This particular Tara, Lady Parnashavari, is very powerful. She is the element of nature. She is the storm, the flood. The peace of the forest, of the mountains and the valleys. The peace that will enforce itself if you try and pave it.
As fires consume California, innocent people are murdered on the street for the colour of their skin, and a pandemic rages across the world, a collective trauma has settled across the planet and every being on it. When our inner elements are out of balance, so too are the outer elements.
In this teaching, Lama Lena discusses the power of the mamos. In Tibetan tradition, these are considered among the main natural forces which respond to human misconduct and environmental misuse by creating obstacles and disease. In Western speak, these can be considered the forces of the natural world, personified – the eyes, ears, and sprites of Gaia herself.
The mamos become “enraged when people lose touch with their own intelligence, and therefore with reality. They are associated with the karmic consequences of degraded personal or societal actions. Their enraged response might be in proportion to the karma accumulated, but it could also be unpredictable and completely out of proportion. Similarly, we know that there have been many cases where small provocations have produced great wars. Once enraged, mamos tend to cause large-scale problems: fighting and civil discord, famines, plagues, and environmental calamities. In the mamo chant, it says that they incite cosmic warfare.”
Lama Lena and provides several methods for pacifying the mamos, including Dzogchen trekchö and the tantric practice of Tara Parnashavari. On a practical, physical level, she offers suggestions for leading a socially and ecologically ethical life and encourages continued idea sharing among sangha.
Practice Materials:
- Parnashavari Mantra: OM PISHATSI PARNA SHAVARI SARVA MARI PRASHA MANI HUNG
- Parnasahvari Sadhana (PDF) – from the Drikung Kagyu lineage
- Brief Prayer for Pacifying the Turmoil of the Mamos – by Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa
- Images:
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