The Lady of Long Life, White Tara
White Tara (Main figure)
(Top to bottom): White Tara and Dorje Shugden
Deity: White Tara (English)
Alternative names: Sita Tara (Sanskrit); Drolkar (Tibetan)
In the ancient text known as Praise to the 21 Taras, Tara is said to have emanated in 21 main forms. The most popular of these forms are the Green and White Taras. Unlike her green counterpart, White Tara sits in full meditation and holds the stem of an utpala flower in her left hand. She has seven eyes – three on her sacred face, one on each hand and one on the soles of each foot. They represent her ability to look into each realm of samsara, along with her clairvoyant ability to look into the past, present and future simultaneously with great compassion.
As the healing emanation of Tara, White Tara’s white colour represents her ability to purify illnesses. This is achieved by the practitioner’s generation of merit by relying on her and the purification of previous negative karma accumulated from harming others. Hence, her practice is also considered to be a long life practice. White Tara is popularly placed together with Ushnishavijaya and Amitayus and together they are known as the Three Long Life Deities.
Deity: Dorje Shugden (Tibetan)
Alternative name: Vajra Rudra (Sanskrit)
Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the Buddha of Wisdom, Manjushri. He took the form of a Dharma Protector in order to safeguard the Buddha’s teachings, especially the important teachings on the Middle Way View. Reminiscent of Manjushri’s form, Dorje Shugden carries a meandering sword and rides a snowlion that represents the fearlessness of a fully enlightened Buddha. Thus, he has great strength to overcome obstacles of the body, speech and mind, and create suitable conditions for our spiritual practice to flourish. Furthermore, he carries a jewel-spitting mongoose and a vajra hook to symbolise that he has the tremendous ability to bestow wealth and resources.
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Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for sharing this wonderful description and benefits of Mother White Tara. May Mother White Tara blesses Rinpoche with perfect health and long life to spread the dharma. May we have more merits to be with Rinpoche to support the growth of dharma. May Rinpoche be with us always and forever happily with love.???????
White Tara, also known as Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan Buddhism, is an important figure in Buddhism. She appears as a female bodhisattva of compassion and action. She is the female aspect of Avalokiteśvara and manifests in many different forms. Together with Dorje Shugden forms a powerful combination of protection and purification of previous negative karma accumulated from harming others.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.