White Tara Practice White Tara is practiced by all four major schools
of Tibetan Buddhism. White Tara has been the main deity practice of
many well-known Buddhist scholars and siddhas in both India and Tibet,
foremost among whom where Nagarjuna and Atisha. White Tara’s special
function is to promote long life, both for the practitioner and for
others. Ultimately, she is the very nature of the dharmakaya, and her
practice is a means for attaining liberation. White Tara is a mother
figure, seated in the posture of the vajra (thunderbolt) above a white
moon disc and an open lotus. Her aura glows, as various colored rings
framed with pink lotus blossoms surround her. Her garments are
elaborately decorated with ornaments; on her head she wears a
sparkling tiara; and she is adorned with beautiful jewelry – a long
and a short necklace, as well as various gold and jewel ornaments. Her
right hand rests across her knee in the mudra of supreme generosity,
while her left hand holds near her heart the stem of a uptala flower,
which is blossoming near her left ear. White Tara is always depicted
as a peaceful deity. White Tara has seven eyes; there are three eyes
on her face (including the one on her forehead) and one eye on each
palm of her hands and feet. It is said that White Tara’s seven eyes
enable her to clearly “see” all beings in all the realms of
existence. Her expression is one of the utmost compassion. Mother Achi
was the grandmother of Lord Jigton Sumgon, founder of the Drikung
Lineage. To this day she remains a great dharma protector of the
Buddha’s teachings. Although Achi has a particular committment to
protect the Drikung Kagyu, she is recognized and practiced by all
lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the emanation of Vajra Yogini who
is the embodiment of the wisdom and compassion of all the Buddhas. She
is the divine mother of the Buddhas and manifested out of compassion
in the form of the Dakinis of the Five Buddha families. To benefit the
beings in samsara, she displays a limitless number of manifestations
at different times and in different space dimensions. “In the
country of Oddiyana where Vajrayana originated is the divine palace
where Vajra Yogini manifested in the form of Vajra Dakini and made the
commitment to protect the Buddha’s teachings. This commitment she
made to the five farnilies of Wisdom-Dakinis. Later in the eighth
century when Guru Padmasambhava was invited to Tibet to spread the
Dharma teachings, he blessed many pieces in Tibet and meditated in
many caves. Among these was Tidro, a cave near Drikung where Guru
Rinpoche spent seven years – this is the longest time that he spent
in any one place in Tibet. During this Period Vajra Yogini appeared in
the form of the chief Karma Dakini and promised to protect the
Vajrayana teachings. These are the manifestations in jnanakaya (wisdom
body) through which she protected the precious teachings and benefited
all sentient beings.” According to prophecy in the Chakrasamvara
tantra it is said, “The head of the Karma Dakinis will come to the
area of Tidro cave in Drikung. This will be a nirmanakaya
manifestation of Vajra Yogini.” “Around the eleventh century in
Shoto, in the area of Drikung (central Tibet), there lived a family
who could not conceive a child. In order to bear a child they made a
pilgrimmage to Swayambhu in Nepal. They prayed fervently for a child
and one night the woman, Driza Dharzam, had a dream that a brightly
shining sun appeared in the east and radiated light in the ten
directions and the sun then dissolved into her womb and radiated light
which filled the whole universe, especially illuminating the country
of her birth. In the same night, her husband Nanam Chowopal had a
dream that a rosary of clear white light emanated from the eastern
Buddha field and entered the womb of his wife. In the morning they
discussed their dreams and he said, ‘a special son will be born to
us and we should take much care until this child is born.’ They
performed a tsog offering; made strong prayers for the fulfillment of
their wishes and then returned to their native land in Drikung. The
time came for the birth and an extraordinary daughter was born in the
place called Kyetrag Thang. There were numerous auspicious signs and
her body was of purest white and radiating rays of light. As a small
child she was always reciting the mantra of Tara and at the age of
three she was teaching the mantra to others. She grew quickly and was
incredibly beautiful. Her parents died when she was quite young and
she then stayed with her uncle. Many wanted to marry her but she
refused all stating, ‘I will go to Kham (eastern Tibet) and there
lives a great yogi who is descended from the noble clan of the Kyura
race. This yogi I will marry and our sons and daughters and future
generations will be extraordinary persons who will benefit all
sentient beings by spreading the essence of the Buddha’s teachings.
Then accompanying a merchant, she traveled to Kham. They arrived at a
place called Dentod Tsonrur and she said to her companion, ‘This is
the place I have to stay.’ She departed and went to meet the great
saint Ame Tsultrim Gyatso to whom she said, ‘Although I have no
attachment to the worldly life, if we join together our descendants
will bear many enlightened beings who will do great benefit for the
teachings of the Buddha.’ On their marriage day, Ame Tsultrim Gyatso
did not have any possessions to arrange for the ceremony. Drolma said,
‘Do not worry, I will take care of it.’ So saying she miraculously
pulled a damaru from her right pocket and a kapala from her left. Then
beating the damaru and holding the kapala in her hand she made a
mystic dance while gazing into the sky. Immediately the house was
filled with the finest food and drink and the richest garments with
which to clothe themselves – thus giving great satisfaction and
pleasure to all the guests. They lived together and in time she gave
birth to four sons: Namkhe Wangchuk, Pekar Wangyal, Sonam Pal and
Kathung Trushi. These sons were exceptionally intelligent and became
scholars on both the temporal and spiritual levels. Of her four sons,
Pekar Wangyal gave birth to four sons. They were Khenpo Dharma,
Konchog Rinchen, Tsunpo Bar and Naljor Dorje – of these four, Naljor
Dorje became the father of the great Ratnashri Jigten Sumgon, the
great Drikungpa, who was the reincarnation of Nagarjuna. At a later
time Drolma said, ‘I have knowingly taken birth into samsara in
order to fulfill my aspirations to protect the teachings of the Buddha
and for the welfare of all sentient beings. Because of this, I will
grant the ordinary and supreme siddhis to my followers. She led her
followers to a huge cave called Tingring. The cave was very sacred,
containing many precious termas and many self-created statues of the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Yidams, Dakinis, and Dharma Protectors on
the rocks inside the cave. A human corpse was brought and she
transformed that corpse into a great tsog offering. Those who could
partake of that tsog were granted the ordinary and supreme siddhis.
Then she composed a text containing a sadhana of herself and promised
to look after the teachings of the Buddha in general and to protect
the essence of the Buddha’s teaching that will appear in the future.
With that she said, ‘My activities through this body have come to an
end,’ and she flew up to the Buddha Field on her blue horse without
leaving her body. Once when Jigten Sumgon was staying at Jangchub Ling
in Drikung Thil, he heard the sound of the damaru accompanied by
beautiful celestial songs. Drubthob Khamba Gyagarwa, a great yogi
disciple was there and asked Jigten Sumgon about the music. Jigten
Sumgon said, ‘The incomparable sounds are from Achi Chokyi Drolma,
my grandmother, who is a wisdom-dakini.’ Then Drubthob Khamba
insistently requested that he be given a method on how to practice
Achi Chokyi Drolma and then Jigten Sumgon composed a sadhana
consisting of ten leaves which is contained in the ‘Achi Pebum.’
In the Me-Che Barwa Tantra Buddha says: ‘After limitless kalpas in a
world system called Pema-Chan, she will become the perfectly
enlightened Bhagavan, Tathagata, Arhat, Samyak Sambuddha – whose
name will be Pema Dampe-Pal.
music
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13/07/2020 Last update