Palden Lhamo, the Terrifying Protector Aspect of Tara, Supreme Dharma Protector Mother

As a child, who did you go to for protection: the parent who let you do anything and smiled while you did it, or the parent who yanked you back from the brink with a stern voice and scowl. When all is right with the world, we go to the smiling parent. When we are in danger, we need our wrathful parent. Palden Lhamo is that wrathful parent we need when we're in danger.

00:00 Introduction — the Stern Parent Protector Palden Lhamo
00:55 Palden Lhamo, as Wrathful Tara or Sarasvati
01:33 Venerable Zasep Rinpoche on Palden Lhamo
02:18 What Protectors do in Tibetan Buddhism
04:00 How important is Palden Lhamo Practice?
05:13 Teacher Vesantara: “The One Who Crushes the Hosts of Passions.”
05:28 Palden Lhamo’s Gruesome Origin Story and Legend
08:44 Ferocious Appearance, Iconography, and Symbolism
09:53 Tea Offering Praise Verse Describing Palden Lhamo
11:17 Outer, Inner and Secret Symbolism of Palden Lhamo
13:10 Lion-Faced Dakini and Makara-Faced Dakini Attendants
14:19 Full Tea Offering demonstrated including Refuge, Dedication, and Praises (with lyrics)

More about Palden Lhamo on Buddha Weekly — very extensive feature! here: https://buddhaweekly.com/get-away-lik...

In Tibetan Buddhism, Palden Lhamo is that ferocious mother protector. Also known as Shridevi, she is the enraged, dark emanation of Vajra Sarasvati — who is an emanation of Tara. She is like the no-nonsense, stern mother, who can pull you back from danger with awesome motherly strength.

Palden Lhamo is the unrestrainable, bulked-up mother who can lift a car off of a trapped child — the awesome power of a furious mother. You could think of Tara as the "nice mother" supportive and protective, with embracing arms, and Palden Lhamo as the same mother, but super wrathful, enraged, and awesome in Her power; nothing, absolutely nothing, can stand against Her. You can also think of Palden Lhamo as the fierce aspect of wisdom, as the wrathful emanation of Vajra Sarasvati.
According to Venerable Zasep Rinpoche:
" Palden Lhamo, meaning Glorious Goddess, is a fierce Dharma protector of Tibet. She has many names and takes many forms. Palden Lhamo is an emanation of Tara and Sarasvati. On an ultimate level, Palden Lhamo is a fully enlightened being. On a worldly level, in order to subdue and convert rough and difficult beings, she became a wrathful and fearsome goddess. She has different names and different emanations.

It may seem odd to consider both White Tara, and dark Palden Lhamo as Mothers — emanations of the same being. Yet, mothers can be ferocious when they need to be.

Rob Preece, in The Psychology of Buddhist Tantra, describes her ferocious mother aspect this way:
“She is a ferocious-looking crone, a wild and terrible demoness, riding a mule across an ocean of blood… Thus, as in all deities, a dual nature is evident; light and dark, upper world and underworld, peaceful and wrathful. The forces of the Shadow are not inherently demonic and terrible. Light and dark, good and evil, creation and destruction are relative dualities that have no ultimate true nature.”
Against who is her ferocious power directed? Not just against the dangers of our world, but against our own ignorance
Rob Preece, in The Psychology of Buddhist Tantra,(* affiliate link on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3hSJPD8 )

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