‘Tara, a Buddhist deity’
Good morning,
Today’s Companionship email comes from Dr Sam Pehrson, our Honorary Buddhist Chaplain. He writes:
The coronavirus has brought with it a lot of uncertainty and fear, both about the short and long term impacts of this epidemic. When Donald invited contributions for the Companionship email I thought I would take the opportunity to introduce Tara – a Buddhist deity particularly associated with protection from fear – to those who might be unfamiliar with her.
Tara’s name means ‘star’ in Sanskrit, referring to the importance of stars for navigation and therefore safety at sea. While appearing as a goddess who offers protection, the deepest meaning of Tara is the innate purity of our own minds (or hearts; the meanings overlap much more in Buddhist languages), liberated from the delusions that temporarily obscure it. When Buddhists ritually invoke and relate to Tara through visual forms, prayers and mantras, they connect with this nature and make it manifest in the world.
Here are two images of Tara: An 18th century Tibetan painting, and a 7th century carving in the Ellora caves in India.
According to one legend, a princess called Wisdom Moon was so moved by unlimited compassion for all living beings that she vowed to become a Buddha in order to guide and support them. Monks told her that she had better pray to be reborn as a man, believing the enlightenment is only possible in male form. Wisdom Moon was defiant: she vowed to be reborn as a woman in all her future lives and to attain enlightenment in female form. She eventually fulfilled this vow and became Tara. Because of this, Tara perhaps has a particularly strong connection with female spiritual practitioners devalued by the patriarchy of religious institutions.
In another story, Tara was born spontaneously from a tear on the face of the Bodhisattva Avalokitshvara, when he saw the apparently hopeless depth of suffering experienced by countless living beings. Tara encouraged him, restoring his confidence in the possibility of liberation from the causes of suffering and his commitment to work for the benefit of all of them without exception. In that way Tara is seen as an energetic, active, confident aspect of enlightened compassion. A popular prayer composed in Sanskrit, the ‘Praise to 21 Taras’ refers to this:
Homage to you, Tara, the swift heroine,
Whose eyes are like a flash of lightning,
Whose water-born face arises from the blossoming lotus,
Of Avalokiteshvara, protector of the three worlds
The 20th verse of this prayer also seems apt:
Homage to you, Tara, whose two eyes – the sun and moon –
Radiate an excellent radiant light;
By uttering HARA twice and TUTTARA,
You dispel all violent epidemic disease.
The sun and moon usually symbolize wisdom and compassion, the two sides of Mahayana Buddhist path, but according to a Tibetan commentary on this verse, here they represent hot, forceful and cool, gentle forms of compassion. ‘Hara’ and ‘tuttara’ are expressions of these. Disease is often a metaphor in Buddhism for the afflictions of hatred, craving, confusion and on.
I think dispelling COVID-19 depends on appropriate action by human beings rather than a deity. However I am certain that Tara’s fearlessness based on her understanding of interdependence and impermanence, her undiscriminating compassion for all, and her swift decisive action, are all qualities that we all need at this time.
Here is my own Tara statue. May her open, loving and vital energy sustain us through the months ahead! Om tare tuttare ture svaha
Thank you Sam for this contribution.
Yours,
Donald.