The Cult of Tara

104 MAGIC AND RITUAL IN TIBET
Process of Generation," their miraculous arising as "appearance and
Emptiness" is the "profound Process of Generation," and the body
of the deity with his consort is the "emanative Process of Generation."
It is the divine body that is the defining feature of the
entire technique; it is the unique "appearance and Emptiness" which
is manifested from the Bliss of melting and which arises from "construction
and examination."
He says, further, that this Process of Generation has four special
properties that distinguish it from other visualizations: the special
property of its ritual is its completeness as a means of generation as
found in the Tantras; the special property of its result for the practitioner
is his ability to put forth the strength of the mantra; the
special property of its nature is its essence of Emptiness and Bliss;
and the special property of its function is its completeness in cleansing,
perfecting, and ripening.
In other words, this process is a special type of generation whose
magical correspondences reverberate far beyond the limited aims
of the effigy; it creates a simulacrum of divinity in the yogin's own
body, which speaks with the divine power of the mantra, which
shares in the Bliss of the Dharma realm, which controls in the very
process of its formation both the stages on the path to Buddhahood
and the ultimate events of public nonreality: birth, death, and the
intermediate state of the bardo. The body of the deity, the Bodhisattva
Stages, the impelling processes of karma—all these are magically
the same, and to control one is to have power over all.
To make clear the four steps of the ritual sequence, I give an example
of one of its briefest and simplest forms, part of a little daily
ritual for White Tara written by the Gentle Lord Lodro t'aye, the
Kongtrii rinpoch'e (1813-1899). Here we may see one of the advantages
of beginning from the rituals of Tara, for in their lack of
elaboration they provide us with a basic model for the more complex
rituals of the monastic cult: 159
The yoga of generation:
1) OM SUNYATA-JRANA-VAJRA-SVABHAVATMAKO
'HAM!
From the sound of HUM, innate prowess of Emptiness,
a diamond circle of protection. Therein a crystal
divine mansion. In the middle a white lotus above a moon.
From TAM a white utpala flower marked with TAM.