“Avalokiteśvara, looking upon the realms of sentient beings, saw that even though he had dedicated all his merit and primordial wisdom, and so forth, for the sake of all limitless sentient beings, and liberated them, those sentient beings had not entirely transcended samsara. From the tears that arose from the force of great compassion, many goddesses of Tārā emerged, and they transformed into forms that liberate all sentient beings. Therefore, she is the goddess Tārā.”
Thus, it is said that she arose as a companion in accomplishing the activity of the noble Avalokiteśvara.”
“In short, sometimes the Great Compassionate One [Avalokiteśvara] and Jomo Tārā appear as father and daughter, and sometimes as father and mother (yab-yum consorts). These two are also the deities of the snowy land of Tibet, the supreme deities. Therefore, it should be understood that there is a special purpose in accomplishing them here as a single ritual in the form of oneself and in front.”
“Previously, when Naktso Lotsāwa[i] asked Jowo Je [Atisha] for a deity whose accomplishment was close, Jowo replied:
“Noble Tārā. Geshe Gonpawa said that “ Since whatever Yidam deity’s face you see, is that of the activity goddess, it is natural to see Noble Tārā’s face first.” –17th Karmapa from Four Mandala Offering to Noble Tāra
Translator’s Introduction
Am delighted to offer the first English language translation of the first two main sections of the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s new explanation and practice text on the Praises and Four-fold Mandala Offering to Noble Tārā of the Karma Kagyu (Tibetan: Kar-lug) tradition. This text was completed (according to the 17th Karmapa) in Tibetan on 22nd February 2025 (Dakini Day) and published online.
The full English translation can be downloaded as a free .pdf file Four Mandala Offering to Tara by 17th Karmapa English translation Adele Tomlin. It is for private use only and not for selling, copying or publishing elsewhere. If you use this translation as a basis for translating it into another language, or quote parts of it, please at least quote this as a source (as a matter of courtesy and respect for the work and effort of the translator).
These first two translated sections cover the historical and textual lineage explanations, as well as the different deities in the mandala only, as the sadhana/practice is long and elaborate. Also, unlike the five-deity Noble Tārā practice of 1st Karmapa, I have not had the oral transmission of this particular practice text from the 17th Karmapa, for reasons I wrote about here. However, the 17th Karmapa himself has said that as the texts are printed nowadays, the oral transmission is only really relevant these days for the meaning transmission. Nonetheless, I sincerely hope in the future I will be able to get that meaning transmission/empowerment for this practice from the 17th Karmapa in person (or mind-to-mind at least), and not again be blocked from doing so by “dark, politically-motivated, vengeful forces” who are not acting in accordance with love, compassion and Buddha Dharma[i]. A summary of the text is given here below.
Three main sections of the text
The 17th Karmapa begins the text stating his reasons and outline:
“Here, I will set down the uncommon/unique (ཐུན་མོང་མ་ཡིན་པ) practice of the praise and four-fold mandala offering to Tārā, according to the Karma Kamtsang tradition.
- To ensure the authenticity of the Dharma, the lineage history is mentioned.
- To generate enthusiastic joy ( བྲོད་པ་), the benefits are taught.
- The actual practice that possesses those benefits is then explained.”
This particular Karma Kagyu lineage practice, which is being revived by the 17th Karmapa, involves a self-generation as Red Avalokiteshvara, then four mandala offering in front to Noble Tārā: first, White Tara, then Red Tara, then Green Tara, before an offering to them all combined into one simultaneously. I have created a visual aid for the meditation on the cover of the translated text, and also have uploaded the image in this article for reference/download.
For clarity’s sake, the 17th Karmapa has recently composed two new texts on Noble Tārā:
- Five-Deity Tārā practice of 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa by 17th Karmapa
- Four-fold Mandala Offering to Tārā of the Karma Kagyu tradition by 17th Karmapa
This translation is of the second text.
