Though in a wrathful form, the Protector is always motivated by compassion and loving care for all sentient beings.

As an Enlightened Buddha, Setrap’s apparent fury is never directed against any beings. Instead, his wrath is directed at destroying our inner and secret defilements of attachment, anger, ignorance and our self-cherishing attitudes which bring us so much suffering.

Utterly opposed to attachment, Setrap acts with objectless equanimity towards all beings. Being the great enemy of anger, Setrap acts with supreme love towards all beings.

Being the victor over ignorance, Setrap directly cognises Emptiness and possesses the highest wisdom that perceives the best manner of liberating all sentient beings. As the antidote to the self-cherishing attitude, Setrap cherishes all beings above Himself.

With sincere prayers and request of His assistance, Setrap is known to accomplish the swiftest destruction of outer, inner and secret obstacles in our path towards Enlightenment.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM MAHA YAK CHA TSA SOHA

Kalarupa displays himself as the direct spiritual protector force for all “ugliness” arising from the true inner spiritual obstacles of fear, hatred, pride and jealousy.

The intense “ugliness” and fierceness of this iconography alone, serves as a teaching to remind us that all the causes and effects of anger arising from ignorance is “ugly”, distorted, even frightening.

We may think that his form is horrible and disgusting on all levels but Kalarupa is actually urging us to consider our appearance to others when we are under the afflictive emotions of fear, pride, jealousy and hatred. From these poisons Kalarupa displays our appearance to others when we use harsh speech and actions.

However, his entire form sits on a lotus to signify that everything he does, no matter how wrathful its appearance, is done out of a deep compassion to help us out of our suffering. He is thus also the opponent of all that is ugly and angersome: following his practice can help us to overcome the angers and desires, which cause others and ourselves to suffer.

As an emanation of Manjushri, Kalarupa’s practice ultimately helps us to destroy ignorance and develop wisdom to overcome our anger and suffering. Anyone, from any lineage who is dedicated to cut out their anger can practice Kalarupa.

However, he is often also known as the special protector of Yamantaka practitioners, where he helps to protect against demons and subdue anger that may arise during Yamantaka retreats. In this way, having Kalarupa in your home is also very good for dispelling bad, harmful spirits and black magic.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM KALARUPA HUNG PHET

Palden Lhamo’s form is that of a fierce female ogress, with jutting teeth and fangs. Her three eyes represent her ability to see into past, present and future realms without any type of obstruction. She is dark blue in colour representing her attainment of great bliss – the realization of emptiness.

Her right hand is in the sky holding a skull cup representing the destruction of obstacles. The skull cup is filled with blood, representing great bliss.

She carries a human-skin bag full of diseases that she collects from those who invoke her. Her legs are in a semi-relaxed posture and chains connect one ankle to the other.

Palden Lhamo is the personal protector of the Panchen Lama and of all fourteen incarnations of the Dalai Lama. She is practiced within all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and she is a fully enlightened Buddha.

Propitiating her and making offerings to her is extremely beneficial to overcome our spiritual and worldly obstacles.

Her spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

JO RAMO JO RAMO JO JO RAMO TUNJO KALA RACHENMO RAMO AJA DAJA TUNJO RULU RULU HUNG JO HUNG

A unifying aspect of Mahakala is his wrathful demeanor which is about his inner quality of immense compassion like that of a mother displaying a fierce disposition to deter her child from being hurt by playing with fire.

This ferocity also shows his swift nature in response to our heartfelt prayers. Every pore of his body emits jets of flames engulfing his entire body with a spectacular aureole of obstacle-cleansing pure flames.

One of the more popular forms of Mahakala is Four-Faced Mahakala, the Lord of Stainless Wisdom and an emanation of Manjushri, Buddha of Wisdom. His four faces and four arms indicate his realization of the four noble truths.

One arm brandishes the wisdom sword of Manjushri indicating the sword-like capacity of his practice to cut asunder delusions and obstacles. Another hand wields a tantric staff which ends with a trident, representing the transmutation of ignorance, pride and anger, the root causes of our suffering.

Mahakala’s three characteristic bulging eyes stare at opponents with a ferocity that knows no bounds. He holds the skull cup and ritual chopper, symbolizing his immense power of protection for practitioners on their turbulent voyage of spiritual practice.

Propitiated, relied upon and trusted by great masters such as Nagarjuna, Arya Chandrakirti, Lama Tsongkhapa and Kyabje Zong Dorje Chang, four-faced Mahakala is invincible in protecting one’s inner space from maras and from outer interferences. He is the main protector of the Chakrasamvara tantras.

Mahakala’s blessings are especially well-known for quelling difficulties and obstacles arising form anger and depression.

Short mantra:

OM SHRI MAHAKALA HUNG PHET

Long mantra:

OM MAHAKALA KALA BIKALA RATRITA DOMBINI CANDALI RAKSHISI SINGHALI DEVIBHYO HUNG PHET

His face has a stern expression with bushy eyebrows and a beard, and his eyes are wide and round. His body a rich golden yellow in color.

His right hand holds a victory banner, while his left holds a mongoose, commonly associated with good fortune in ancient India. The mongoose spits jewels symbolizing his capacity as a wealth deity.

Vaishravana has two main aspects: that of a warrior protector and that of a deity of wealth. He is one of the primary protectors of the Gelugpa Sect, specifically serving as the Protector of the middle scope of the Lamrim.

In his capacity as one of the Four Directional Guardians, he is often depicted on the outer walls of monasteries and temples, to safeguard against harmful interferences.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM VAISHRAVANA YE SOHA

Sengdongma’s practice is crucially important for our well-being in these difficult times. She is excellent for clearing obstacles of the most pervasive and malignant kind, including spirit disturbances and black magic.

Sengdongma has one face and two arms, and her body is dark blue in colour. Her wrathful lion face is white and slightly turned to the right.

Her right hand holds aloft a ritual chopper and her left holds a white skullcup filled with blood to her heart. She carries a khatvanga staff in the crook of her left hand.

She is adorned with a tiara of five skulls, bone ornaments, a necklace of fifty freshly severed heads and wears a tiger skin skirt. She stands on her left leg with her right leg drawn up in a dancing posture in the middle of a blazing fire of pristine awareness.

Her ferocity and her quick, intense, vibrant energy will counter any negative conditions, sicknesses and misfortune befalling us. Therefore, she provides very powerful and effective protection against harm or magic that has been sent specifically to us.

Her practice is also excellent for destroying obstacles to Dharma practice so that they never disturb the tantric practitioner’s health, wellness or spiritual progress.

Her spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

AH KHA SAMA RANZA SHANDA RASA MARAYA PHET