Tara is the Goddess of Compassion in Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism. Tara was quite a surprise to me. I had not expected to find a such a feminist among the early goddesses. Tara appeared in Buddhist writings after she had also been a part of Hinduism, after about the year 500.

One story has it that she was born from the tears of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. (A bodhisattva is a person who has attained Enlightenment, but who postpones Nirvana in order to help others on earth to attain Enlightenment.) He wept as he looked upon the world of suffering, and his tears formed a lake in which a lotus sprung up. When the lotus opened, the goddess Tara emerged.

Rose tells us that:

One story of Tara tells how she reached a high level of spiritual attainment and was advised that she should ask to come back as a man on the next turn of the wheel so she might progress further. She was incensed and declared she would only incarnate as a woman, and when she does transcend she will be a woman. She was also saddened by the lack of those working for the enlightenment of women.

It was radical to defy the tradition of assuming only male rebirths after taking the Bodhisattva Vow, let alone to make a second immediate vow - to work for others forever in the form of a woman.

Alana tells us even more about Tara.

Like Chinese Buddhist's Quan Yin, Tibetan's Tara has a heavy heart for humans, especially her followers who were tortured and killed in Tibet. She is the mediator between The Buddha and humankind, and all who ask for her help and mercy will be answered. She is the Goddess of action.
Goddess Tara is often depicted as a green skinned woman, at her right hand is the conventional truth, positioned in the perfection of charity and her left hand symbolizes the absolute truth and protection from terror. Her right foot is stretched out is the abandonment of all defects, and her left foot is drawn back to symbolize the understanding of qualities. The lotus flower represents the giving of great joy to all and is the universal Tibetan symbol of compassion.

The Goddess Tara,also called "The Mother of all Buddhas", is a collection of attributes, and is pictured as many as 20 different ways. Green Tara, with a partially opened lotus blossom , is of the night. The daytime Tara is the white Tara, with a fully opened lotus blossom.

Tara is a compassionate woman elevated to deity status, a rare thing in world religions. And she loves her womanhood, refusing opportunities to come back in another life as a man. She is compassionate, but not subservient.

To hear a mantras for both the green and white Taras, access Paula's Buddhist music site.

Some of the other colors of Taras are
Red Tārā, of fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all good things
Black Tārā, associated with power
Yellow Tārā, associated with wealth and prosperity
Blue Tārā, associated with transmutation of anger

These colors get important when Thangka are made. These are iconic religious scroll paintings done in profound detail according to set rules. Ashley wrote about her trip to Tibet and blogged many fine photos of an artist at work in his Thangka shop.

When Anna went to Tibet, she carried with her a statue of Tara that her friend wanted her to bring back to Tibet with her. Anna says:" The Tara that I had been entrusted with was, appropriately, Tara who protects from political oppression." Her blog tells the story of that eventful trip.

Eccentric Yoruba tells us what attracted her to Tara:

So...why do I like Tara so? First of all I like her name a lot, to me it is just so simple. Secondly, she had helped break down some negative views I had of Buddhism because I honestly thought that no woman could attain enlightenment till she was reborn as a man. As long as Tara exists, that sort of squashes that notion. Thirdly, I like that she was stood up to the monks who suggests that she pray to be reborn as a man and I like that she is concerned with the welfare of females. This makes her so real to me, it makes her identifiable. Thus, though Tara may not be a warrior goddess like those violent ones I love who feast on the blood of their victims and destroy (within reason), she is still fierce in her own way. Warrior goddesses are great but it is nice to have the saviour goddesses too because it creates a balance. It may take a while before another goddess 'finds' me and I am motivated to write about her.

Even the Dalai Lama admires her :

A quote from H.H the Dalai Lama about Tara, spoken at a conference on Compassionate Action in Newport Beach, CA in 1989:
"There is a true feminist movement in Buddhism that relates to the goddess Tara. Following her cultivation of bodhicitta, the bodhisattva's motivation, she looked upon the situation of those striving towards full awakening and she felt that there were too few people who attained Buddhahood as women. So she vowed, 'I have developed bodhicitta as a women. For all my lifetimes along the path I vow to be born as a woman, and in my final lifetime when I attain Buddhahood, then, too, I will be a woman.' This is true feminism."

The spiritual images we have of women in Western traditions are not usually as vivid and as powerful as Tara. I hope you have enjoyed reading about her.

Mata H also blogs at Time"s Fool