Three main Tārā traditions in Tibet and the unique Kacho Wangpo [2nd Zhamarpa]/Karma Kagyu tradition
The 17th Karmapa explains how the Je Atisha tradition of Tārā became the most well-known and widespread in Tibet, and that within that, the Karma Kagyu tradition of White Tārā, and Green Tārā of the Acacia Forest (Sengdeng Nagki Drolma) and Four-fold Mandala Offering to Tāra is unique, separate and distinctive from the other two main traditions (Sakya and Narthang) of Tārā that were spread in Tibet:
“What is it about the Kar-lug (Karma Kamtsang tradition) of Tārā Mandala Offering that makes it so different from all other traditions? According to the 2nd Zhamarpa, Khachö Wangpo (Kacho Wangpo, 2nd Shamar Rinpoche’s The White Tārā Mandala and Vase ‘Bestowing All Accomplishments (དོད་དོན་ཀུན་སྟེར་དུ་སྒྲུབ་པའི་མཎྜལ་དང་བུམ་པ་སོག):
“Thus, being Avalokiteshvara (Jigten Wangpo) in union, I offer to White, Red, and Green Tārā in sequence, and finally, I offer to the combined form of all three.” དེ་ལྟར་བདག་ཉིད་འཇིག་རྟེན་དབང་པོའི་རྣལ་འབྱོར་དང་ལྡན་པས་སྒྲོལ་མ་དཀར་དམར་ལྗང་གསུམ་རིམ་པས་མཆོད་ཅིང་། མཐར་གསུམ་ཀ་བསྡུས་པ་མཆོད་པ་སྟེ།”
Self-generation of Red Avalokiteśvara, 2nd Karmapa, Karma Pakshi and the three main deities of Karma Kagyu: Bernagchen Mahakala (Nag), Red Avalokiteśvara (Gyal), Vajravarahi (Phag)
The 17th Karmapa then discusses the self-generation as Red Avalokiteśvara (who is one of the three main deities of the Karma Kagyu lineage), and that deity’s connection to the 2nd Karmapa, Karma Pakshi:
“Similarly, in this practice, visualizing oneself as Avalokiteśvara (Jigten Wangchuk) in red color and generating Red Tārā in the front visualization, indicates that among the four activities of pacifying, increasing, magnetising, and wrathful, the activity of magnetising (དབང་གི་ཕྲིན་ལས)is emphasized. Therefore, engaging in this practice creates a special interdependent connection to elevate the glorious head of the precious Practice Lineage to the sky.
From the great Siddha Karma Pakshi [2nd Karmapa] onwards, this Karma Kamtsang Practice Lineage is known for the three deities: Black-cloaked Mahakala, Jinasagara (Red Avalokiteshavra) and Vajravarahi (Nag, Gyal, Phag ནག་རྒྱལ་ཕག་གསུམ)”.
The great Siddha himself accomplished the magnetising/overpowering activity of Gyalwa Gyatso, bringing the three regions of China, Tibet, and Mongolia under his control/power. He subjugated gods, demons, and humans, and proclaimed the great drumbeat of the name Karmapa. This is how the Karma Kagyu lineage came to be known. Furthermore, the five classes of dakinis said “May the mani mantra be recited in all the marketplaces! Cause all who see and hear to recite it! We will bless all who see and hear it” they said.”
Front-generation of White Tārā, Red Tārā and Green Tārā, then combined as one
The 17th Karmapa then briefly considers the traditions of White Tārā, Red Tārā and Green Tārā. Each of these Tārās is visualised in front, an offering made, and then the final offering is for all three Tārās combined into one at the same time.
White Tārā
In terms of first White Tārā, the Karmapa explains that most of the Je Atisha lineage White Tārā traditions in Tibet came down through Dagpo Gampopa, to the 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th Karmapas:
“…most of the Jowo Atisha tradition of White Tārā that became a great chariot of teachings, there are none that did not come from Je Gampopa. Furthermore, the great river source of teachings of the Karma Kamtsang lineage, Precious Dusum Khyenpa, Choki Drakpa [1st Karmapa], also possessed many unique lineages of the teachings and instructions of Arya Tārā. The White Tārā teachings also include his personal deity Five-Deity White Tārā, the Ritual of the Tārā Mandala, and so on….
Similarly, the Ninth Jetsun [Karmapa] also made White Tārā the main deity of the Twenty-One Taras, and because he held her at the core of his heart practice, many fathers and sons later received the empowerment and teachings as the first, and the first recitation retreat was also done on this White Tārā Wish-Fulfilling Wheel, etc., which is not just a mere following of the previous tradition, but has a special key point of outer, inner, and secret interdependence.”
Red Tārā
In terms of Red Tāra, the 17th Karmapa explains how Red Tārā is the same as Kurukullā:
“In Tibet, Kurukullā, also known as Rig-jema (རིག་བྱེད་མ), who is famous as the deity of overpowering/magnetising, belongs to the category of Red Tārā, so it is needless to say that they are the same essence (ངོ་བོ་གཅིག་པ).
In addition, among the various sadhanas of the Twenty-one Taras, there are also Red Tārās such as Tārā Swift Heroine (Nyurma Palmo སྒྲོལ་མ་མྱུར་མ་དཔའ་མོ་) and Peaceful Beauty (Zhi-dzema ཞི་མཛད་མ) with two arms. It seems that there are endless varieties such as the six-armed one.
In short, this Red Tārā is known as the Tārā of Magnetising/Overpowering, and the activity of magnetising is indispensable for accomplishing the great purpose of the doctrine and beings. The great Teacher Padmasambhava of Oddiyana, the great accomplished Karmapa, the scholar-practitioner, Ogyenpa, and others who became masters of power and strength, also had power over the various activities of pacifying, increasing, overpowering, and wrathful subjugating. In particular, they all mastered the activity of magnetising.”
For an English translation of the 17th Karmapa’s newly published Praises to Red Tārā, see here. The Red Tārā artwork on the front cover of the new Tibetan text by 17th Karmapa seems to have been copied/based on a seventeenth century Karma Kagyu painting, possibly by the Tenth Karmapa, Choying Dorje.
However, as that painting does not contain the hook of Red Tārā, nor a red lotus flower to symbolise her magnetising power, I have created an image that does. I noticed that there are very few (if any) depictions of Red Tārā with a hook and a red Uptala flower (as described in the text) so have also created some with AI for use, and fun (see below).
Green Tārā
As for Green Tārā:
“Most scholars say that she is the emanation or root of all Taras. This is taught in the Origin of Tārā Tantra (སྒྲོལ་མ་འབྱུང་བའི་རྒྱུད་), the Origin of the Various Activities of Tārā (སྒྲོལ་མ་ལས་སྣ་ཚོགས་འབྱུང་བའི་རྒྱུད་), and the Upward-braided Hair Tantra (རལ་པ་གྱེན་བརྫེས་ཀྱི་རྒྱུད་)and so on. The main deity of the mandala taught in the cycle of the Origin of Tārā Tantra, is Tārā Yogini, who is also Green Tārā.
There are extensive sadhanas such as the sadhana known as Tārā the Supreme, the mandala of the Twenty-one Taras according to the tradition of the great accomplished practitioner, Nyima Bepa (གྲུབ་ཆེན་ཉི་མ་སྦས་པ), and there are countless condensed sadhanas such as Tārā with a retinue of five, a retinue of three, and a solitary Tārā.
Benefits of offering to Tārā: the first “face” of activities
The second main (but brief section) in the new text by 17th Karmapa is explaining the benefits of offering to Tārā practice:
“As such, Tārā is widely known as an Indian deity. It seems that almost all of the Indian Pandit masters, such as Protector Nāgārjuna and Chandragomi, were taken care of by Noble Tārā. Jowo Je Atisha and Panchen Shakya Shri (Śākyaśrībhadra, 1127 – 1225) prayed to Noble Tārā for all their major and minor activities, and their activities became as vast as the sky in both India and Tibet.”
Also:
“Due to his extraordinary divine power in furthering his life and benefiting beings, Karma Chakme, a scholar and accomplished master, wrote in his Notes on the Condensed White Tārā Abhisamaya:
“Dakpo Dukhyen [1st Karmapa], Drigung, Taglung, Phagdru, etc.,
May the lives of the Kagyu lineage lamas be long.
This [Tārā] is the deity who expands activities and benefits beings.
Especially during the time of this [Kagyu] Kamtsang.
It is a blessing to have continuous visions.”
Previously, when Naktso Lotsāwa asked Jowo Je [Atisha] for a deity whose accomplishment was close, Jowo replied:
“Noble Tārā. Geshe Gonpawa said that “ Since whatever Yidam deity’s face you see, is that of the activity goddess, it is natural to see Noble Tārā’s face first.”
Geshe Chen-nga-wa (དགེ་བཤེས་སྤྱན་སྔ་བ)[ii] said that the Noble Goddess is a deity of activity, so it is easy to accomplish in this degenerate age. He said that if you complete a hundred thousand recitations, obstacles will not arise. Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen also said, they vowed that there is nothing more profound or swift than Cakrasaṃvara for the supreme, and Tārā for the ordinary.
One of the first Tārā texts I ever translated was the Four-Mandala Offering to the Definitive/Ultimate Tārā in 2018 from the Jonang tradition (which was published by them as a booklet). It is not clear if this Jonang tradition one, also came down from Je Gampopa or not, as no explanation was given to me at the time (by the Jonang Khenpo who assisted me with it) on the origins or lineage at all. In that respect, the 17th Karmapa’s new text is unique in its depth and detail on the origin and lineages of the Four Mandala Offering and Praises to Tārā.
17th Karmapa’s explanation of the ritual, lineage, reasons for composition and dedication
The 17th Karmapa ends the whole text (after the actual practice section) with some words of explanation about the ritual, the lineage from Atisha to Yolcho Wang, his reasons for composing it and dedication:
“This practice, known as the Karma Kagyu tradition of offering a mandala to Noble Tārā, the holy mother born from the tears of Avalokiteśvara, can be performed in three ways: elaborate, intermediate, and concise, as described by Je Khachöpa [2nd Shamarpa] in his work: The Source of Fulfilling all Wishes.
“To explain it in a slightly easier way: There is one set of rituals each for the white, red, and green Taras visualized in front. Finally, there is one set of rituals for visualizing all three simultaneously, making a total of four sets of rituals.”
The 17th Karmapa then goes on to explain the differences between the extensive, middling and concise, and extremely concise versions of the rituals. But cautions against laziness:
“The more elaborate the offerings, praises, etc., the more complete the accumulation of merit for all, both general and specific, and the greater the purification of obscurations. Conversely, if one only performs the concise version, the activities of the more elaborate rituals will gradually decline, leading to various faults and shortcomings. Therefore, those who are intelligent should be mindful.”
The 17th Karmapa gives a detailed explanation of the lineage of the Tārā ritual, in particular, the importance of Yolcho Wang (one of Je Atisha’s three main disciples) in bestowing the lineage to 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa:
“This lineage is from the colophon of the Mandala to Tārā ritual composed by Jowo Khachö Wangpo [2nd Shamarpa]:
“This method of offering and praising the Bhagavati is as follows: Tārā herself, then Pal Marme Dze Yeshe (དཔལ་མར་མེ་མཛད་ཡེ་ཤེས), then Yolcho Wang (ཡོལ་ཆོས་དབང་), then Dusum Khyenpa [1st Karmapa], then Gya Powo Lungpa (རྒྱ་ཕོ་བ་ལུང་པ), then Jñana Singha, then Singha Kirti (སིངྷ་ཀཱིརྟི), then Je Ri Tröpa.”
According to this lineage, Yolcho Wang was one of the three main disciples of Jowo Je [Atisha], known as the three: Gar Go Yol (མགར་འགོས་ཡོལ་). Jowo Je also prophesied that he was blessed by Avalokiteshvara and said that there was no one more knowledgeable about the Dharma of Great Compassionate One (Avalokiteshvara) than Yol. It is said that Yol gave it to Palden Dusum Khyenpa. Kunkhyen Pema Karpo and Je Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa, among others, stated that Je Dusum Khyenpa directly consulted with Yolcho Wang.
However, in the biographies written by Dusum Khyenpa’s direct disciples, it is not clear that he met Yolcho Wang directly, but rather that he received the Dharma from Yolcho Wang’s direct disciples, Trarawa (ཀྲ་ར་བ). In any case, there is no dispute that the lineage comes from Yolcho Wang.”
Interestingly, for such an important student of Je Atisha, and of this lineage of Tārā, there was hardly any information about Yol Chowang online, including on Treasury of Lives and BDRC.
The 17th Karmapa ended the whole text with some words of explanation and dedication:
“For several years, I have had the good fortune to encounter many documents related to this Noble Goddess, and through numerous Dharma discussions based on this Dharma tradition, some fortunate and earnest individuals have urged me to compose something with great insistence.
In particular, as my composition of the five-deity Tārā, one of the five-deity practices of the glorious Dusum Khyenpa was approaching completion, due to the slightly auspicious signs that arose from composing this ritual immediately upon the appearance of the vision, and through the blessing of the name of glorious Karmapa, I, who am called Orgyen Trinley Palden Wangi Dorje, completed it on the 25th day of the waxing moon of the Wood Male Dragon year, the auspicious occasion of the gathering of the Dakinis (February 22, 2025), a day endowed with the auspicious conjunction of two earths. Through the virtue of this, may the noble Jetsun Tara, the embodiment of the activity of all the Buddhas, always protect me and all sentient beings in all lifetimes.
May we have dominion over the ocean of limitless activities of pacifying, enriching, magnetising/overpowering, and wrathfull subjugating. May the peerless Kagyu lineage of Dakpo, and especially this practice lineage of the Kampo Nenang, and all the teachings of the Buddha without exception, flourish and spread in all directions on this great earth, without declining. Sarva Mangalam Bhavantu.”
So as the 17th Karmapa says, the Je Atisha tradition of Tārā that became so popular and widespread in Tibet, in particular White, Red and Green Tārā, all came down via the Kagyu from Je Gampopa onwards. In that respect it is indeed a legacy not only to be proud of, but also to preserve. May my translation here be part of that project and legacy!
Music? Twenty-One Tārās chanting by 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje and The Faces of Tārā by Adele Tomlin/Dakini Songs and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
Written and translated by Adele Tomlin, 31st March 2025.
Visual Aids for the Four-fold Mandala Offering to Noble Tārā (Karma Kagyu lineage) Practice
The self-generation as Red Avalokiteshvara (Gyalwa Gyatso) and the front visualisation of three Tārās, white, red and green in sequence, then altogether.
Red Tāra with hook and red Uptala flower:
Endnotes
[i] As I wrote about here, the Karma Kagyu Four-fold Mandala Offering to Tārā text and its practice was recently transmitted by the 17th Karmapa at an undisclosed location (Thailand) to a small group of people, while the Arya Kshema nuns event was ongoing in Bodh Gaya, India.
[ii] Research and translation overview of the Karmapas and Tārā here: https://dakinitranslations.com/2021/11/29/noble-tara-and-the-karmapas-overview-and-first-translation-of-tara-supplication-by-16th-karmapa/
[iii] Research and translation (2020) on the 8th Karmapa’s White Tārā: https://dakinitranslations.com/2020/07/24/new-translation-white-tara-by-8th-karmapa/
Further Reading/Sources
White Tara:
On my recent trip to Lijiang, Yunnan in South China, where the 10th Karmapa was forced into exile by the Mongolian-Gelug army forces, I discovered that the 8th Tai Situpa also had a very strong and deep connection to the White Tārā practice of the Karma Kagyu, and was asked by the Naxi Emperor of that region, also violently overthrown by the marauding military, to compose a sadhana in Chinese, which was then translated into Tibetan.
The Karma Gadri style of White Tārā is also unique within the Tibetan traditions, for more on that see here. For my research and translation on the Karmapas and Tāra tradition, see here[ii]. For a translation (2020) of the 8th Karmapa’s practice of White Tārā see here[iii].
Green Tārā:
For more information about the five-deity Green Tārā tradition of the 1st Karmapa, see my new translation of the 17th Karmapa’s new text on that here, which goes into extensive detail about the lineage of the five deity practice, and Tārā lineages in general. For a concise daily practice of the five-deity Tārā composed by the 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa, see my downloadable translation and Introduction here.
Visual Aids for the Four-fold Mandala Offering to Noble Tārā (Karma Kagyu lineage) Practice
The self-generation as Red Avalokiteshvara (Gyalwa Gyatso) and the three Tārās, white, red and green in sequence, then combined in one altogether.
Red Tāra with hook and red Uptala flower:
