Green Tara Introduction & Description

Green Tara, great mother ocean of dharmakaya, mother of all buddhas. Mother of all phenomena. She who fearlessly brings beings across the ocean of samsara. She is particularly known for her swift activity at solving problems. She doesn't judge you for having the problem. Whether you've got a worldly problem or a spiritual problem; whatever your motivation, she brings benefit to all without judging you for needing it.  She leads people to awakening. Jetsun Dolma, the power to liberate others. She benefits herself and all others. Beyond samsara she has attained the stainless wisdom body of full buddhahood. Fully enlightened, inseparable with the absolute true nature of all and everything. Dharmakaya, beyond the beyond and beyond that as well. Beyond the six paramitas and that manifest in action. The union of samsara and nirvana as bodhicitta, the play of the unmanifest as the manifest. She is seen as female in the prime of her life. Three parts, three aspects of a woman's life; playfulness, creativity, and wisdom. She is all three; the playfulness of a child, the creativity of a woman in her full fertility creating life within doing deeds in the world, and the wisdom of the crone, the grandmothers. All of this as one in full prime.

Her color is a blue green. The blue-green of snow glacier melt in mountain lakes. She is the essence of all the sources of refuge. Her mind is the mind of the buddha. Her speech itself is the path. Her body is all those who walk the path. Her qualities are that of the protectors. Her activities are the dakinis. She is not a self-existent goddess or deity; we don't do those in Buddhism. She's an archetype, a yidam. She symbolizes the inseparability of emptiness and clarity, emptiness and luminosity, emptiness and great-heartedness. These are expressions of the dynamic nature of absolute reality.

The dharmakaya is not just a static big dead old nothing. We say it's empty but don't think of a void. It's lively. What is it lively with? Lucidity, vitality, clear light that's called. Clear transparent light which is in its nature that of the lucid vitality of life which manifests as bodhicitta. For as life loves itself and seeks survival so that love when it is allowed to encompass all and everything arises as the ultimate bodhisattva, Tara. 

Until such time as you recognize your own true nature you can visualize, imagine her as outside of ourselves (she isn't really) nor is she inside (there is no inside and outside.) Remember we are a clump of influences. Let Tara be one of the main influences.

The awakened aspect with which we unite our mind in order to fully realize the two benefits; the benefit for ourselves and the benefit for others. The awakened formless body of sheer well-being and benefit. Hence the mother of all buddhas for does the dharmakaya not give birth in its creativity to all phenomena? By dint of its vitality, its lucidity, it can think, feel, and perceive; which is phenomena. She is both peaceful and fierce as needed. She changes her clothes depending on what she is doing. Just like you. If you are working in the garden you wear heavy jeans and long sleeve shirts to avoid being attacked by rose bushes. If you are cooking you put on an apron. In these ways you change your clothes according to what you're doing at the moment. Thus Tara changes her form because she can. According to what is needed in the moment. Hence the twenty-one forms. But they're all contained in this singular form.

Some say that she is derived from Tara of the Acacia Forest, the original dravidian south Indian, not the aryan, but the original native dravidian mother nature spirit of the forest. As such she is also gaia, consciousness of our world and all other worlds. Which are themselves ecologies like you and your biome. Who think they're entities… it happens.

So we use the Green Tara as an image for all the many forms of Tara and they all work together as that. Certain things stay the same in her image no matter what. Her ornaments which symbolize mastery of the six perfections, the six paramitas. Her necklaces, her bracelets, each symbolize this. Her crown with the five colored jewels for the five Dhyani Buddhas of which she is all of; mirror-like wisdom, equanimity, discriminating wisdom or discerning wisdom, all accomplishing activity, and all pervading wisdom the wish fulfilling jewel.

