“The Eyes of Tārā” by Jonang and Rimey Master, Ngawang Lodro Dragpa, is a deeply moving practice text dedicated to those facing visual impairment, inspired by the struggles of Karma Dendup, a Bhutanese TV producer who is going blind.
The text, first translated in 2018 and now in its second edition, offers a powerful sadhana (spiritual practice) from the Jonang tradition, focusing on the primordial awareness eyes of Tārā, a revered deity in Tibetan Buddhism.
The sadhana, known as The Eyes of Tārā (Drol mai mig gi khor lo’i thab), involves visualizing Green Tārā and her eyes of awareness, accompanied by the mantra:
ཨོཾ་ཏཱ་རེ་ཏུ་ཏྟཱ་རེ་ཏུ་རེ་ཨཱ་ཀྵ་པྲ་ས་ཀ་མཱ་ཧཱུཾ་ཛྙཱ་ཨཱཿསྭཱ་ཧཱ།
oṃ tāre tuttāre ture āksha prasa kamā hūṃ jñāṇa āh svā hā
This practice is not only a homage to Tārā’s ultimate awareness but also recommended for benefiting physical eyes.
Ngawang Lodro Dragpa, a significant 20th-century figure in the Jonang tradition, dedicated his life to Dharma and its teachings, often writing and meditating tirelessly.
His works span various subjects, including profound vajra-yoga practices and biographies of Tibetan spiritual figures.
This text, The Eyes of Tārā, is an offering for those losing their sight, reminding us of Helen Keller’s wisdom that the most beautiful things are felt with the heart.
It emphasizes spiritual vision and inner beauty, providing solace and spiritual guidance to those in need.
