The Green Tara Mantra: A Liberating Practice
The Green Tara mantra comes from Buddhism’s most popular goddess. Green Tara is the goddess of universal compassion, enlightenment and virtuous performances. They say she is the mother of all Buddhas.
The word Tara means “liberating”. According to Buddhist beliefs, it frees people mainly from the fear of external threats. Among them, according to tradition, are fears of elephants, lions, fire, snakes, thieves, stormy waters, slavery and evil spirits. Therefore, the Green Tara mantra is a ritual to highlight all these dangers.
The Green Tara mantra also protects against internal dangers : pride, ignorance, jealousy, hatred, stubbornness, emotional dependence, disturbing doubts and greed. For Buddhists, this is a very powerful mantra that offers peace and security.
The significance of the Green Tara mantra
A mantra is a group of syllables, phonemes or words that according to certain beliefs have a psychological or spiritual power. The etymological meaning is « mental instrument ». Each mantra induces a certain state of consciousness or mood. The Green Tara mantra is used to face fear and insecurity.
Now, the following words and syllables compose the Green Tara mantra: “om tare tuttare ture soha”. It refers to Tara, the goddess of universal compassion and the color green, which is the color of vitality for Buddhists. Let’s talk more about the meaning of these words:
- About : It has to do with body, mind and approach to universal divinity.
- Seaweed : It is the release of the ailments, the emotions and the inferior strength.
- Tuttare : It represents protection against internal and external dangers.
- Trips : It is a protection against physical diseases and a peace-building word.
- Soha : It represents long-term action of protection against internal and external dangers.
Meditation and the Green Tara mantra
The Green Tara mantra has great significance for Buddhists. In the West, there are also many who practice this mantra, since it is a way for them to feel calm and relaxed. Most of them, however, do not give it the same connotation as Buddhists do, but they still turn to it to strengthen themselves.
The Buddhist tradition says that the best way to pronounce this mantra is through meditation. It points out that there are certain steps that are necessary for this mantra to be completely effective:
- Look for a quiet place. Sit, close your eyes and breathe.
- Think about the problem you want to solve.
- Focus on getting rid of anxiety and fear.
- Repeat the mantra aloud several times: “Om tare tuttare ture soha”.
- Mentally speaking, visualize a green sphere as you repeat the mantra and take a deep breath.
- When you feel calm, keep breathing for a while before returning to normal activities.
Does it really work?
It is quite difficult to be sure of the real effectiveness of such rituals. It is known that repeated evocative words have a calming and relaxing effect on people. Somehow they help the brain to vibrate at a much calmer frequency.
What is certain is that we program ourselves to approach or stay away from certain experiences. We also organize different systems for interpretation for each individual. We do it sometimes consciously, but most of the time we are not aware of it. Therefore, our attitude brings us closer to certain experiences and distances us from others. Therefore, we interpret what happens to us in different ways.
To sum up, if a person believes that a ritual like the Green Tara mantra has a special and strong meaning, then that is how it will be for them. On the other hand, if a person is very skeptical about it, it will probably have no effect on them. Remember that the human mind is quite complicated and deep, and a mysterious world capable of anything.
