Tara's Enlightened Activity

The female Buddhist deity Tara is an object of devotional worship and meditative practice for Tibetan Buddhists everywhere, both male and female. She clears away fears, overpowers negative emotions, and enables all beings to reach enlightenment. She has special resonance as a source of female spiritual wisdom. Tibetans of all schools and traditions recite the verses on which this commentary is based. Focused contemplative meditation in relation to the myriad aspects of Tara works to transform the practitioner's mind into those enlightened qualities and mind states that Tara represents. Sought-after teachers throughout the West for over twenty-five years, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and his brother Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche illuminate the practice of the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras with humor and wisdom. The explanations cover progressively more subtle levels from basic Buddhism through the Inner Tantras and culminate with Dzogchen. Interspersed with lively stories about Tara, the authors explain the physical conditions for practice, the outer and inner meanings of the text itself, and give solutions for problems that may emerge as practice progresses.

This book of practical advice for meditation on the female deity Tara emphasizes embodying the qualities of courage and lovingkindess. Both male and female students of Buddhism use these visualization practices to evoke in themselves the qualities that Tara symbolizes.

Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, along with Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, is a founder and director of Padmasambhava Buddhist Center based at Padma Samye Ling in upstate New York. PBC is a worldwide Buddhist meditation and study network that includes local centers as well as retreat centers and monastic institutions.