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This podcast features a recording from our workshop at YogaSangha in San Francisco. Nicole, Heather, Hetty, Ari and Angie joined Heidi and me in chanting the mantra of Green Tara. Om Tare Tuttare Ture Swoha.
Tara means "star," "planet," or "she who ferries across." She is a bodhisattva embodying compassion in the female form of a young goddess. She is often considered to be such an advanced bodhisattva that she is actually a Buddha.
Tara’s name is said to derive from the verb meaning "to cross" or "to traverse". In Pali the verb tarati means "to get to the other side." This word is cognate with the Latin "trans" (across). The word Tara also literally means "star."
Green Tara (Shyama Tara or Dark Tara)) is seated on a white moon-disk. Her green complexion symbolizes the active function of the fully-enlightened being. The moon symbolizes her peacefulness. The moon is resting upon a lotus. The lotus symbolizes her freedom from any defilement, just as the lotus rises out of the mud of the swamp, but the blossom itself is pure and undefiled. In the same way, Green Tara arises in the world but is completely undefiled by the world.
Her posture is the 'lalitasana' or royal ease asana. Her left leg is withdrawn in the Lotus pose, to symbolize her mastery of Insight and detachment from the 5 Emotional Defilements (Klesha). Her right leg is in the Euro-posture in front of her body, slightly bent, with her foot on a lotus blossom. This signifies her ability to spring into action, to act swiftly for the compassionate protection of all sentient beings.
In each hand she usually holds the stem of a blue utpala flower. Each flower consists of three blossoms indicating that Tara, the embodiment of enlightened activities, is the Mother of the Buddhas of the past, present and future. The Buddha of the past is the Treasure Tower Buddha, the present refers to Shakyamuni, while the Buddha of the Future is Maitreya, the Buddha of Loving Kindness (Maitri or Metta).
Her right hand, (left-facing) is actually in the Dana or Varada Mudra (The Gift bestowing Gesture of Compassion) with the palm turned outwards. The five extended fingers in this mudra symbolize the following five perfections: Generosity, Morality, Patience, Effort, and Meditative concentration.
The left hand is held up, again with the palm facing outward, and grasping the uptala lotus. This is Abhaya Mudra the gesture of fearlessness and refuge. There is also a lot of other symbolism in the image, including the Aura or Halo, the Tiara, various jewels representing the paramittas, and her silk attire.
The origins of Tara are, as with most Bodhisattvas, obscure and sometimes contradictory. Since we’re dealing with a realm of myth and imagination, however, contradictions merely add richness!
In one myth, Avalokitesvara was looking at the world in compassion (the literal meaning of his name is "The Lord Who Looks Down") and saw innumerable beings suffering. He saw the pains involved at birth. He saw old age, sickness, and death. He saw beings suffering because they lacked what they wanted, and saw them suffering because they were burdened by things they did not want. He saw beings seeking happiness but creating suffering, and saw beings trying to avoid suffering but running headlong into it.
Since Avalokiteshvara had expended a vast amount of energy trying to liberate innumerable beings from the sufferings of existence, and since there were still uncountable beings suffering, he began to weep. His tears flowed down, and kept flowing until they had created a vast lake.
Then out of this lake — the quintessence of Avalokiteshvara’s compassion — arose a blue utpala lotus, and on this lotus appeared a 16-year-old girl in the form of a goddess. This was Tara.
In another myth, in a time long ago Tara was known as Jñānacandrā or Moon of Wisdom. She vowed that, rather than take the traditionally more advantageous form of a man in her future lives, she would continue to manifest in female form in order to save sentient beings. As a result of her prowess, the Buddha Amoghasiddhi gave her the name Tārā, or "Savioress."
Historically, there is no record of Tara before around the 5th or 6th century C.E. She seems to have evolved from the early Brahminical goddess Durgā [Durgaa] ("difficult or narrow passage") with whom she shares many attributes and names. According to the Hindu classic, the Mahābhārata, Durgā gets her name because she rescues people from difficult passage. This version of Durgā is not the same as the later warrior-goddess!
As might be imagined, Tara first appeared in India. She is one of the most popular Buddhist deities in Tibet, and it’s said that her mantra is second only to Avalokiteshvara’s. Although her form spread to the far east, the presence of Kwan-Yin, a female form of Avalokiteshvara, seems to have filled the "ecological niche" of the compassionate female bodhisattva.
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