Tara: Buddhist Goddess in Green and White

Tara (Sanskrit, "star") is a Buddhist savior-goddess especially popular in Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. In Tibet, where Tara is the most important deity, her name is Sgrol-ma, meaning "she who saves." The mantra of Tara (om tare tuttare ture svaha) is the second most common mantra heard in Tibet, after the mantra of Chenrezi (om mani padme hum).  

The goddess of universal compassion, Tara represents virtuous and enlightened action. It is said that her compassion for living beings is stronger than a mother's love for her children. She also brings about longevity, protects earthly travel, and guards her followers on their spiritual journey to enlightenment.

Origins of Tara

Before she was adopted by Buddhism, Tara was worshipped in Hinduism as a manifestation of the goddess Parvati. The feminine principle was not venerated in Buddhism until the fourth century CE, and Tara probably entered Buddhism around the sixth century CE.

According to Buddhist tradition, Tara was born out of the tears of compassion of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. It is said that he wept as he looked upon the world of suffering beings, and his tears formed a lake in which a lotus sprung up. When the lotus opened, the goddess Tara was revealed.

A similar tradition has White Tara born from the tears of Avalokiteshvara's left eye and the Green Tara born from those of his right. In a third legend, Tara was born from a beam of blue light emanating from one of the eyes of Avalokiteshvara. Tara is also the consort of Avalokiteshvara.

Green Tara, with her half-open lotus, represents the night, and White Tara, with her lotus in full bloom, symbolizes the day. Green Tara embodies virtuous activity while White Tara displays serenity and grace. Together, the Green and White Taras symbolize the unending compassion of the goddess who labors day and night to relieve suffering.

In seventh-century Tibet, Tara was believed to be incarnated in every pious woman. She especially came to be associated with two historical wives of the first Buddhist king of Tibet, Srong-brtsan-sgam-po (d. 649). His wife from imperial China was said to be an incarnation of White Tara, while the king's Nepalese wife was an incarnation of Green Tara. It may be that the desire to regard both these pious women as incarnations of Tara led to the concept of the goddess's green and white forms.

Green Tara

Green Tara (Sanskrit: Syamatara; Tibetan: Sgrol-ljang), filled with youthful vigor, is a goddess of activity. She is the fiercer form of Tara, but is still a savior-goddess of compassion. She is the consort of Avalokiteshvara and considered by some to be the original Tara. Like Avalokiteshvara, the Green Tara is believed to be an emanation of the "self-born" Buddha Amitabha, and an image of Amitabha is sometimes depicted in Tara's headdress.

Green Tara is believed to have been incarnated as the Nepali wife of the Tibetan king Srong-brtsan-sgam-po. In Buddhism, the color green signifies activity and accomplishment. Thus Amoghasiddhi, the Lord of Action, is also associted with the color green.

Green Tara is iconographically depicted in a posture of ease and readiness for action. While her left leg is folded in the contemplative position, her right leg is outstretched, ready to spring into action. Green Tara's left hand is in the refuge-granting mudra (gesture); her right hand makes the boon-granting gesture. In her hands she also holds closed blue lotuses (utpalas), which symbolize purity and power. She is adorned with the rich jewels of a bodhisattva.

In Buddhist religious practice, Green Tara's primary role is savioress. She is believed to help her followers overcome dangers, fears and anxieties, and she is especially worshipped for her ability to overcome the most difficult of situations. Green Tara is intensely compassionate and acts quickly to help those who call upon her.

The iconography and role of Green Tara is illustrated in this medieval devotional hymn:

On a lotus seat, standing for realization of voidness,
(You are) the emerald-colored, one-faced, two-armed Lady
In youth's full bloom, right leg out, left drawn in,
Showing the union of wisdom and art - homage to you!

Like the outstretched branch of the heavenly turquoise tree,
Your supple right hand makes the boon- granting gesture,
Inviting the wise to a feast of supreme accomplishments,
As if to an entertainment-homage to you!

Your left hand gives us refuge, showing the Three Jewels;
It says, "You people who see a hundred dangers,
Don't be frightened-I shall swiftly save you!"
Homage to you!

Both hands signal with blue utpala flowers,
"Samsaric beings! Cling not to worldly pleasures.
Enter the great city of liberation!"
Flower-goads prodding us to effort-homage to you!

---First Dalai Lama (1391-1474)

White Tara

White Tara (Sanskrit: Sitatara; Tibetan: Sgrol-dkar) is sometimes called the Mother of all Buddhas and she represents the motherly aspect of compassion. Her white color signifies purity, wisdom and truth.

