For the Goddess in You Winter-Spring 2008 by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway

Wedding Goddess

Connect with Green Tara for Personal Strength and Power

“Adversity is the diamond dust heaven polishes its jewels with.” -- Robert Leighton

Few of us leave the house in the morning in search of bad news and trauma. However, some of us may some day find ourselves faced with one of life’s terrifying moments, or crossing paths with a crisis that we can’t control. Even if you are one of those people who believe things happen in this world for a reason, bad news can hit with stunning force. It hurts to hear you’ve been fired … that someone you love is very ill or has been injured … that the person you love is leaving you … that the money you were counting on is not coming through. If the bad news were that you are in the middle of a traumatic event – an accident, fire, and crime – no one would blame you for freaking out. When your world is being rocked by a crisis, it may not be easy to “be spiritual” about it.

That’s why it is so important to strengthen ourselves spiritually as part of daily life, not just in emergencies. It can help us to remain calm and centered in the face of fear and stress. The first response any of us will have to very difficult news and traumatic events is denial – no, this can’t be happening – and then real life will set in. Hopefully, down the line, we will find ourselves on the path of somehow accepting and reckoning with the truth, and perhaps even searching for and finding a deeper meaning or hidden lesson in the pain that was endured. But when it is happening, it is terrifying and confusing.  Our greatest power is the willingness to stay present in the moment of truth and pain and lean into the forces of the universe that are there to love and protect us in our darkest hours, and trust that whatever is happening to us, we are enfolded in divine arms.

I like to call on the Tibetan Goddess known as Green Tara. She is an especially powerful Deity when it comes to handling bad news and very high stress situations that may involve perceived danger or threat to your physical or emotional well-being. She is the all-embracing, all-knowing mother savior who takes us in her arms at our hour of greatest need and feeds our souls with manna from heaven to help us cope, and get through, the physical and emotional reality of a crisis. She represents the ultimate protection and grace of the cosmic mother into whose spiritual arms you can run, and rest.

Who Is Tara?

Tara is the much-loved Tibetan Buddhist mother goddess. Considered a female Buddha, monks and devotees around the world chant and evoke her energies daily, calling upon her for everything from world peace to peace and protection from within. She represents all that is and her energy can permeate all things. Tara is worshiped in both mild and wild forms, and exists in a rainbow of colors based on various attributes.  The Green and White Tara of the Tibetan Tantric tradition are the most popular forms, with Green Tara seen as her fiercer, most dynamic form. As Green Tara, she is a goddess of action, great strength and special protective powers who wards off evil and shields you from spiritual harm. The mythic tale of her origins is that she was born from the tears shed by Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of compassion, as a gift to end the suffering of all creation.  The tears trickling down the left side of the Buddha’s face formed the motherly and mature “White Tara” and the salty drops on the right birthed the fearless and youthful “Green Tara”. Some believe, however, that she was a human princess who lived a life of total service, compassion and the highest spiritual aspiration, dedicated to serving the Buddhist Monks.  Because of her path, she earned the right to be reborn in male form and teach the ways of the Buddha. She decided to remain in female form.

Ask for Protection and Support 

Tara is a protector who offers us her body and wisdom to shield us from danger.  The ancient texts say she protected those who called upon her from the “eight calamities”, which are described as: Lions and Pride; Wild Elephants and Delusions; Fires and Hatred; Snakes and Envy; Robbers and Zealots; Prisons and Greed; Floods and Lust; Demons and Doubts. She is the deity evoked by Tibetan nuns and monks who have miraculously survived arrest and torture; people in trouble pray to her for deliverance. Because she represents compassion in action, she becomes the bridge from fear and suffering, to happiness and good tiding. Devotees trust that with Tara in their corner, even in the worst of situations, they will somehow be all right.

Easily Connect to Her

1.  A lovely image of Green Tara can help you connect to her energy:  You can find one on the internet, or invest in a Tibetan thangka (there are many with images of Buddha, deities or bodhisattvas).

2. Create sacred space with a bell or singing bowl whenever possible: It is a nice way to purify the energy before you chant to her. (Check out the singing bowls at Mandala: http://www.soulfulliving.com/tools/singing_bowls_tingshas.htm).

3. Call to Her with this Instant Invocation:  The root of Tara’s name is the sound “tri” meaning, “to cross”.   When we call upon Tara she immediately comes to our defense and helps us cross from danger to safety.  Tara’s protection and favors are granted instantly just by calling her name or chanting her traditional Mantra: 

“Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha,”  (Ah-um Tah-ray Too-tah-ray Too-ray So-hah)

It translates to: “Hail Tara…Her enlightenment and compassion protects me and liberates me from external fears and internal delusion…May I honor this in myself!” 

Repeat this chant at least three times and, if comfortable for you, 33 times.

Metaphysical experts believe in doing Tara’s chant in repetitions of 11, and they believe it is especially powerful to do them in sets of 11 times three, because 33 is a powerful number.

Affirmation:

“I am safe and filled with strength”

© Copyright 2007 Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway. All Rights Reserved. 

Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway is an interfaith minister and non-denominational wedding officiant who helps people get ready for love and marriage, and who blesses the unions of couples in love in unique and loving ceremonies. She is also widely known as a specialist in women's spirituality, empowerment and feminine wisdom. She is author of Wedding Goddess: A Divine Guide to Transforming Wedding Stress Into Wedding Bliss (Perigee Books, Spring 2005), A Goddess Is a Girl's Best Friend: A Divine Guide To Finding Love, Success and Happiness (Perigee Books, December 2002). Visit Rev. Laurie Sue at www.weddinggoddess.com.

For some inspiration, please check out this moving Goddess Meditation, http://www.selfhealingexpressions.com/goddess_meditation.html, as well as my new course, Discover the Goddess, http://www.selfhealingexpressions.com/course_overview_29.shtml

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