Torma Offering

If you wish to offer torma then [do as follows]:

OM VAJRA AMRITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUM PHAT

OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHA SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM

All becomes void. Out of the [non-dual] void, [the letter] YAM [ap- pears]. From the YAM [comes] wind. [Above the YAM] [the seed syllable] RAM [appears]. From that [comes] fire. [OM AH HUM transform into three heads, which support] the letter AH, from which comes a wisdom kapala [outside white, inside red], vast and spacious. Inside are the five meats and the five nectars. From the mixing of these arises a great ocean of wisdom amrita.

OM AH HUM (3x)

By saying this three times, the three letters sink into the skullcup and bless the offering.

From the seed syllable at my heart, light emanates, and the as- sembly of buddhas and bodhisattvas and the divine mother are invoked. From her indestructible tongue, a straw made of light comes and Tara drinks the [amrita] offering:

OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA IDAM BALIMTA KHA KHA KHAHI KHAHI (3x)

Offerings

OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA ARGHAM (PADYAM, PUSHPE, DHUPE, ALOKE, GANDHE, NAIVIDYA, SHAPTA) PRATICCHA HUM SVAHA

Inner Offering

OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA OM AH HUM

Praises to the Twenty-One Taras

Recite the complete praises to the Twenty-one Taras or alter- natively, the condensed form in one verse that follows on p.

46. Chantable Tibetan and English versions of the Praises can be found on p. 64.

Recite this prayer [once and/or offer prostrations] and think like this: Praising and prostrating each time, like one spark of fire comes from another, a replica of [the respective] Tara manifests and sinks into you.

OM Homage to the Venerable Arya Tara Homage to you, Tara, the swift heroine,

Whose eyes are like an instant flash of lightning, Whose water-born face arises from the blooming lotus Of Avalokiteshvara: Protector of the three worlds.

Homage to you, Tara, whose face is like

One hundred full autumn moons gathered together, Blazing with the expanding light

Of a thousand stars assembled.

Homage to you, Tara, born from a golden-blue lotus, Whose hands are beautifully adorned with lotus flowers,

You who are the embodiment of giving, joyous effort, asceticism, Pacification, patience, concentration, and all objects of practice.

Homage to you, Tara, the crown pinnacle of Those Thus Gone, Whose deeds overcome infinite evils,

Who have attained transcendent perfections without exception, And upon whom the sons of the victorious ones rely.

Homage to you, Tara, who with the letters TUTTARA HUM

Fill the [realms of] desire, direction, and space,

Whose feet trample on the seven worlds And who are able to draw all beings to you.

Homage to you, Tara, venerated by Indra, Agni, Brahma, Vayu, and Ishvara,

Praised by the assembly of spirits, raised corpses, Ghandaravas, and all yakshas.

Homage to you, Tara, whose TRAD and PHAT

Destroy entirely the magical wheels of others;

With your right leg bent and left out-stretched and pressing, You burn intensely within a whirl of fire.

Homage to you, Tara, the great fearful one,

Whose letter TURE destroys the mighty demons completely, Who, with a wrathful expression on your water-born face, Slay all enemies without exception.

Homage to you, Tara, whose fingers adorn your heart With the gesture of the Sublime Precious Three,

Adorned with a wheel striking all directions without exception With the totality of your own rays of light.

Homage to you, Tara, whose radiant crown ornament, Joyful and magnificent, extends a garland of light, And who, by your laughter of TUTTARA,

Conquer the demons and all of the worlds.

Homage to you, Tara, who are able to invoke The entire assembly of local protectors, Whose wrathful expression fiercely shakes,

Rescuing the impoverished through the letter HUM.

Homage to you, Tara, whose crown is adorned

With the crescent moon, wearing ornaments exceedingly bright; From your hair knot, the Buddha Amitabha

Radiates eternally with great beams of light.

Homage to you, Tara, who dwell within a blazing garland That resembles the fire at the end of this world age; Surrounded by joy, you sit with your right leg extended And left withdrawn, completely destroying all the masses

of enemies.

Homage to you, Tara, with hand on the ground by your side, Pressing your heel and stamping your foot on the Earth; With a wrathful glance from your eyes, you subdue

All seven levels through the syllable HUM.

Homage to you, Tara, O happy, virtuous, and peaceful one, The very object of practice, passed beyond sorrow.

You are perfectly endowed with SVAHA and OM, Overcoming completely all the great evils.

Homage to you, Tara, surrounded by the joyous ones, You completely subdue the bodies of all enemies; Your speech is adorned with the ten syllables,

And you rescue all through the knowledge-letter HUM.

Homage to you, Tara, stamping your feet and proclaiming TURE; Your seed-syllable itself in the aspect of HUM

Causes Meru, Mandhara, and the Vindhya mountains And all the three worlds to tremble and shake.

Homage to you, Tara, who hold in your hand The hare-marked moon like the celestial ocean;

By uttering TARA twice and the letter PHAT

You dispel all poisons without exception.

Homage to you, Tara, upon whom the kings of the assembled gods, The gods themselves, and all kinnaras rely;

Whose magnificent armor gives joy to all, You who dispel all disputes and bad dreams.

Homage to you, Tara, whose two eyes – the sun and the moon – Radiate an excellent, illuminating light;

By uttering HARA twice and TUTTARA, You dispel all violent epidemic disease.

Homage to you, Tara, adorned by the three suchnesses, Perfectly endowed with the power of serenity,

You who destroy the host of evil spirits, raises corpses and yakshas –

O TURE, most excellent and sublime!

Thus concludes this praise of the root mantra and the offering of the twenty-one homages.

You may choose alternatively to recite the condensed single verse praise below.

Praise to the Mantra in One Verse

OM CHOM DÄN DÄ MA LHA MO DRÖL MA LA CHHAG TSHÄL LO

OM I prostrate to the goddess foe destroyer, liberating lady Tara.

CHHAG TSHÄL DRÖL MA TARE PÄL MO

Homage to TARE, savioress, heroine,

TUTTARA YI JIG KÜN SEL MA

With TUTTARE dispelling all fears,

TURE DÖN NAM THAM CHÄ TER MA

Granting all benefits with TURE,

SVAHA YI GER CHÄ LA RAB DÜ

To her with sound SVAHA, I bow.

Making Requests

O compassionate and venerable subduing goddeses, May the infinite beings, including myself,

Soon purify the two obscurations and complete both collections So that we may attain full and perfect enlightenment.

For all of my lifetimes, until I reach this stage,

May I know the sublime happiness of humans and gods. And so I might become fully omniscient,

Please pacify quickly all obstacles, spirits,

Obstructions, epidemics, diseases, and so forth, The various causes of untimely death,

Bad dreams and omens, the eight fears and other afflictions, And make it so that they no longer exist.

May the mundane and supramundane collections Of all excellent auspicious qualities and happiness Increase and develop, and may all wishes

Be fulfilled naturally and effortlessly, without exception.

May I strive to realize and increase the sacred Dharma, Accomplishing your stage and beholding your sublime face: May my understanding of emptiness and the precious Mind of enlightenment increase like the moon waxing full.

May I be reborn from an extremely beautiful and holy lotus In the joyous and noble mandala of the Conqueror,

And may I attain whatever prophecy I receive

In the presence of Amitabha, Buddha of Infinite Light.

O Deity, whom I have accomplished from previous lifetimes – The enlightened action of the buddhas of the three times, Blue-green, one face and two arms, the swift pacifier –

O mother holding an utpala flower, may you be auspicious!

Whatever your body, O Mother of Conquerors, Whatever your retinue, your life span, and pure land, Whatever your name, most noble and holy –

May I and all others attain only these.

By the force of these praises and requests made to you May all diseases, poverty, fighting, and quarrels be calmed,

And may the precious Dharma and everything auspicious increase Throughout the worlds and directions where I and all others dwell.

