Tara (Buddhism) facts for kids

Green Tara, Kumbm, Gyantse, Tibet, 1993

Tārā or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan, is a female Buddha linked with Buddhist tantra practice in Tibetan Buddhism. She is called the "mother of liberation". She stands for success in work and achievements.

Tārā is a tantric deity whose practice is used by followers of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop their inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. Tārā is not found in the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism, Shingon.

There is more than one form of Tārā. They have to do with different forms of the same quality. Bodhisattvas are often considered metaphors for Buddhist virtues.

The most widely known forms of Tārā are:

• Green Tārā, known as the Buddha of enlightened activity
• White Tārā, also known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or Cintachakra
• 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
• Cittamani Tārā, a form of Tārā widely practiced at the level of Highest Yoga Tantra in the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism, portrayed as green and often conflated with Green Tārā
• Khadiravani Tārā (Tārā of the teak forest), who appeared to Nagarjuna in the Khadiravani forest of South India and who is sometimes referred to as the "22nd Tārā."

In some schools of Buddhism there are twenty-one Tārās. A practice text with the title In Praise of the 21 Tārās is recited during the morning in all four sects of Tibetan Buddhism.

The main Tārā chant or mantra is Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. This Sanskrit mantra is pronounced by Tibetans and Buddhists who follow the Tibetan traditions as Oṃ tāre tu tāre ture soha.

Images for kids

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  Famous Holy Spoken Green Tara in Nyanang Phelgyeling Monastery, Nepal.

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  Painting of Buddhist goddess Green Tara by Prithvi Man Chitrakari done in 1947.

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  18th-century Eastern Tibetan thanka, with the Green Tara (Samaya Tara Yogini) in the center and the Blue, Red, White and Yellow taras in the corners, Rubin Museum of Art

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  Kurukulla thangka, American Museum of Natural History, Manhattan, New York City

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  Tara statue. Gyantse Kumbum. 1993

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  Green Tārā, (Syamatara) known as the Buddha of enlightened activity, ca. 11th century.

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  Shyama Tara (Green Tara) Attended by Sita Tara (White Tara) and Bhrikuti (Yellow Tara). ca. 8th century.

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  Statue of Tara, Sri Lanka, 7th - 8th century

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  The Buddhist Goddess Tara, gold and silver, Central Java, Indonesia, ca. 9th century. The Walters Art Museum.

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  Tara as Prajñāpāramitā, 13th century, Java, Indonesia.

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  Sita (White) Tara by Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar. Mongolia, ca. 17th century.

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  Tara statue near Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, India.

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  Medititating Tara, Ratnagiri, Odisha, India, 8th century

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  White Tara statue in a Karma Kagyu dharma centre

See also

In Spanish: Tara (budismo) para niños