In iconography, White Tara often has seven eyes – in addition to the usual two, she has a third eye on her forehead and one on each of her hands and feet. This symbolizes her vigilance and ability to see all the suffering in the world. The "Tara of Seven Eyes" is the form of the goddess especially popular in Mongolia.

White Tara wears silk robes and scarves that leave her slender torso and rounded breasts uncovered in the manner of ancient India. Like Green Tara, she is richly adorned with jewels.

White Tara is seated in the diamond lotus position, with the soles of her feet pointed upward. Her posture is one of grace and calm. Her right hand makes the boon-granting gesture and her left hand is in the protective mudra. In her left hand, White Tara holds an elaborate lotus flower that contains three blooms. The first is in seed and represents the past Buddha Kashyapa; the second is in full bloom and symbolizes the present Buddha Shakyamuni; the third is ready to bloom and signifies the future Buddha Maitreya. These three blooms symbolize that Tara is the essence of the three Buddhas.

In religious practice, White Tara is believed to help her followers overcome obstacles, espeically those that inhibit the practice of religion. She is also associated with longevity.

Other Taras

Tara is sometimes depicted in colors and forms other than green and white. Tibetan temple banners frequently show 21 different Taras, colored white, red, and yellow, and grouped around a central Green Tara. In her ferocious, blue form, invoked to destroy enemies, she is known as Ugra-Tara, or Ekajata; as a red goddess of love, Kurukulla; and as a protectress against snake bite, Janguli. The yellow Bhrkuti is an angry Tara.

In Japan, Tara is a bodhisattva called Tarani Bosatsu. The Japanese Tara embodies both the white and green forms of the Tibetan Tara, and is usually only found on mandalas and temple banners. She is pale green and holds a pomegranate (a symbol of prosperity) and a lotus. Tara is not often to be found in China.

Chade-Meng Tan: Everyday compassion at Google

Muso Soseki

http://www.dailyzen.com/zen/zen_reading1104.asp

April 16, 2011
 
West Mountain Evening Talks
 
           Muso Soseki
 
The Master said, "Bukko Zenji's advice to his disciple Bukkoku goes:  'I doubt that many students in Japan will attain satori in their lifetimes.  Some students in this country tend to admire intellectual understanding instead of trying to attain satori.  It is a pity that students with great capacity waste their whole lives reading widely in the native and foreign classics, cultivating the art of composition, and in that way leaving no time for coming to see clearly into their Original Nature. There are students of another kind who do not have this wide knowledge and culture, but think it is best to sit in zazen absentmindedly, never making any real effort to seek the Way.  People like this will never reach satori, either, however long they remain in the world.'
 
"When my teacher, Bukkoku, told me this, I said, 'Apart from those who are born with the capacity for immediately perceiving the truth, which of the two you have described is superior?'  My teacher answered, 'Even students with little ability can attain satori in this life.  If they continue diligently in their zazen until the last day of the last year of their lives, a single word will be enough for them to attain satori a thousand times over.  On the other hand, those who rely on their learning will not only waste their lives in this world, but in their next lives too they will fall into a world that they would rather avoid.'"
 
A monk said to the Master, "Those who use their scholarship to seem superior to others are beyond consideration. But why do you criticize those Zen students who have studied the Zen classics and so give off the light of wisdom?"
 
The Master answered, "Second-rate and third-rate students cannot go back to their Original Home.  So out of pity for them the Patriarchs built temporary inns for them, which are like the classics you mention.  In a sense these inns are good to have. Everyone needs sermons on the sutras at the sutra inns, sermons on the precepts at the precept inns, commentary on the records of Zen at the commentary inns.  So there is no reason to rule out Zen preaching entirely.
 
"But a priest once said, 'Bodhidharma came to China from India.  And without relying on words and letters he pointed straight to the mind and brought students to realize satori!' And he went on, 'If looking into the true self is merely a matter of words, the whole of Buddhist scripture is nothing but words.  Then what is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming to China?' Huang-po says, 'If any of you students wishes to be a Buddha, there is no need at all to make a study of any Dharma whatsoever.  Just learn non-inquiry and non-attachment.  There is no mind that is born unless you seek for something.  There is no mind that dies unless you are attached to something.  To be without birth or death is Buddhahood.  The eighty-four thousand gates to the Dharma are there only to attract the students' attention.'  This is only a teaching of ours, who are followers of Bodhidharma.  All the teachings of the Great Vehicle follow the same path.
 
"The Lotus Sutra says, 'Once at the Void-King's palace a craving for enlightenment awoke in me and in Ananda at the same time.  He set about acquiring wide learning, whereas I devoted all my energies to practice.  That is why I have attained enlightenment.'  The Surangama Sutra says, 'When he saw the Buddha, Ananda cried out in grief, lamenting the fact that he could acquire no Dharma power because he had devoted himself from the beginning to seeking knowledge only.'
 