Tara shines like a thousand stars together. Like all the stars of the night sky. Limitless luminosity, limitless lucidity, limitless vitality (sambogokaya nature of mind.) The color of melted snow in a high mountain lake, turquoise blue green. This indicates the buddha family she belongs to, that of Amoghasiddhi, all accomplishing wisdom. She gets stuff done quickly. So if you need something done quickly and you cannot do it yourself; it's broken you need it fixed, she'll help. Become her friend. Her specialty as such is the removal of difficulties both inner and outer, danger obstructions fears,  to transmit and through the transmission of the blessing of perfected wisdom. In the outer sense she removes all your obstacles things that are in your way like “you need a better job” “you want to fall in love” “trying to have a baby” “trying not to have a baby.” All the many things that you trip over on the path. In an inner sense she removes the negative influences that you picked up as you walk through life. The habitual patterns that somebody once told you you were “bad at math” or “good with machines” and you aren't but you think you should be. Glitches and geks. She's really good at getting rid of demons both inner and outer manifestations.

Her right arm is in the sign of divine compassion. Her right hand giving the mudra of boundless generosity of blessings. She bestows both ordinary and extraordinary accomplishments. Her left arm symbolizes full and complete realization. Her left hand is in the mudra of giving perfection protection. Thumb and ring finger joined showing the union of skillful means and wisdom; this is also the mudra of suppressing demons. “Put them down don't grab them.” Her left arm also holds the stem of a new poly flower. That's a very rare blue lotus. The lotus is a symbol of that which is rooted in the mud and muck of the swamp and the pond and grows up above the muddy water pristinely pure. The mud of samsara, the perfect blossom of enlightenment nourished by the mud of samsara. Samsara and nirvana in union giving birth to the perfection of phenomena. Her left leg is in the half lotus indicating that she has gone beyond the conflicting emotions. Her right leg is outstretched like she's about ready to jump off her cushion and come lend you a hand fix something. Rushing to the aid of sentient beings. Both legs together symbolize that she is fully enlightened and yet remains in samsara as benefit. In order for tara to be able to benefit us we need to approach her open-heartedly, with faith, trust, and knowing. We need to know her in order to trust her. You get to know her by doing her sadhana and her mantra. Just as you get to know a friend over time by spending time with them, so with Tara by spending time with her in her ceremonies, in her mantra, in her visualization you get to know her. Establish a relationship with this archetype and so arise is the trust and the ability to rely on her. Even if you don't really have that actualized in the beginning it will arise over time. The more you are able to open to her, to know her and trust her, the more she is able to benefit you. Her seed syllable is her phone number, her url. TAM, the heart. Visualizing her and imagining her will get you to know her.

Now most practices you need to have a “wang.” Tara is a little different here in the kriya form. By Tara’s own side; by the aspiration created by the person who became this energy; who personified this energy; who is personified by this energetic archetype. By that action it is there and even without a formal wang you can access it. Because of causes created from her side. So learn to do the practice if at some point the wang is available to you, take it. It will intensify things. But if you have not had that opportunity, do the practice anyway. In relative reality around here the truth of cause and effect on the level of phenomena totally influences how we experience our reality, our personal reality. It's not real, it's just yours. It's made up of the sensations of your six sense organs, the meaning you have interpreted to those sensations, and the feelings you have about that interpretation. When things go our way or seem to us to be going our way we are happy. When it seems to us that they are not going our way we are sad.

We think enlightenment is something to be acquired or attained someday. Oops! Not experiencing ourselves as buddha as a fully liberated one, we call upon an energy that we can experience as that in our confusion. And we supplicate that energy personified with devotion. You need that devotion to really make it work well, but it's something you will develop over time. You see your yidam as inseparable from your root teacher. This opens your heart and mind to the experience of your own innate pure nature. Through your devotion to this archetype you can experience the pure reflection through this and come to know who you really are. Tara is real. As real as you and I. And as such she can transmit blessings to us when called upon. But you must call her by name. Om jetsunma drolma la tsag tsa lo. “OM, Venerable Enlightened One, Tara. I open my heart and bow to you.” Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā.

The activities of all buddhas personified by this northern direction, this green color blue green of the mountain lake, the activities of all buddhas is the dharma the path that is through the teachings of the path and the fruition which is the essence of the path of the truth as it is which transforms our habitual negative tendencies into the realization of the nature of mind and reality.

Tara's compassionate activity does not limit itself to spiritual benefits. It assists people with their worldly affairs just as well and it works. Got a problem? Sic Tara on it! The better you know her the more effective your calling upon her will be. So spend time with her and get to know her.

Om jetsunma drolma la tsag tsa lo.

Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā.