“Those who wish for children will attain them;
Those who wish for riches will attain them;
Each and every wish will be attained,
And obstacles, entirely overcome and no more.” –Excerpt from Benefits of Reciting Twenty-One Taras
“Beloved Adele, you have been not just a wonderful teacher but a great friend who has brought inspiration, intelligence and love to my life. I am very grateful for the time spent together. Keep going!” –former online student feedback
Introduction
In an era in which male privilege and religious patriarchal cultures still dominate, control, engender fears and threaten the lives of women (and their children) never has feminine energy, wisdom, grace, courage and wrathful compassion been more needed.
Am happy to announce a new Dharma, practice and language study class, starting end of May/beginning June 2026 (one hour per week for five, possibly extended to ten) of study of the renowned Praises to Twenty-One Noble Tārās.
The class will go week-by-week through each verse or two, looking at the Tibetan terms, word by word English translations, symbolism and meaning of each Noble Tārā, also sometimes using a short commentary on the twenty one Tārās, by renowned Shangpa Kagyu and Jonang master, Jetsun Tāranātha, NEW PUBLICATION: “The Explicit and Hidden Aspects of Tārā: A Commentary on the Twenty-One Tārās” by Jetsun Tāranātha (which I translated and published in 2020) as a guide.
Please fill in this Google form to register your interest.
Proposed time and days
- Day: Sundays
- Class size: min. 3- max. 20 people
- Time: (one hour minimum) 9 am ET, 2pm UK 6.30 pm India, 9pm China
- If anyone finds this time (or day) difficult, or wishes to join in time-zones such as West Coast USA, or Australasia, please let me know and I will try and re-arrange the time if possible.
Pre-requisites
- Proven interest in Buddhist philosophy and/or practice
- Noble Tara empowerment (Green, White or Red)
- Vegetarian/Vegan (if not, then at least willing to abandon meat for the duration of the course)
- No unethical, harmful, defamatory conduct towards women as individuals, or as a group.
Suggested donation
- 20 GBP (27 USD) per hour, 200 GBP (270 USD) for ten week course.
- Discount rate for unemployed/students/sangha of 18 GBP per hour.
Class Materials
All participants will get:
- The Twenty-One Tārā verses with the Tibetan script, phonetics, my original English translation, with also a direct English translation word-by word below each Tibetan word.
- Original handouts for each Tārā verse with explanation/image, and the Tibetan terms (together with various explanations).
- A free copy of an updated Twenty-One Tārās commentary text by Jetsun Tāranātha, which I will also be publishing as a hard copy book later this year.
- New original digital artworks of the Twenty-One Tārās to download and use.
The first five weeks will consider the first five to ten Tārās, as well as the origin of the Praises itself. With another five-week course, after that to discuss the remaining eleven. Participants are requested to recite the Twenty-one Tārā Praises in Tibetan (with phonetics) every day (which takes about 2-5 minutes depending on reading speed).
For those who feel closely connected to Tārā, and want to explore their meaning and translation in English (and Tibetan), as well as practice reading skills (if you have them), this is the class for you!
The teacher: Adele Tomlin
For my CV, bio, publications and qualifications to teach Tibetan language and this text, see here.
See also short video/song I made of the main Tārā mantra at home on my laptop!
For some of my original research and translations on Noble Tārā, see here. Including a brief sadhana called the “Eyes of Tārā” by Jonang master, Ngawang Lodro Dragpa, see here.
Background Reading
In particular, background reading on the lineage and history of Noble Tārā in India and Tibet (as recently composed by the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa), see:
I would be interested in a Tara course.