Tara's Enlightened Activity

Tara's Enlightened Activity: Commentary on The Praises to the Twenty-one Taras
The female Buddhist deity Tara is an object of devotional worship and meditative practice for Tibetan Buddhists everywhere, both male and female. She clears away fears, overpowers negative emotions, and enables all beings to reach enlightenment. She has special resonance as a source of female spiritual wisdom. Tibetans of all schools and traditions recite the verses on which this commentary is based. Focused, contemplative meditation in relation to the myriad aspects of Tara work to transform the practitioner's mind into those enlightened qualities and mind states that Tara represents.
Sought-after teachers throughout the West for over twenty-five years, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and his brother Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche illuminate the practice of The Praises to the Twenty-one Taras with humor and wisdom. The explanations cover progressively more subtle levels, from basic Buddhism through the Inner Tantras and culminate with Dzogchen. Interspersed with lively stories about Tara, the authors explain the physical conditions for practice, the outer and inner meanings of the text itself, and give solutions for problems that may emerge as practice progresses.

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Cult of Tara: Magic and Ritual in Tibet

Cult of Tara: Magic and Ritual in Tibet
An in-depth study of the living ritual surrounding the devotion of Tara, the mother of all Buddhas, plus an analysis of Tibetan Buddhist ritual in general.

"The fullest (almost encyclopedic) description of religious life yet published. It is an outstanding achievement." Times Literary Supplement.

"Opens a new door for the Western student of religion to the understanding of ritual in one of its most sophisticated and artistic forms. The author povides a precise and descriptive representation of the actual rituals. He gives a very readable translation of the important parts of the ritual texts such as the visualizations of the contemplated deity, prayers, praises, offerings, and innovations along with a detailed account of what the participants actually do." Artibus Asiae.

"Going beyond the irreducibly Tibetan flavour that pervades this material, Beyer`s presentation propels the reader over the ocean of tantra in the direction of a more general theory of religious ritual, within whose confines the socio-dynamics of magic and mysticism, the history and philosophy of religion, epitemology, psychology, and semiotics all play important roles." Philosophy East and West.

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