The Revered Practice of Green Tara: A Journey Through Time
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, from beginningless eons, has been tirelessly saving countless sentient beings with his immense compassionate power. Despite his boundless efforts, he felt a sense of inadequacy. Thus, from the power of samadhi born of great compassion, he formed an immense compassionate force. This force, combined with the great compassionate power of Buddhas from the ten directions, resulted in a drop of green tear flowing from his eye, transforming into the infinitely majestic green female Bodhisattva, known as Green Tara. Due to this origin, Tara’s power to save is boundless and infinite.
Green Tara is revered as the Great Compassionate One and the Holy Savior Mother Buddha. The practice of the Green Tara ritual has a rich history that originated in India and later spread to China, Tibet, Japan, and beyond. The sacred roots of this practice trace back to Green Tara herself, who was initially the ancient Buddha Pravartaka and an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.
Chanting the Green Tara mantra even once, with focused contemplation of Tara’s sacred image, brings immense merit. Such merit is equivalent to chanting the names of seventy-two billion Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Both the exoteric and esoteric traditions have extensive practices based on this ritual, and many practitioners have achieved great success and benefit from it.
Over time, the original texts and mandalas related to this profound practice have suffered from omissions and distortions in their transmission. For the past two hundred years, these deviations have increasingly moved away from the authentic regulations. In recent decades, the practice has nearly completely lost its true essence. Furthermore, the representations of Green Tara have deteriorated in form, lacking the dignity of the authentic appearance. This includes discrepancies in hand mudras, attire, and overall sacred depiction, resulting in a significant loss for the Buddhist community.
The Green Tara Perfect Practice Ritual and Thangka by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III
In response to these issues, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III transmitted the “Green Tara Perfect Practice Ritual” and personally supervised the creation of the Green Tara mandala thangka.
This three-dimensional thangka is not only lightweight and portable, making it easy to carry, but also presents the mandala clearly and vividly, ensuring that it remains etched in memory. Additionally, it possesses several extraordinary merits:
- Authenticity and Compliance: The Green Tara mandala presented in the thangka fully complies with the regulations of the “Green Tara Perfect Practice Ritual.” This ensures that the practice remains true to its original form.
- Historical and Miraculous Significance: Tara had already attained Buddhahood countless eons ago, her divine power is illustrious, and her sacred deeds are well-documented. Today, in the “Tara Hall” in Nethang, Tibet, the sacred statue of Tara once spoke to Atisha, instructing him, further propagating her holy name and Dharma power across China and Tibet. During the creation of this three-dimensional thangka, many miraculous occurrences were witnessed. For example, the sacred image of Tara, originally looking straight ahead, appeared differently in subsequent photographs taken from the same angle: one showed her looking up at the sky, while the other depicted her looking down at sentient beings. This clearly demonstrates Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva’s extraordinary vow power: above, he shares the same compassionate force with all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; below, he joins in compassionate aspiration with all sentient beings in the six realms. Additionally, when viewed from different angles, the main deity of Green Tara always faces the observer, and the seed syllables in the sky behind her follow her movement, appearing above her head. Furthermore, the colorful clouds, initially close to the sun and moon, seem to remain stationary while the sun and moon move vividly between the clouds from different perspectives.
- Majestic and Unmatched Representation: The sacred image of Green Tara in the thangka is exceptionally majestic and perfect, unrivaled in both China and Tibet throughout history. The twenty Taras, each with different postures, exhibit supreme Dharma power, arranged behind the main deity, appearing and disappearing miraculously. Notably, standing in different positions reveals the Great Brahma Deva, the primary protector, initially as one, then suddenly as two, and then back to one again, a phenomenon unprecedented in history! Meanwhile, the Four Great Heavenly Kings and the Eight Dragon Kings remain unchanged. Additionally, Indra, the Four Great Heavenly Kings, and the retinue of the Eight Dragon Kings, wielding their divine weapons and instruments, surround and protect Tara with unmatched divine transformation. Visualizing this thangka makes the practice highly effective and rapidly fruitful.
Validation and Praise
Upon the completion of the “Green Tara Perfect Mandala Thangka,” Buddha Master specifically instructed disciples to bring all existing Green Tara statues of various materials from around the world to the Vajra Dharma Circle for public verification. They were to determine which one is the most orthodox and perfect thangka. The Vajra marbles immediately entered the mandala thangka, confirming that the Buddhas and Dharma protectors of the ten directions unanimously endorsed it.
Many of the seven classes of Buddhist disciples, upon practicing with this three-dimensional thangka, experienced unprecedented and unique realms. High monks, living Buddhas, and even Dharma Kings from around the world have all respectfully praised and recommended this rare and precious sacred image. In truth, among all the existing Green Tara images, none can compare to the perfection and majesty of this mandala thangka. Its blessing power is extraordinarily miraculous; a single glance imprints it deeply in the mind, leaving a lasting impression.
The Green Tara Perfect Practice Ritual and its accompanying thangka, as transmitted and supervised by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, represent a revival of the authentic practice of Green Tara. This thangka not only restores the true essence of the practice but also enhances the spiritual experience for practitioners worldwide, offering unparalleled blessings and merits.
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Peace LiLy 