Tara is the Buddhist goddess noted for her
universal compassion and her
popularity among
Buddhists. Her place in the Buddhist
pantheon is somewhat
comparable to that of
the Blessed Virgin Mary among
Roman Catholics. It is said that her name is derived from the
root tri ( = "to cross over"), which suggests that her function is to enable all
creatures to cross the Ocean of
Existence and
Suffering. In her
infinite love for all beings, greater than the love of a
mother for her
children, Tara wishes only to
protect her children from the suffering of this
world.
The story is told that in the distant past Tara was a
princess of great
spirituality and
compassion who regularly made offerings to
monks and
nuns in her
father's
kingdom. In
gratitude for her many gifts and in
recognition of her many
viritues, they offerred to
pray that she be be
reborn as a
man so that she could
spread the
religion. Her response was that of a very
modern feminist, for she told them that
male and
female were part of
maya, the
illusion of this world. Therefore she would retain the female form to serve all beings until they had attained
enlightenment.
In
recognition of her great compassion, another
legend has Tara born from the compassionate
tears of
Avalokiteshvara, the
Buddha of compassion:
Homage! Tara, swift, heroic!
With a glance like flashing lightning,
born from a blooming lotus sprung from the tears on
the face of the Lord of the World!
Avalokiteshvara, also known as Kwan-Yin among the
Chinese and Kannon in
Japan, upon seeing the suffering and pain of the world, wept tears of compassion - from the tears of the left eye emerged the
peaceful white Tara, and from the right a
fierce green one.
Some have a vision of you (Tara) as red as the sun with rays
more brilliant and red than the lac and the vermilion.
Others see you blue like the sapphire.
Some again see you whiter than the milk churned out of the milky ocean.
Still others see you golden.
Your visva-rupa is like a crystal which changes its color with
the change of the things around it.