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Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā; Standard Tibetan: སྒྲོལ་མ, dölma), Ārya Tārā (Noble Tara), also known as Jetsün Dölma (Tibetan: rje btsun sgrol ma, meaning: "Venerable Mother of Liberation"), is an important female Buddha in Buddhism, especially revered in Vajrayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. She may appear as a female bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, Green Tara is a female Buddha who is a consort of Amoghasiddhi Buddha. Tārā is also known as a saviouress who hears the cries of beings in saṃsāra and saves them from worldly and spiritual danger. In Vajrayana, she is considered to be a Buddha, and the Tārā Tantra describes her as "a mother who gives birth to the buddhas of the three times" who is also "beyond saṃsāra and nirvāṇa." She is one of the most important female deities in Vajrayana and is found in sources like the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, and the Guhyasamāja Tantra. Key Indic Vajrayana texts which focus on Tārā include the Tantra Which is the Source for All the Functions of Tārā, Mother of All the Tathagatas (Skt. Sarvatathāgatamātṛtārāviśvakarmabhavanāmatantra) and Tārā’s Fundamental Ritual Text (Tārāmūlakalpa). Both Green and White Tārā remain popular meditation deities or yidams in Tibetan Buddhism, and Tara is also revered in Newar Buddhism. Tārā is considered to have many forms or emanations, while Green Tara emanates twenty-one Tārās, each with different attributes - colors, implements, and activities such as pacifying (śānti), increasing (pauṣṭika), enthralling (vaśīkaraṇa), and wrathful (abhicāra). The Green Tara (or "blue-green", Skt. Samayatara or śyāmatārā) remains the most important form of the deity in Tibetan Buddhism. A practice text entitled Praises to the Twenty-One Taras is a well known text on Tara in Tibetan Buddhism and in Tibet, recited by children and adults, and is the textual source for the twenty-one forms of Green Tārā. The main Tārā mantra is the same for Buddhists and Hindus alike: oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. It is pronounced by Tibetans and Buddhists who follow the Tibetan culture as oṃ tāre tu tāre ture soha. The literal translation would be "Oṃ O Tārā, I pray O Tārā, O Swift One, So Be It!" Etymology Tārā (Devanagari: तारा) is a feminine noun derived from the root √tṝ, "to cross." It is causative, and as such means "to cause to cross," i.e., "to rescue." This is why the name is sometimes translated as "savioress" or "rescuer". For example, in Tibetan, she is known as Jetsun Drölma ( རྗེ་བརྩུན་སྒྲོལ་མ།།, སྒྲོལ་མ, Wylie: rje btsun sgrol ba), meaning "Venerable Saviour" which is derived from the Tibetan verb sgrol ba meaning "to save, rescue, liberate; to carry, transport, or cross; and to expel or drive away [evil]". The name Tārā may also mean "star" or "planet" (since they are celestial bodies which cross the sky and are thus literally "crossers"). In East Asian Buddhism she is known as 多羅菩薩 (Pinyin: Duōluó Púsà), with Púsà indicating bodhisattva status. In Japanese she is 多羅菩薩 たらぼさつ Tara Bosatsu. The name means "Bodhisattva who catches many" or "Bodhisattva who collects numerous [sentient beings]", derived from the characters: 羅, "to catch, gather, collect, sift," and 多 "many; much; a lot of; numerous". The Tārāṣṭottaraśatanāmāvalī, "108 Names of [Divine Personage] Tara", is a Sanskrit hymn which contains a set of 108 names and epithets for the deity. History Buddhist studies scholars generally agree that the worship of Tara began growing in popularity in India during the 6th century. Tārā came to be seen as an expression of the compassion of perfected wisdom only later, with her earliest textual reference being the Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa (c. 5th–8th centuries CE). The earliest, solidly identifiable image of Tārā is most likely that which is still found today at cave 6 within the rock-cut Buddhist monastic complex of the Ellora Caves in Maharashtra (c. 7th century CE). Her worship was well established by the onset of the Pala Empire in Eastern India (8th century CE). The origin of Tārā is unclear and remains a source of inquiry among scholars. Mallar Ghosh believes her to have originated as a form of the goddess Durga. Tārā is worshiped both in Buddhism as well as in Shaktism (Hinduism) as one of the ten Mahavidyas. According to Beyer, the enlightened feminine makes its first appearance in Mahayana Buddhism as Prajñāpāramitā Devi, the personified Perfection of Wisdom, who is also called mother of Buddhas. Tara eventually came to be considered the "Mother of all Buddhas" by Indian tantric Buddhists, taking on this epithet from Prajñaparamita. The term mother of Buddhas usually refers to a transcendent awakened wisdom, though it also echoes the ancient Indian motif of the Mother Goddess (Devi Mata). Tārā became a very popular Vajrayana deity with the rise of tantric Buddhism in north India. Tārā worship also spread to other parts of India, as well as to Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, where depictions of the deity have been discovered by archeologists. With the movement of Indian Buddhism into Tibet, the worship and practices of Tārā became incorporated into Tibetan Buddhism as well. As the worship of Tārā developed, various prayers, chants and mantras became associated with her. These came out of a felt devotional need, and from her inspiration causing spiritual masters to compose sadhanas, stotras, or tantric meditations. Independent of whether she is classified as a deity, a Buddha, or a bodhisattva, Tārā remains very popular in Tibet (and Tibetan communities in exile in Northern India), Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and is worshiped in many Buddhist communities throughout the world (though in East Asian Buddhism, Guanyin is the most popular female deity). In Tibet, Green Tārā was also considered to have manifested as the Nepalese Princess (Bhrikuti), and White Tārā's manifestation as the Chinese princess Kongjo (Princess Wencheng). Origin myth Tārā has many origin stories which explain her origin as a bodhisattva. According to one story, Tārā arose from Avalokiteshvara's compassionate tears when he wept on seeing all the suffering of all the beings in samsara. His tears turned into a lotus, out of which Tārā arose. The Indian master Sūryagupta explains this myth as follows: What was Her origin? - Arya-Lokesvara, the Lord and Refuge of the Three Realms, Desire, Form, and Formless, which depend on the five or [in the Formless Realm] four aggregates that perish in an instant, saw that however many migrating beings he removed from samsara, they grew no fewer, and He wept. Tara sprang from the opening filaments of his face - of an utpala (blue lotus) that grew in the water of His tears. Another tale begins with a young princess who lives in a different world system, millions of years in the past. Her name is Jñanachandra or Yeshe Dawa, which means "Moon of Primordial Awareness". For quite a number of aeons she makes offerings to the Buddha of that world system, whose name was Tonyo Drupa. She recei.... Discover the Tara Lush popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Tara Lush books.