Why Praises of The Twenty-one Taras?

Refuge and Bodhichitta to the Arya Taras 

Namo kon chok kun ngo jet sun mar,

Dag sog dro kun kyap su chi,

Jang chup mon pei sim kye neh,

Zap moy lam la juk par gyl.

Om Jet Sun Mar, Phagma dromala chhag-tshal lo 

(Om Homage to the Venerable Arya Tara)

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA. 

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA. 

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA.

The practice of Tara is said to have many different extraordinary powers of blessing, and is particularly effective in a wide variety of situations. For example, it is said that at the end of an aeon or cycle of time, when hardships and calamities may increase, the mantra and puja rituals of Tara are very crucial. Anyone can recite the prayers of Tara and it brings great benefit.

The Buddha Mahavairochana was the Guru, the spiritual guide, of Tara. Buddha Vairochana blessed Tara and prophesied to her that at the end of the aeon, in those lands and worlds where pujas, prayers, and rituals of Tara are recited, as a result of these prayers, the many diseases, troubles, and disturbances caused by evil spirits and by human beings would be pacified and resolved. I believe that the practice of Tara is one the most important and critical of all practices in such times.

The prayers of Tara, is said that not only diseases and disturbances caused by evil spirits, but also hostility, wars, conflicts and the eight obscurations and sufferings may as well be pacified and resolved by the power of her practice. 

The eight obscurations and sufferings that listed by the First Dalai Lama as follows:-

• The suffering of hatred, which symbolize like the fire,
• The suffering of ignorance, which symbolize like a elephant,
• The suffering of jealousy, which symbolize like a snake,
• The suffering of pride, which symbolize like a lion,
• The suffering of miserliness, which symbolize like a chain,
• The suffering of wrong view, which symbolize like a thief,
• The suffering of doubt, which symbolize like a spirit,
• The suffering of lust/attachment, which symbolize like the floods

All such obstacles and related difficulties can be removed through the blessing of the prayers and mantras of these goddesses.  It is said that these puja prayer rituals and mantra recitations are particularly important when we come to the end of an age or cycle of time. For such times, is widely recommended the practices of Guru Rinpoche, praises of Taras are also extremely important.

In times of the threat of wars, epidemics, conflict, and so on, it is very important that the mantras of Tara be put on prayer flags and hung in the air, as much as people are able to do this. People from all walks of life should do this and say this mantra as much as possible. Along with the prayers of Guru Rinpoche, these practices are the most effective in such times and situations.

One who offers praises to Tara is truly intellectual. Whether early in the morning or late at night, if one offers the praises to the twenty-one Taras, such as offering two, three, and then seven repetitions of the prayer, totaling twelve recitations of the praises to the twenty-one Taras, all wishes can be fulfilled. This is how it is in the Four Mandalas' Ritual of Holy Tara "The Illuminating Lamp". In this puja one repeats the praise twice, then three times, then seven times.

When it is said that all one's wishes will be fulfilled, it means that if you need a child, you'll get one. If you have financial needs, these will be met. Whatever wishes you have, all of them can be fulfilled through praises to Tara.

You only need to recite and practice it, in order to dispel your obstacles. All of your obstacles and difficulties, however many there are, can all be removed and relieved through offering praises to Tara. Through praying to Tara, all potential obstacles are powerless to cause you harm; they are naturally pacified. Nothing can get to you or harm you in any way; you become impossible to pass through.

Certain practices have that strongly emphasized. For Green Tara practice that is the reason why you are not supposed to be eating meat or drinking alcohol before you do the practice. For that reason those practices were tend to be done very early in the morning, before breakfast, before you eat anything , you do the Tara before, that’s the reason why it’s mostly done in the morning. But if you are a vegetarian, then you can do Tara practice any time, all day long, you don’t have to think that Tara should only be done in the morning. 

There is no doubt that Tara is very swift in dispelling obstacles. All the activities of the Buddhas are embodied in Tara, contained in her, complete in her. If you have been empowered by your Guru or teacher to meditate yourself in the form of Green Tara. Your body, speech can be transformed into mantra, your thoughts into wisdom. You are no longer an ordinary being; your body, speech, and mind have been completely raised into the exalted state of Tara herself, into the form, mantra, and wisdom of Tara.

The words of the praises to the twenty-one Taras are not the intellectual composition of scholars. They are spoken directly by Buddha Mahavairochana and Buddha Shakyamuni themselves. Please recite the praise to Tara as much as you are able to in the course of your everyday life. 

If you are unable at any time to recite the praise, try to recite the mantra of Tara:-

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA.

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA.

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA.

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Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Nagarjuna's Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

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