts come in again. When your ordinary
thoughts come in again, immediately go to the awareness of pure vision. What that
means is to see all form as the form of Tara; hear all sound as the sound of mantra; and
as for your mind, feel it is resting as the mind of Tara.

Re- Emerging
So the next line, the second line here Once again the illusory form of the deity
appearsmeans just that. The illusory form of the deity is the pure vision that we

have to have to deal with our ordinary thoughts, that is, before our ordinary thoughts
interfere.

The Dedication
Then after that, of course, as Ive always told you, the dedication is important. If you
dont dedicate the merit, you dont get much merit. So dedicate the merit for all. The text
here is easy to understand May everything be auspicious; may everyone have the
wealth that they desire; may everyones fears be removed; may everything at all times
always be auspicious for everyone; may they never say anything inauspicious meaning
may no negative obstacles come to any sentient being ever. This is what you wish for all
sentient beings. Wish that for them. That is good!

When to do this Practice

So far as the practice is concerned you can practice this any time. Theres no specific
time. There are certain practices that require you to practice in the morning or the
evening or such like. This practice you can practice anytime you have a moment. So
then, please do the practice.

The Accumulations
The main accumulation of the practice is Om Bhasu Dharani Soha, that is your main
accumulation. After your main accumulation each day when youve finished this, then
say Om Tam Soha about twenty-one times. The Om Tam Soha concerns the four
activities mantra, called Naljor in Tibetan. These are the four activities that have to be
accomplished. Normally in the elaborate practice of Tara, with the naljor, each of these
activity mantras that you have to say is specific. However, this is the concise heart

essence of each of these naljor mantras. But the most important thing is the main
mantra, Om Bhasu Dharani Soha. When you say this, dont say it too loud and dont say
it too soft. It is a medium collar length recitation, which means slightly audible. In
addition, make sure that the pronunciation is correct. (Rinpoche enunciates clearly each
syllable) OM BHA SU DHA RA NI SO HA.

Mantra Recitation
Now when we say this mantra, or any mantra of a given deity, the specific action of the
mantra is to stimulate all the cords; the nerves that are in our body. Beginning from our
crown, to our throat, to our heart, to our navel and to our secret centre, all the five
chakras will be energized. That is the point of the mantra. Mantra is not just some
ordinary words you are saying. Mantra has a specific aim and specific purpose to move
these chakras in our body. So when you say Om Bhasu Dharani Soha when you say
Ha you should feel the nerves of your secret centre begin to move, tingle or vibrate
slightly. Mantra is geared for that. And in particular, since mantra itself is based on the
principle of wisdom then sure it will hit the wisdom channel more than anything
else. It will hit directly all the wisdom channels that are there. It will fine-tune those
nerves in which the wisdom winds are not going properly. So say that correctly, Om
Bhasu Dharani Soha. Also some advice here during your recitation
of the practice manta dont move, dont make signs and dont drink. Follow the discipline of
mantra. Mantrayana has a lot of disciplines that you have got to keep. If you are seated, be
seated in that one place dont move around. If it happens that you recite the mantra while you
are walking around, then thats ok, you can do this, but that cannot really be counted as an
accumulation. I mean it is good rather than talk nonsense at least to say some mantra while
going around the place. It is better. Definitely, it is better. But as far as the effectiveness is
concerned, though there will be some blessings, you are not really distilling it fully, thats the
thing. So if you have time, sit quietly to do the practice. You can do it at any time of day, even at
night it doesnt matter. Wisdom is prevalent at all times it is not like wisdom is only present in
the daytime. It is not like that. However, whatever other teachings you may have, please follow
those teachings; whatever your Teacher has said, do this. All termas are different, all teachings
are different. There are different requirements for different teachings so dont think one
discipline covers every teaching in every aspect. It doesnt. In this particular teaching, I have
said that this is the way to do it, so please do it as described.

The Three Principles of Practice

Then, as I said at the beginning, motivation is important. Make sure that you include all
sentient beings. Second, the visualization must be correct, which Ive already explained
to you. And thirdly the dedication must be correct. So dedicate again the merit for all
sentient beings. There is very little point ending a sadhana practice without dedicating.
It is simply incomplete. The dedication is extremely important.

The Visualization Overview

Now as far as the visualization is concerned, one visualizes oneself as Norgyunma. Nor
means wealth, gyunma is one that gives without ceasing, continuously giving wealth
shes not going to stop constantly she gives. So, in the heart, here in the sadhana, on a
moon disc is a syllable Tam. Now the thing to remember when you visualize the syllable
Tam many people think that the Tam is like a letter you see thats flat. No. Its not flat,
Tam is facing out. The back of the Tam comes out. It doesnt stay flat. And very
important, you should visualize it as multidirectional.
What does this mean? It means it is like a hologram so you can see the syllable
throughout, everywhere you go around it; you can see the front and the whole together
without obstruction. Thats what that is, (Tib. Tam Jangku)green in color.

Green Tam is the heart essence of Tara, surrounded by the mantra syllables Om Bhasu
Dharani Soha at the base of the Tam. Now Om Bhasu Dharani Soha must be completely
joined from beginning to end. This means Om Bhasu Dharani Soha forms a perfect

circle. Tam is in the middle and Om Bhasu Dharani Soha surrounds it at the base of the
moon disc. Once that mantra is on a lunar disc surrounding the Tam, at this time, you
will not really have the power to spin it, so dont try to do this. Still eventually this Om
Bhasu Dharani Soha must spin and it must spin with the letters arranged anti-clockwise.
Generally, most male mantras spin clockwise, whereas female mantras go anticlockwise. This particular mantra goes from your right to your left. In contrast for
example, Guru Rinpoches mantra goes from left to right. Again this is specific to this
teaching. Some other teachings may say that it goes the other way. Then please follow
the instructions given, whatever they may be, for any given practice. Dont assume one
set of instructions applies to other teachings. Whatever the tertons instructions for a
terma practice is, then do that. Dont just go with what you have heard or think it might
be. So, first recite, Om Bhasu Dharani Soha. Then after that recitation has finished,
recite Om Tam So Ha just for one mala or twenty-one times is ok. Minimum is twentyone times; otherwise you can do one mala. If you want to do two malas, do two; if you
want to do three malas thats also fine. It doesnt matter but the minimum is twentyone times.