Five Lasting Benefits of Calling on Tara, the Female Buddha

Five Lasting Benefits of Calling on Tara, the Female Buddha

By James William Coleman

You can reap amazing benefits when you call on Tara and her enlightened feminine energy 

Do you ever feel trapped by the endless demands of life? Overwhelmed by raging emotions? Depressed and lonely? Sometimes all the rational well-intentioned advice and counseling just aren’t enough. 

There is an enlightened feminine energy within us that we can call on in times of trouble. Tara, the great female Buddha, is both the manifestation of that power in our consciousness and a gateway to enter it.  

Though some call Tara a “Buddhist goddess,” she has little in common with the great goddesses of our Western tradition. She is better understood as a living manifestation of the divine feminine energy that is part of our deepest true nature. In calling on her, we are calling on a boundless reservoir of strength and wisdom that lies at the very heart of our being. And if we do, she always responds.

The Boundless Benefits of Tara Practice

Simply calling out her name or reciting her mantra — O? T?re Tutt?re Ture Sv?h? — will bring  an immediate response. But as with any other relationship, the more time and attention we put into it, the deeper our bonds become and the greater the rewards.  Everyone is different, and Tara meets their needs in different ways. But here are a few of the boundless benefits you may reap from her practice:

• Protection from all fears: Fear and anxiety have become a plague in the modern world. But even in ancient times, one of the main reasons people called on Tara was to protect them from danger and calm their fears. In the Asian traditions, there are long lists of the things Tara can protect us from. We may no longer be worried about wild elephants or demons, but whatever the fear, she can help. Countless people over the centuries have found solace by calling on her boundless power for protection. It will work for you too.

• Healing our loneliness, isolation, and trauma: Tara is the living power of the awakened feminine. She is the all-loving mother. She is the embodiment of compassion, peace, generosity and all the other perfections. The energy we visualize flowing from Tara into us can have a powerful effect in healing our trauma and helping us overcome our feelings of loneliness and isolation. But be prepared, she isn’t all sweetness and light. She can be terrifying, fierce, and demanding, if that’s what’s necessary for us to break out of the prison of our delusions.

• Breaking through our deluded sense of self: We have so many deluded ideas about who we are. For some it is a deep-seated sense of inadequacy and a nagging guilt for what we see as our failures. Others go through their life blinded by their own self-importance. They seem to have no idea of the harm they cause, or the hatred and resentment they stir up in others. Our most fundamental delusion, however, is our belief in a small, limited sense of self that denies our interconnection with the vast web of being. Such delusions are the bars that trap us in the prison of our suffering. Visualizing ourselves as an awakened being such as Tara opens the door to freedom. If we can touch the wisdom of her enlightened mind, if only for an instant, new vistas will open. We see the causes of our suffering more clearly than ever before, and we can begin taking the steps we need to free ourselves.

• Releasing our inner strength: Peace and equanimity are wonderful qualities we should all try to cultivate, but passive indifference is not. True happiness requires a fierce inner strength to cut through all our cherished delusions and see things as they truly are. Visualizing ourselves as Tara helps us see through those self-limiting thoughts and tap into her boundless power. Tara’s loving presence is always available to us. But like our Mother Earth, she may also display a  terrifying ferocity that forces us to do what must be done. Our practice helps us realize that we have all Tara’s awakened qualities and power within us. All we have to do is just let those qualities flourish. Then whatever is needed in any situation will spontaneously arise whether it is compassionate listening, nurturing care, or a wrathful challenge to injustice.

• Realizing our deepest true nature: Of all the gifts Tara has to offer us, the greatest is simply to show us what we truly are. Beneath all our confusion and pain there is a vast openness, completely unbounded and shimmering with love. That is our true nature. And whether we know it or not, that is what we have always been seeking. As we get to know Tara and receive her blessings, we are able to let go of all our illusions and simply be what we are. When we do, there is a feeling of complete and total fulfillment, and we instinctively know there is nothing we lack. 

Reach Out to Tara — She’ll Show You the Way

The benefits of Tara practice may sound wonderful, but don’t just take my word for it. The only way to be sure is to try it out and see. It isn’t hard. You can start right where you are. The next time some new problem arises just reach out to her. Call her name, recite her mantra, or imagine her there in front of you. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you are sincere and open. 

If you feel some kind of connection, there are countless ways you can help it grow. You can find an image of Tara you like and put it where you will see it every day. You can recite her mantra when you feel stressed and uncomfortable. If you already have a meditation practice, you can start each session by asking for her support and guidance. One of the best things you can do is seek out a teacher or a group to support your practice. But whatever you do, Tara will be there to show you the way.

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James William Coleman, PhD is a Professor of Sociology Emeritus at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a specialty in the sociology of religion, and a founding member of the White Heron Sangha, a peer-led community that welcomes practices from all Buddhist traditions.  He studied Buddhism intensively under Roshi Reb Anderson of the San Francisco Zen Center, and with Lama Palden Drolma in the Kagyu Shanpa lineage of Kalu Rinpoche. He is the author of numerous books and articles, the latest of which is Searching for Tara: The Goddess Who Became a Buddha from Bloomsbury Publications. Learn more at jameswilliamcoleman.com.