The Cult of Tara

232 MAGIC AND RITUAL IN TIBET
historical pattern of considering a praise in its entirety to be a form
of mantra. 10
In the same modern Chinese manual on the Twenty-one
Taras which contains the sermon quoted above, Sun Ching-feng records
the words of No-na Hutukhtu, a lama who traveled as far as
Hong Kong in the late 1930s, preaching the Tibetan religion: "Now
when the world is exploding into war," he said, "we fear that it
will not be long before poison gases are killing men. More violently
than ever before, disaster descends upon our heads, and we must be
prepared; by diligently practicing this recitation, one can be spared
from poison gases and calamities and escape from poison. We have
special verification for this, for one of our own men has been poisoned
three times, yet he gained his life with no illness, for he had in the
past fully practiced this recitation ... It is most certainly fortunate
if one is able to recite this entire mantra, these Homages to the
Twenty-one Taras; but, if not, then just reciting the mantra of
Green Tara has special efficacy. Moreover, the pains of women are
particularly numerous; but if they recite the mantra with a devoted
mind, it has an especially wondrous effect." 11
Everyone in K'am knows this entire hymn, and anyone who
might admit that he had not memorized it all is considered to be as
laughably foolish as one who had never learned his OM MAN I PAD-
ME HUM. It is usually chanted in a low monotone, but it may also
be sung to its own melody. Families often meet together every day
for its recitation, in the morning or evening. A common protection
among ordinary people in K'am—for example, in guarding against
wolves when traveling from village to village in winter—is to begin
the day by offering up a little milk to Tara and reciting the Homages
while going aboiit one's morning tasks. A woman visualizes that
Tara has entered into the turquoise ornament she wears on her
head; a man will place upon his head a flower, which he later throws
away; or the goddess may enter into a ring or any other ornament.
She is seen as holding a green ball, inside of which one sits protected
for the remainder of the day. Every morning we were awakened
by the low and tuneful murmuring of the Homages by our cook, as
she built up the morning fire; and once, when evil omens arose
affecting the life of K'amtrii rinpoch'e (among other things, a rainbow
had touched his jeep), a "service" was convened: while the
monks and literate lay people read the scriptures, all the others sat
outside from morning until evening, spinning their prayer wheels
and reciting this hymn.