The Garland of Jewels:

A Song of Longing for Venerable Arya Tara

Homage to Guru Manjughosha!

Dispelling the eight fears of whoever remembers you, Treasure of love, never tired of helping others, Constant protector, venerable Tara –

I touch my head to the lotus of your feet. Listen a little, while I lament my sorrows!

While in the endless dense forest of samsara,

I wander, careless, drenched in both kinds of defilements, Arya Mother, where is your hook of compassion?

Ah me! Alas! O loving, kind-natured mother! All the conquerors of the ten directions

Ordained and appointed you a refuge for beings.

Unattached to enjoying your own nirvanic bliss, You help migrators, I’ve long heard it said.

So, turning my mind in your direction,

I renounce other refuges and seek refuge in you.

If now, Arya Mother, without a glance You abandon me amid my mass of sins,

Where has your loving Mother’s Compassion gone? If you clamp down your surging bodhichitta,

In your sacred office, is this quite the thing?

Of yore, you’ve shown your face and cared for people Times past counting, here in Tibet, I’ve heard.

Arya, is this a lie, or have you favorites?

Well, if you’re specially kind to inferior beings, Then, this minute, come and show your face!

With the nectar of your voice, give me refreshment, Wash off all my stains of evil actions!

Next, as soon as I leave this life’s formations, In his wonderful pure land, Sukhavati,

Near the protector, Amitabha Buddha,

May I taste his speech’s nectar – inspire me thus!

From that most excellent realm, to other pure lands Let me be able to travel through magical power, And saving migrating beings by my emanations,

Let me become like Lord Avalokita!

Throughout all my lifetimes yet to come, Let me meet the Venerable Lady, Tara, Hear her speech, be cared for by her,

And carry out her orders – inspire me thus!

With rank, wealth, fortune, wisdom, great compassion, Faith, renunciation, and firm intention,

Let me always strive to achieve enlightenment, While every hindrance is quelled – inspire me thus!

From my ordination, as long as I live, Contrary to my pratimoksha vows

Let me not perform the slightest action,

But practice the common path – inspire me thus!

The best of samsara’s a razor-edge sticking up; This life’s appearances just a play of illusion –

This knowledge born in my mind, let me strive in the means Of reaching omniscience – please inspire me thus!

In the six perfections that ripen one’s own mindstream, And four attractions whose purpose is helping others, Let me train with the force of continuous effort, Growing them right in my mindstream – inspire me thus!

Then, let me enter swiftly the profound uncommon path, The path of the vajra vehicle,

And from a fully qualified spiritual friend

Receive the four pure empowerments – inspire me thus!

Through practicing well the path of the first tantric stage, May I purify all the stains of birth, death, and bardo,

And seeing the circle of deities of great bliss, Train in the second stage – inspire me thus!

Once the second stage also, as taught in the tantras, Let me gain the full experience of each level,

And having perfected the learning union,

Gain the union beyond learning – inspire me thus!

After that, to many impure lands Let me send out many emanations,

And by the mantra path linked with the view of emptiness Guide every sentient being – inspire me thus!

Through your compassion, Venerable Lady,

May my sincere words, just as I’ve expressed them, be fulfilled! In short, may all my wishes

Without exception easily come to pass!

This is a song of longing, the Garland of Jewels. When a faithful disciple strongly urged

That an exhortation to the venerable Supreme Mother of Conquerors of the three times

Would have immeasurable blessings, and in that way One should strive devotedly with the three doors, The Buddhist monk, Lodrö Gyatso, composed it,

Having with unchanging faith in the Manjughosha Guru Tsongkhapa, Long revered as his special deity Venerable Tara,

So that by these merits, all beings may gain omniscience.

A Song of Longing for the Infallible

NAMO GURU ARYA TAREYA

From my heart I bow to the Divine Mother Tara, essence of love and compassion, the most precious objects of refuge gathered into one. From now until I reach enlightenment, hook me with your great love and kindness to liberate me.

By the witness of the Three Jewels, not just from my mouth but from the depth of my most innermost heart and bones, I pray to you morning and evening. Show your blissful face to me. Loving one, grant me the nectar of your speech.

Great gurus and small gurus cheat us with their made-up teachings, selling Dharma, teaching without comprehension, not observing who is qualified and who is not, being concerned about their own happiness and the eight worldly dharmas.

Since I cannot trust friends of this degenerate age any more, you are my principal Guru. Bless me. Divine mother, essence of love, arise the great power of your compassion and think of me.

I take refuge in you, Tara; like you, no buddha could ever deceive me. But by understanding the odd character of these times, most buddhas went into the bliss of nirvana – even though they have great compassion, we have no connection.

Since for me there are no other deities, you are my principal deity. Bestow realizations upon me. Divine mother, essence of love, arise the great power of your compassion and think of me.

Most Dharma protectors do not show their powers; tired of those who evoke them, they do not act. Other protectors, lacking insight,

but proud of their power, may be friendly for a while, but will later do me harm.

But since I cannot rely on other protectors, you are my principal protector. With divine action, wisdom mother, essence of love, arise the great power of your compassion and think of me.

To ordinary view, the names of objects are the same as their meaning. [Like this] they produce delusions and bind to samsara. When it is time to die, unless I understand true nature, can a wish- fulfilling gem let me carry even a sesame seed?

But since I do not trust in illusions, you are my real richness; please grant my desires. Divine mother, essence of love, arise the great power of your compassion and think of me.

I cannot rely on non-virtuous friends for even a day. They pretend they are close to me and all the while have in mind the opposite; [they are] friends when they wish it and enemies when they don’t.

But since I cannot trust in this kind of friend, you are my best friend; be close to me. Divine mother, essence of love, raise the great power of your compassion and think of me.

You are my Guru, my Yidam, my protector, my refuge, my food, my clothes, my possessions, and my friend; since your divine quality is everything to me, let me spontaneously achieve all that I wish.

Although I am overwhelmed by my habitual, uncontrolled mind, please cut these self-cherishing thoughts so I’ll be able to give my body and life millions of times without any difficulty to each sen- tient being; bless me to be able to develop this kind of compassion to benefit all.

Empower me to cut the root of samsara, the ego-grasping, and to understand the pure doctrine; the most difficult middle way, free from the errors of extremes.

Bless me to practice as a bodhisattva, turned away from the world, dedicating all my virtues to the teaching of living beings, never for even one instant thinking of my own happiness; let me wish to attain buddhahood for the sake of others.

Empower me to actualize as much as possible the most subtle ordi- nations and to keep them without a careless mind, thus becoming the most perfect bodhisattva.

Let me be simple in my practice on the outside and inwardly actu- alize the depth of the diamond vehicle, having the strong wish to practice the two paths. Bless me to attain enlightenment quickly for the benefit of all.

Divine wisdom Mother Tara, you know everything about my life, my ups and downs, my good and bad; think lovingly of me, my only mother.

I give myself to you and all who trust in me, divine wisdom Mother Tara. Being completely open to you, let us be born in the highest pure land; set me there quickly with no births in between.

May the hook of your compassion and your skillful means transform my mind into Dharma and transform the minds of all beings; who- ever they are, they have all been my mother [the mother of one un- able to follow the Conqueror’s teaching.]

By reciting this prayer three times a day and by remembering the divine wisdom Mother Tara, may I and all beings who are connect- ed to me reach whatever pure land we wish.

May the Three Precious Jewels and especially the divine wisdom mother, whose essence is compassion, hold me dear until I reach enlightenment; may I quickly conquer the four maras.

If, as long as you live, you recite this prayer three times every day, not just from the mouth [in words only], but strongly linked with your mind, you will have a close connection and you will see Tara’s face. No hindrances will be received, and all wishes will be fulfilled.

Then continue to pray as much as possible.

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