"The Sutra on Perfect Enlightenment says, 'Whatever they may desire, students with no enlightenment who do not practice have no chance of attaining satori.  They devote themselves to acquiring more knowledge, and in so doing simply make it harder than ever for themselves to see their true natures.'  No one, even though he were to emit the light of wisdom  as a result of reading many books, could compare his leaning with Ananda's.  It is much better to find the Buddha's way to enlightenment than to rely on scholarship. I am reluctant to speak of the sayings of the Patriarchs and to lecture on the sutras.  Because what I really want is to make my students understand that the core of the teachings of the Buddha and the Patriarchs is never found in words and letters."
 
The monk inquired further:  "Zen masters welcome students of the first kind, and guide them with words and with direct presentations of the mind, and they think most highly of those who have mastered both.  So it is only natural that some gifted students try to master mind and words at the same time. Do you say they are wrong?"
 
The Master answered, "One of our forerunners once said, 'Students who have had no glimpse of enlightenment would do better to study mind first rather than words.  Those who have attained some enlightenment should study words first and then mind.  You have called mind and words into question, but you know nothing of their real workings.'  Another master said, 'Words polish mind and mind polishes words. It's best when you can use them freely, just as you please.'  Do you really understand what he is saying?  You must realize that the original state of satori has nothing to do with either of them, but that mind and words are separated simply as a means for teaching novices.  Beginning students try to understand their teachers' words by analyzing them, and as a result they block their own way and lose the pointer that was guiding them toward satori.  That is why the master said, 'Students who have had no glimpse of enlightenment would do better to study mind first rather than words.' 
 
"On the other hand, someone who has attained enlightenment but not mastered words will not be recognized as a master and will not be able to teach and guide students. So one may have a high regard for a perfect command of both mind and words without directing beginners to study mind and words at the same time."

Muso Soseki (1275-1351)
 
Excerpted from  Sun at Midnight – Poems and Sermons of Muso Soseki translated by W.S. Merwin and Soiku Shigematsu

Depending on how long one has practiced, at some point we all realize the dead end of intellectual understanding.  That doesn't mean there is no value in "words and letters."  What is criticized above is the substitution of meditation time with what can become the distraction of reading one more teacher's instructions, one more sutra, and how about that new school of Zen?  We find endless ways to distract ourselves everyday.  Endless  ways to tell ourselves daily life has become meditation, so no need to sit anymore….We also finds endless ways to fool ourselves and others.
 
Huang po's comment is most succinct and clear:  'If any of you students wishes to be a Buddha, there is no need at all to make a study of any Dharma whatsoever.  Just learn non-inquiry and non-attachment.  There is no mind that is born unless you seek for something.  There is no mind that dies unless you are attached to something.  To be without birth or death is Buddhahood.  The eighty-four thousand gates to the Dharma are there only to attract the students' attention.' 
 
It's easy to see how all these teachings are methods to get our attention; however,  there is the very real work of putting some of it into practice.  Non-attachment does not just drop out of the sky on you….  If we remember all the poems, stories, and teachings are the fingers pointing to the moon, we can continue to pursue practice with "great effort, no goal."
 
And to continue the illusion Muso mentioned above, these days we have the Inn of Daily Zen to provide a little inspiration from time to time.
 
May your Practice be Pure!


__________________________________________________
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone powered by U Mobile

The monks and I: Teaching and learning in Thailand

International volunteers pay to teach Buddhist monks in Chiang Mai and Ratchaburi. Journey to nirvana not guaranteed

By Richard S. Ehrlich 31 March, 2011

Foreign teachers can expect to work six hours a day, but can spend the rest of their time absorbing Thai culture.

Foreigners are being invited to teach English to Buddhist monks at two temples in Thailand -- at a cost of hundreds of dollars.

And staff at one temple claim that many visiting instructors "experienced nirvana temporarily" during meditation sessions.

The temples, Wat Luang Phor Sodh in Ratchaburi and Wat Doi Saket in Chiang Mai, run slightly different programs, but essentially offer the chance to learn about Thai culture while teaching English.

Foreign teachers have to pay for their own lodging, food and other expenses, as well as their airfare to and from Thailand. And though all of the saffron-robed monk students are male, the temples welcome both men and women teachers.

"All English speakers are welcomed," said Dr. Barton "Bart" Yanathiro, a 75-year-old American Buddhist who helps run the classes in Ratchaburi, about two hours southwest from Bangkok by bus. 

Foreigners teach basic English grammar, pronunciation, spelling and conversation to monks in brightly lit classrooms.

