Tara, Letting Go, and the Grace That Finds Us

The recent Jivamukti Focus of the Month, Held by What We Hold: The Wisdom of Tara by Janka O. and Marie C.,  focuses on a central insight which is simple and profound: we are not trapped by life itself, but by what we continue to cling to—our fears, identities, resentments, stories, expectations, and the need to control what was never ours to control.

Om tãre tutãre ture sohã

“O Goddess Tara, deliver us from suffering by teaching us

 to let go of that which is holding us from freedom.”

This mantra to Tara is not a plea for rescue. Rather, it is a prayer for wisdom. Not “take this away,” but “teach me how to release what binds me.” 

This teaching resonates deeply for me because it mirrors so much of my own spiritual path.

When Practice Deepens

Many people come to yoga looking for flexibility, strength, or stress relief. Those things matter. They can be beautiful doorways. But over time, the deeper gifts of yoga begin to reveal themselves.

There comes a moment when one realizes the real work is not touching one’s toes. It is loosening the grip of the ego. It is learning to sit with discomfort without immediately reacting. It is noticing how the mind creates suffering and how mindful awareness can gently unwind it.

Again and again, yoga has shown me that freedom is less about gaining something new and more about releasing what is false. The habits. The old wounds. The identities that once protected us but now confine us. The belief that peace will come only when everything outside of us changes.

Tara and the Courage to Stay Open

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Goddess Tara is described as the embodiment of compassion, protection, and fearless action. True compassion is not sentimental. It is brave.

Compassion asks us to remain open in a world where it might feel safer to close. To keep loving after loss. To trust after disappointment. To soften when life has hardened us.

This has been one of the great teachings of devotion in my own life.

Through mantra, chanting, satsang, and the path of bhakti, I’ve experienced that the heart does not heal by armoring itself. It heals by opening to something larger than personal fear. Grace enters where defensiveness ends.

There have, of course, been seasons when I wanted answers, certainty, or immediate relief. Instead, what arrived was practice. Presence. Patience. A deeper invitation to surrender.  At first, surrender can feel like loss.  Later, we understand it as liberation.

Held by Grace, Not by Grasping

One of the paradoxes of the spiritual path is this: when we stop trying to hold everything together, we begin to feel held. Held by community. Held by mantra. Held by love. Held by the quiet intelligence of life itself. Held by the Divine in forms both seen and unseen. As my teacher Sharon Gannon says, “Let go of it all and receive everything.” 

This has been true in my own journey. I find the more I let go, the better it gets. Some of the most meaningful transformations have not happened because I forced them. They happened when I softened enough to receive them. When I let grief become prayer. When uncertainty became trust. When longing became devotion. When the mind finally bowed to the wisdom of the heart.

What Are You Holding?

Tara’s wisdom invites a tender question: What are you carrying that is ready to be set down?Perhaps it is an old story about who you are. Perhaps it is resentment that has become heavy. Perhaps it is the pressure to have it all figured out. Perhaps it is fear disguised as control.  

You do not have to rip it away. You do not have to become someone else overnight. You only have to begin noticing the grip. And then, with practice, compassion, and courage, loosen it.

The Path Forward

This is why we practice. Not to perfect the body. Not to perform spirituality. Not to escape being human. We practice to become free while living. To remember what remains when illusion falls away. To live from love rather than fear. Tara reminds us that the doorway is not somewhere else. It is here, in this very moment, in the willingness to release what no longer serves awakening.

Throughout each day, especially when you find that you’re caught up in the mind and thoughts, ask yourself, “What can I let go of in this moment?” 

May we have the courage to let go. May we have the wisdom to trust what remains.May we discover that beneath all the grasping, we are always being held.