The Cult of Tara

184 MAGIC AND RITUAL IN TIBET
though it is here inappropriate to a deity generated in front; but
it is in any event the power of the intention crystallized in the magic
words which acts as the catalyst for the visualization the monks
form, as they recite:
OM SARVA-TATHAGATA-ABHISEKATA-SAMAYA-SRIYE
HUM I "OM The glory of the vow of initiation by all the Tathagatas
HUM!"
With this mantra she is bestowed initiation from flasks filled with
liquid nectar, which purifies all stains and fills her body, the overflowing
excess liquid of forming on her crown an ornament of the
guru Amoghasiddhi.
2.12 Arraying the general field for offerings
This completes the Process of Generation, with the power of the
deity formed, empowered, concretized, and sealed before the assembly.
Now, with the Chief Lady vividly visualized, the monks
invite the rest of the field for offerings—all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas—and
"array them in the manner of general guests" in the
sky- before them, by reciting (or singing) the following verses of
invitation:
Light radiates from my heart
and from that of the holy Tara before me:
The gurus, high patron deities, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, solitary
Buddhas, disciples, all the hosts of the Noble Ones, the objects
of my offerings VAJRA-SAMAJAH !
You are the lord of all beings,
the deity who irresistibly conquers the Maras and their army,
the Blessed One who knows all things as they are:
I pray you and your retinue, come to this place !
Blessed One, for many inconceivable world eras
you have exercised compassion out of your love for beings
and have fulfilled their hopes and all their earnest wishes;
now is the time for you to serve the aim of beings!
Thus from your miraculous palace of the Dharma realm
send forth all your various magical emanations
that you may save infinite hosts of beings:
I pray you and the lords of your retinue, come I
After this prayer the monks must make sure that no hindering
demons have taken advantage of this invitation or have ventured to