Dr. Yanathiro is the temple's secretary for international affairs and assists with the Immersion in Buddhist English Program. He also manages the Buddhist Meditation Institute, which teaches meditation in English, as part of the World Buddhist University.

Dr. Yanathiro said the abbot and several monks at the temple already speak English, and "a foreign professor monk" heads the teaching program.

"We began informally two years ago, but last year was our official opening," said Dr. Yanathiro. "We have had a total of 18 teachers and 85 registered students so far. Two teachers stayed long-term, but most came for one to two months. 

"The [monk] students learn English from fluent English-speakers, and the teachers learn meditation and Thai Buddhist culture." 

Classes run from May 23 to September 7, and from October 10 to February 22, 2012.  

When foreign instructors are not teaching the monks, they can study Buddhist Samatha-Vipassana meditation, in an English-language program led by Dr. Yanathiro.

"Numerous teacher volunteers have been able to meditate to experience nirvana, and get advice from Buddha or the Noble Disciples," he said. "This is an undreamed of, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

"Of 16 teachers since the very beginning, six experienced nirvana temporarily. An additional three transcended beyond this world to Dhammakaya, and another three more achieved trance states like heavenly bliss. The remaining four only attained inner peace."

All of the monk students are male, but both temples welcome male and female teachers from abroad.

Asked about their purported temporary experience of nirvana, Dr. Yanathiro replied: "I am using the official definition, where one actually sees and communicates with Lord Buddha and his disciples.

"Most amazing is the personal instruction some have gotten directly from Buddha. One was taken to a volcano and told to jump in. When he did so he became one with the earth. In another meditation he became a tree. Another teacher-meditator experienced becoming a leaf on a tree which then fell to earth, decayed and became part of the earth.

"They see Buddha and the disciples. Communication is by direct telepathy, so language is irrelevant. One does get clear verbal communications, but more impressive are their descriptions of experiences such as feeling oneself becoming a tree."

None of the teachers reported any side effects from their trances.

'Hey, fat lady! You so beautiful!'

Foreigners who want to teach and study at the temple can register with Global Service Corps of San Francisco, via its website which offers classes lasting two weeks or longer.

Fees, described as "Service-Learning Program Contributions," start at US$1,480 for a two-week program and jump $415 dollars for each additional week, up to a 13-week program which costs a total of $6,045. After that, the weekly fee increases by $255.

The temple provides "a U.S.-style house across the street from the wat, which has two bedrooms for two people each. A cabin and separate dormitories for men and women, which are more spartan, are also available inside the temple," Dr. Yanathiro said. Thai cuisine, non-vegetarian and often spicy, is included.

An American woman, who taught at the temple, wrote in her "CHITARITA" blog in 2010 that shortly after she arrived, a good-natured monk called out to her: "Hey, fat lady! You so beautiful!"

American director David Poppe has been developing the teaching program at Wat Doi Saket since October 2009.

She described her role as an English teacher at the temple as a "culture shock" and fascinating life-changing experience.

In Chiang Mai, Wat Doi Saket welcomes foreign teachers but does not actively encourage meditation, though they are welcome to study Buddhism in their free time.

"I have been developing this program since October 2009," said Wat Doi Saket's teaching director David Poppe, 25, who was born in Simsbury, Connecticut.

"The temple has 160 novice monks, and class sizes range from six to 35.  Given the size and schedule of the school, only two volunteers can live here and teach at one time. 

"Teachers can expect to work roughly four to six hours per day, with the mornings free."

Wat Doi Saket's English teaching program is part of the ATMA SEVA Foundation. Foreigners pay much less to teach English at Wat Doi Saket, compared with the teaching and meditation program in Ratchaburi. 

The first volunteer came for four months and paid 30,000 baht (US$1,000).  A two-week trip would cost between 5,000 to 8,000 baht, depending on accommodation and working hours.

 "At the wat, there is a kitchen below the volunteers' bedrooms, and each day one of the cooks delivers breakfast, lunch, and dinner," Mr. Poppe said.

"So far, none of the volunteers has been Buddhist.  Religion has no bearing in regards to acceptance to the program.  The goal is to improve conversational English, and if volunteers are interested in Buddhism they can pursue infinite knowledge, but nothing is scheduled or pushed."   

Mr. Poppe first came to Thailand in 2007 and while not a Buddhist himself, is "very intrigued by Buddhism."

"I can arrange meditation retreats, dharma lectures, and have access to Buddhist resources if the desire to learn is present," he said.

For more information on volunteering in Thai temples, click on the above links. 

Richard S. Ehrlich is from San Francisco, California. He has reported news for international media from Asia since 1978, based in Hong Kong, New Delhi and now Bangkok.