T A R A The Feminine Divine Bokar Rinpoche Tara The Feminine Divine Immanent nature of samsara and nirvana the clear light. The saintly Lama shaws the mode of being the clear light. May the fortunate ones who practice the mahamudra-clear light become buddhas in the heart of awakening the clear light. BOKAR RlNPOCHE To Juanita Hall May the reflection of her kind heart shine and benefit all beings. Publisher's Acknowledgement The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous help of Rosemary Gilpin, Karen Graham, Derek Smith, Elson Snow, Carolyn Sumrall, Isao and Sets Tanaka. Tara The Feminine Divine Bokar Rinpoche English Translation Christiane Buchet ClearPoint Press San Francisco, California Tara the Feminine Divine Published by: ClearPoint Press PO Box 170658 San Francisco, CA 94117 The original text of this book was published in French and was titled Tara le divin au feminin Copyright reserved for all countries: Association Claire Lumiere 5 avenue Camille Pelletan 13760 Saint-Cannat, France Copyright© 1999 English Edition ClearPoint Press Printed in Canada Book printed on acid-free paper Third Printing 2007 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: ISBN: 978-1-930164-00-0 Cover: Representation of Green Tara in silk applique from Bokar Rinpoche's Drolkhang. Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 A Different Way of Thinking ............................. 7 Bokar Rinpoche and Tara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Genesis of this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1-Tara the Divine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The Play of Ultimate and Relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 A Means and a Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Toward the Body of Enjoyment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Divine Coming from the Human . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Absolute Tara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 From Woman to Deity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Tara's Help Against Fear ................................ 21 The Eight Great Fears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Tara and the Toothache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Tara's Judicial Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Tara Reunites a Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Tara Protects the Caravan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Tara's Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The Sahib with a Rainbow Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Wondrous Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Various Tara Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 White Tara .......................................... 41 White Tara Orders Statues .............................. 41 Tara's Symbolism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Green Tara ....................................... 44 White Tara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 2-Tara's Tantra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 What Is a Tantra? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Encrypted Language of the Tantras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Origin of the Tara Tantra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Uttering of the Tara Tantra by Shakyamuni Buddha . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Tantras among Human Beings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Hayapala's Lineage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Atisha and Tara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Miraculous Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Choosing Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 How to Make Amends for a Fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The Yogini's Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Tara's Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 - 5 - 3-Invocation of Tara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Function of Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Tara Ritual ......................................... . 65 Outer Practice 66 Inner Practice ....................................... . 70 Secret Practice ....................................... . 71 The Simple Prayer ............... ·. .................... . 74 Empowerments ...................................... . 79 Tara Empowerment ................................... . 80 4- The Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Origin of the Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 How to Recite the Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Explanation of the Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 5- Buddhism and Women ............................. 123 Men and Women: a Unique Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Remarkable Women in Indian Buddhism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Gelongma Palmo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Mandarava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Niguma ........................................ 129 Sukhasiddhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Remarkable Women of Tibetan Buddhism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 The Two Spouses of Songtsen Gampo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Yeshe Tsogyal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Machik labdron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Personal Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Ugyen Tsomo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 138 Drikung Khandro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Ani Yesang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 6-lconography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 The Twenty-one Taras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Taras Who Protect from the Eight Fears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 - 6 - Introduction A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING This work is not a study of Tara and the context of the deity as they would be envisioned by a Western scholar but rather a presentation of the way a Tibetan understands things. To understand will require some effort on the reader's part. Our approach to history and what science tells us about the reality of the world instill habitual ways of thinking that dare not go beyond what our senses and reason allow us to perceive. The Tibetan traditional mind moves in a larger world. According to it, perception of senses and intelligence have some value but are too limited to sufficiently describe reality. Thousands of years of history form only a split second in relation to the infinity of time. The Earth is only a grain of sand among the immensity of worlds; and beings that we see-human and animal-are only a small part of the possibilities of existence. It easily envisions as real what we consider without hesitation as belonging to the domain of myth and legend. For the traditional Tibetan mind, historical truths and mythical truths are not contradictory, they are intertwined and complete each other gracefully. Who is right? Westerners and their belief in what can be seen or Tibetans and their belief in what cannot be seen? It is perhaps an endless debate in which we will not participate here. It is certain that readers not used to the Tibetan way of thinking will be surprised and possibly distressed at the manner in which things are presented in this book. Without any doubt, they will have the feeling of completely wandering in mythology or in fairy tales, in a universe with which they are not directly concerned. However, if the readers make the effort to enlarge their vision of the -world, it will not be without benefit; not only will they be able to understand how a thought other than theirs functions, but they will gain entry to larger, more diverse, and mysterious worlds. Where is reality? Who knows? BOKAR RINPOCHE AND TARA Bokar Rinpoche has the deepest devotion to Tara. Already in his monastery in Tibet, Bokar Rinpoche in a previous incarnation consecrated a shrine to Tara. In Mirik, India, where Bokar Rinpoche founded a new monastery, he reserved a room for Tara, the Drolkhang-a shrine devoted to Tara. It is in the Drolkhang that Bokar Rinpoche spends most of his time. Behind him on the wall, hangs a White Tara thangka painted with gold. On each side of this thangka, there are thangkas of other life deities such as Amitayus (Tsepame) and Ushnishavavijaya (Namgyalma). On the - 7 - wall facing Bokar Rinpoche, there is a representation of Green Tara in silk applique from Tibet. But above all, on Bokar Rinpoche's left (the visitor's right) there is a vast and magnificent shrine containing many statues of Tara gathered in tiers. The central statue is the size of a human being and adorned with precious and fine ornaments. In its heart, Bokar Rinpoche has placed a small Tara statue that he inherited from his previous incarnation. This statue, carved out of a meteorite, is famous for not having been made by human hands but dropped from the sky.lt is supposedly traced to the ancient Nalanda University which sheltered several thousand monks when buddhism was blooming in India, more than 1500 years in the past. When Bokar Rinpoche visited the Nalanda and Sarnath museums, he noticed statues dating from this time, and they were very similar to his statue. Bokar Rinpoche carries a reliquary, as all Tibetan lamas do, which contains another Tara statue from the 18th century that he considers very precious. It was given to his previous incarnation by the 11th Situ Rinpoche, a great lama who had his monastery in Kham. When Bokar Rinpoche travels, he always takes this reliquary with him, and it is not unusual for him to use it to give blessings while reciting Tara's praise. Finally, in the recently constructed retreat center of his monastery, Bokar Rinpoche has also reserved a special shrine to Tara, which contains many beautiful statues. When Bokar Rinpoche speaks of Tara, he does not merely impart intellectual knowledge. While keeping in his deepest heart the secret of his relationship to the deity, he cannot hide the beauty of the pure love that links him to her. GENESIS OF lliiS BOOK In 1990, Bokar Rinpoche produced a book on Avalokita (Chenrezig) to answer the demand of his disciples. This book proved valuable not only for understanding this deity but also for understanding the foundations of Vajrayana. Seeing how beneficial this book was, Bokar Rinpoche wished to dedicate a second book to Tara. This was realized during a sojourn in Mirik in the Fall of 1996. Bokar Rinpoche delivered oral teachings in Tibetan during several encounters. This explains why part of the text appears as a dialogue whose style we preferred to retain. May this work, in spite of the passage from oral to written, the translation defects and the imperfection of the translator, reflect some radiance of Tara the divine! -Franc;ois Jacquemart (Choky Senge) Note Deities are mentioned by their Sanskrit names followed by their Tibetan names in parentheses. Some general dharma terms in .the text are given in Sanskrit in parenthesis. When it is a Tibetan word, it is preceded by "Tibetan." - 8 -