Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Mama Ayuḥ Punya Jñānā Puśtiṃ Kuru Svāhā
(Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jñana Pustim Kuru Svaha)
White Tara (Sitatara) is related to lengthy life. Her mantra is usually chanted with a specific particular person in thoughts. She’s one other illustration of compassion, and he or she’s pictured as being endowed with seven eyes (take a look at the palms of the palms, soles of the toes, and her brow) to represent the watchfulness of the compassionate thoughts.
Not like Inexperienced Tara, White Tara has each legs folded in meditation (Inexperienced Tara is stepping down onto a lotus).
White Tara
As a variant type of Inexperienced Tara, her mantra begins very equally. However added to the play on the title of Tara are a number of phrases linked with lengthy life and wellbeing.
Mama means “mine” and signifies that you simply’d wish to possess these qualities of lengthy life, benefit, knowledge, happiness, and so forth. You’ll be able to in fact select to want these qualities for another person — maybe for a trainer or for a cherished one who’s unwell.
Ayuh is lengthy life (as in Ayurvedic medication).
Punya means the benefit that comes from dwelling life ethically, and this benefit is claimed to assist one to reside lengthy and fortunately.
Jnana is knowledge.
Punya and Jnana are generally known as the Two Accumulations. With the intention to change into enlightened we have to accumulate benefit (that’s, to develop constructive qualities by dwelling ethically and meditating) however we additionally have to develop knowledge by deep reflection. Knowledge can not come up with out a foundation of benefit, however benefit alone just isn’t sufficient for us to change into enlightened, which means that changing into a nicer particular person isn’t sufficient — we now have additionally to look deeply into ourselves and the world round us and to see the impermanent and insubstantial nature of all issues.
Pushtim means wealth, abundance, or improve.
Kuru is a legendary land to the north of the Himalayas, which was stated to be a land of lengthy life and happiness (it might have been the unique northern dwelling of the aryans). Maybe the affiliation with the legendary realm of Kuru doesn’t harm when doing the mantra. However right here the phrase kuru is a verb type which means “do it!” or “make it so!” (second particular person singular lively crucial or the foundation kṛ if that’s of any curiosity to you) which is what it means right here. With this “make it so!” we’re imploring White Tara for a rise in knowledge, benefit, and lengthy life in order that we will acquire enlightenment and assist all sentient beings.
svaha is an exclamation which means “hail” or “could blessings be upon” and is a standard ending to Buddhist mantras. So after making the fairly daring request of White Tara above, we finish with an equally emphatic salutation.
Click on beneath to play the MP3 file of the White Tara Mantra:
Pronunciation notes for Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Mama Ayuḥ Punya Jñānā Puśtiṃ Kuru Svāhā
- a is pronounced as u in reduce
- ā is sort of a in father
- jñana/jñānā is supposed to be pronounced with a tough g, however many individuals pronounce it as “nyaanaa”
- the s in pushtim/puśtiṃ has a dot below it which makes it right into a sh sound, as in English push
- m in pushtim/puśtiṃ is pronounced ng, as in music
With this “make it so!” we’re imploring White Tara for a rise in knowledge, benefit, and lengthy life in order that we will acquire enlightenment and assist all sentient beings.
svaha is an exclamation which means “hail” or “could blessings be upon” and is a standard ending to Buddhist mantras. So after making the fairly daring request of White Tara above, we finish with an equally emphatic salutation.
The mantra then means one thing like, “Might my life be lengthy, could my good qualities and knowledge improve! Make it so! Hail!”
Click on beneath to play the MP3 file of the White Tara Mantra:
Pronunciation notes:
- a is pronounced as u in reduce
- aa is sort of a in father
- jñana is supposed to be pronounced with a tough g, however many individuals pronounce it as “nyaanaa”
- the s in pushtim has a dot below it which makes it right into a sh sound, as in English push
- m in pushtim is pronounced ng, as in music
White Tara’s Iconography
The very first thing about White Tara is that she is white. This isn’t the whiteness of northern European pores and skin, which is definitely mild brown. She’s white like a flower, or moonlight, or snow. She’s often known as Sita Tara, sita which means the colour white, but additionally which means pale, brilliant, or mild. Moreover, white has the connotation of purity, in order that sita can imply pure, as effectively.
She is an enlightened being showing within the type of a younger goddess, adorned with silks, jewels, and flowers.
She sits cross-legged in meditation. She’s on a lotus, which symbolizes purity. The Buddha himself stated that simply as a lotus grows from muddy water, however has pure, unspoiled petals, he lives on this planet untouched by it. In different phrases, though he was surrounded by selfishness and hatred, he himself was freed from these issues.
She has greater than two eyes! She has a 3rd eye within the heart of her brow, symbolizing the awakening of her imaginative and prescient as an enlightened being. She additionally has eyes within the palms of her palms and on the soles of her toes. These symbolize the truth that though she affords assist on this planet, she doesn’t accomplish that blindly, however is ready to assist folks transfer towards awakening.
Her proper hand is open in a gesture of giving.
Her left hand holds the stem of a blue lotus (Sanskrit, utpala) which blossoms above her shoulder. One of these lotus opens at sundown and blooms at night time. It has a candy scent that symbolizes the way in which that an moral life has an uplifting impact on the world.
The truth that she is the colour of moonlight and holds a flower that blooms at night time, means that White Tara seems within the type of a moon goddess.
As talked about above, her mantra is usually chanted with a specific particular person in thoughts. Disciples of a trainer would possibly effectively chant the mantra with the want that the trainer reside lengthy and be wholesome, for instance. Or one would possibly chant the mantra for a pal who’s unwell or dying.
