Tara: Compassion in Action

© Copyright 2025 Fran Carey, All Rights Reserved.

The Taras, while not goddesses, are feminine personifications of Avalokiteshvara, created from His tears when He looked at the earth and saw the suffering of the beings here.

They cannot be considered goddesses because, as the religion of no religion, in fact, of nonattachment, Buddhism does not actually recognize the existence of deities.  The Divine is in you, is you, and you are the Divine in Buddhist teachings.

There are dozens of Taras, each of which is an avatar of Avalokiteshvara, a Boddhisattva of Compassion.  Avalokiteshvara is also the Boddhisattva from which Kuan Yin was born.

Below is a list of the Taras most commonly depicted in imagery and statuary in the West:

1. The White Tara: Serenity and Healing
2. The Green Tara: Protection and Liberation
3. The Red Tara: Love and Passion
4. The Black Tara: Power and Protection
5. The Blue Tara: Transmutation of Anger
6. The Yellow Tara: Wealth and Abundance
7. The Orange Tara: Courage and Morality

Of those, White Tara and Green Tara are the most common. The White Tara is pure compassion, ready, willing, and able to help all sentient beings in times of struggle or strife, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. She is generally shown seated on a moon disc, in a meditative posture and holding an open lotus blossom in her left hand, which is over her heart.   

Green Tara is ready to jump to our aid, with one foot on the ground and holding a closed lotus blossom. She is compassion in action, and should be approached when desiring liberation from the illusions of suffering to which we bind ourselves during our incarnation in this world, and not only for yourself, but for the benefit of all sentient beings.  According to The Iconography of Nepalese Buddhism, She is generally presented as a young maiden with one face and two arms, and wears a crown with five buddha images.  

There are 21 emanations of each of the Green and White Taras, but over 108 of the Boddhisatva Herself.  She provides an accessible, flexible, and multifaceted path to the Feminine Divine, and is happy to work with those who follow the Buddhist path or any sentient being open to accepting Her guidance, help, and support.

Each Tara has a mantra that, when repeated a prescribed number of times, brings Her energy into the world and into the life of the petitioner.  As these Ladies reason for creation is to help alleviate the suffering of all beings, adding our conscious awareness to this cause is a noble pursuit, as well as a way to speed our personal journey to enlightenment and freedom from pain and sorrow.

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