Tara, the deity who delivers beings in a great many forms, is deeply revered in Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia. She is the feminine aspect of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. By a widespread belief she arose from a tear of Avalokiteshvara, shed when the bodhisattva wept in pity for beings drowning in the ocean of craving. Like Avalokiteshvara, Tara is a deity of compassion, carrying beings “across the ocean of samsara to the shore of liberation”, and a protector of laypeople and spiritual practitioners alike.
The Origins and Etymology of Tara
The earliest trace of the worship of Tara appears in the fifth century, though the deity is likely older still, since Hinduism names her in the Rig Veda (Rig Veda, c. 1500–1100 BCE). She is also linked to Prajnaparamita, Mother of the Buddhas, in the Perfection of Wisdom (Skt. Prajnaparamita Sutra, c. first century BCE to sixth century CE). The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol), widely known in Tibet from the eighth century, names her as well.
In Sanskrit her name (Skt. Tara) means “she who delivers” — rendered into Tibetan as Jetsun Drölma (Tib. rje btsun sgrol ba) — though it may equally be translated “star”. As a bright star guides those who have lost their way, beings recite her name to find the road to enlightenment. She is acknowledged as a Mother of the Buddhas across a great many Buddhist traditions, and is perhaps best known in the West through the figure of Guanyin in China. From the distant past to the present day, Tara remains one of the most celebrated and powerful female deities of Vajrayana Buddhism.
In Tibetan Buddhism, when the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara stood upon a mountain peak and looked out over the world, he saw beings sunk in suffering through ignorance, caught in their fears and bound to an endless round of birth and death. However many he strove to deliver, the number of beings turning in samsara grew no less. At that sight the bodhisattva shed two tears of pity. They fell to the earth and became a lake, and from its surface rose a lotus which, opening, revealed Tara. For this reason Tara is also acknowledged as a female form of Avalokiteshvara, the embodiment of compassion and wisdom.
By another account she was born the princess Moon of Wisdom (Skt. Jnanachandra; Tib. Yeshe Dawa), in the realm of Manifold Light. Through many lifetimes of offering and resolute striving she was accepted as a disciple by the buddha of that realm, who set her upon the path to liberation. Having realised considerable spiritual attainment, she took the bodhisattva vow and received the buddha’s prophecy and blessing. The monks, greatly delighted, urged her to pray for rebirth in a male body, so that she might advance further in her next life. Yeshe Dawa answered them:
In awakened awareness there is no male, no female,
Yeshe Dawa
no self, no person, no discrimination at all.
“Male” and “female” are names and nothing more,
born of minds that do not see.
She then vowed always to be reborn in a female body within samsara, since the path to enlightenment already held a great many masculine exemplars while feminine ones remained few. She continued in diligent practice, cultivating great compassion and refining skilful means, and by these delivered measureless beings from the whirl of birth and death. At the last she became Tara, ever ready to come to the aid of beings who call upon her name in peril.
A Symbol of Transformation
Tara is believed to come swiftly to the aid of those who recite her mantra (Skt. mantra), Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha. This mantra not only invites her to appear and bestow her blessing upon the one reciting it, but also supports positive transformation and change in the practitioner’s body and mind.
Tara herself appears in twenty-one different forms, each representing an aspect of transformation. Besides the mantra above, devoted Buddhists also recite the Praise to the Twenty-One Taras, in order to overcome the hardships, obstacles and afflictions met with in daily life.
Tibetans believe that she incarnated as the two wives of the Buddhist king Songtsen Gampo (569–649/650): the white form, White Tara, as the Chinese princess Wencheng, and the green form, Green Tara, as the Nepalese princess Bhrikuti.
White Tara
White Tara (Skt. Sitatara; Tib. Sgrol dkar ljang gu) signifies perfect purity, and is commonly shown standing at the right hand of Avalokiteshvara, or seated cross-legged holding a lotus in full bloom. She is also the long-life aspect of Tara, known too as Saptalocana Tara, “Tara of the Seven Eyes”. In her role as a principal meditational deity (yidam) she bears the name “Wish-Fulfilling Wheel White Tara” (Skt. Chinta-chakra Sita Tara). One of the three principal long-life deities of Vajrayana, White Tara commonly appears together with Amitayus and Ushnishavijaya. Her sadhana is practised chiefly to seek long life, to ease illness, and to remove the obstacles that lead to untimely death. Thangkas of White Tara and of the “Three Long-Life Deities” are commonly commissioned for these purposes, or to pray for an auspicious rebirth for relatives and friends recently deceased.
In the form of Wish-Fulfilling Wheel White Tara she is graceful, youthful and beautiful as a girl of sixteen, white of complexion, full-breasted and slender-waisted, with a kindly smile. She is adorned with seven arched eyes: the three upon her face signify perfection of body, speech and mind, while the four in her palms and the soles of her feet represent the “four immeasurables” — loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. She sits in the vajra posture, her right hand in the gesture of granting boons (varada mudra), her left holding a blue utpala lotus before her heart in the gesture of fearlessness (abhaya mudra).
Green Tara
Green Tara (Skt. Shyamatara; Tib. Sgrol ma ljang gu) is held by some to be the principal form of the deity, and is the consort of the buddha Amoghasiddhi. She is revered as “the Mother of all the Buddhas”, the embodiment of great compassion and perfect wisdom, who delivers beings from the “eight great fears”.
In thangka painting she is peaceful and youthful as a girl of sixteen, her body the green of emerald, representing the wind element and the power to accomplish every activity swiftly. She sits in the posture of “relaxed play” (Skt. alidha ardha-paryanka lalita) — the right leg extended, letting go of every fault, the left drawn up, penetrating every positive quality — upon a moon disc, the nature of enlightenment, and a lotus, unstained by delusion. She leans a little to the left, her right hand resting upon her knee in the gesture of granting boons, bestowing enlightenment on all beings; her left in the gesture of fearlessness before her breast, guarding beings from all fear and terror. She holds a pure blue utpala lotus, signifying the transcendence of every imperfection.
A Buddha for Women
As a buddha in a woman’s body, Tara affirms a truth: women are as capable of enlightenment as men. Some strands of Buddhist thought hold that only through rebirth in a male body may a practitioner realise awakening and free themselves from the round of samsara. Yet Tara’s story in the realm of Manifold Light demonstrates that “male” and “female” are only labels, binding beings to a discriminating and ignorant mind and blinding them to ultimate reality.
In whatever form she appears, Tara remains the embodiment of great compassion and wisdom, a light upon the road for the countless practitioners who walk the path towards enlightenment.
Curated and synthesised by
Jigme
References
Beer, Robert. “White Tara”. Tibetan Buddhist and Newar Tantric Art. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.tibetanart.com/Product.asp?PID=267
Beer, Robert. “Green Tara”. Tibetan Buddhist and Newar Tantric Art. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.tibetanart.com/Product.asp?PID=339
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Tara”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tara-Buddhist-goddess
Leidy, Denise Patry. The Art of Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala, 2009.
Mark, Joshua J. “Tara”. World History Encyclopedia, 2021. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.worldhistory.org/Tara_(Goddess)
Willson, Martin. In Praise of Tara: Songs to the Saviouress. London: Wisdom Publications, 1996.
