Cundī (Sanskrit, Chinese 準提, Pinyin Zhǔntí, Japanese Juntei, Tibetan ལྷ་མོ་སྐུལ་བྱེད་མ།, Wylie lha mo skul byed ma, THL lha-mo kül-jé-ma) or Cundā (Chinese 羅馬化) is a female Indian Buddhist deity who remains popular in East Asian Buddhism.
In Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, she is associated with the practice of the well-known Cundī dharani, which is performed along with a specific mudra (hand gesture), as well as the use of a circular mirror [1, 2].
She is considered to be able to purify negative karma, provide protection, support spiritual practice that allows one to quickly attain Buddhahood [3].
This deity is also called by various other names and epithets, including:
Some depictions of Cundī share many iconographic and symbolic elements with another female Buddhist deity, PrajñāpāramitāDevi [Buddhism's Sophia, the anthropomorphic representation of the "Perfection of Wisdom" as a female deva].
As such, some images of these goddesses are difficult to identify [4, 5]. In Tibetan Buddhism she is known by the name Lhamo Cunda, Chunde, or Cundi ("Lhamo" in Tibetan is devi in Sanskrit, a term of veneration meaning "goddess") [6, 7]. More
Yeshe Tsogyal (circa 757 or 777–817 CE) [1] is also known as "Victorious Ocean of Knowledge," "Knowledge Lake Empress" (Wylie ye shes mtsho rgyal, ཡེ་ཤེས་མཚོ་རྒྱལ) or by her Sanskrit name Jñānasāgarā "Knowledge Ocean," or by her clan name "Lady Kharchen" [2].
She attained enlightenment in her lifetime and is considered the Mother of Tibetan Buddhism. Yeshe Tsogyal is the highest woman in the Nyingma Vajrayana lineage.
Some sources say she, as princess of Kharchen, was either a co-wife or consort of Emperor Tri Songdetsen (Trisong Detsen) of Tibet [3] when she began studying Buddhism withPadmasambhava, who became her main karmamudrā consort.
EMANATIONS: Yeshe Tsogyal is considered a manifestation of the Bodhisattva Tara. She is also considered an emanation of Prajnaparamita, Samantabhadrī, and Vajrayogini [16]. In the Life of Yeshe Tsogyel, Padmasambhava predicted that Yeshe Tsogyel would be reborn as Machig Labdrön; her consort Atsara Sale [2] would become Topabhadra, Machig’s husband; her assistant and another of Padmasambhava’s consorts, Tashi Khyidren, would be reborn as Machig’s only daughter, and so on. All of the important figures in Yeshe Tsogyel’s life were to be reborn in the life of Machig Labdron, including Padmasambhava himself, who would become Dampa Sangye [17].
Padmasambhava is a founder-figure of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism and is considered a second "buddha" of our era [4] [which at least one other tradition, sticking to the original texts, would say is impossible, given that the historical Buddha often pointed out how rare the arising of a buddha is and how few there have ever been, with only one in any epoch.]
She is known to have revealed terma ("hidden treasure") with Padmasambhava and was also the main scribe for these terma. Later, Yeshe Tsogyal hid many of Padmasambhava's terma on her own, under the instructions of Padmasambhava for future generations [2].
Born a princess in the region of Kharchen, Tibet, in about 777 CE, she fled from arranged marriages until captured for Emperor Tri Songdetsen.
Yeshe Tsogyal lived for approximately 99 years and is a preeminent figure in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism and a role model for contemporary spiritual practitioners.
Although often referred to as being Padamasambhava's main "consort," Yeshe Tsogyal was primarily a spiritual master and teacher in her own right.
Based on her spiritual accomplishments, the Nyingma and Karma Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism recognize Yeshe Tsogyal as a female buddha.
The translators of Lady of the Lotus-Born, the namtar or spiritual biography that Yeshe Tsogyal left as a terma/hidden treasure, observe:
"As Dodrup Tenpai Nyima makes clear, beings able to reveal Termas must have at least the realization of the Perfection Stage practices. On the other hand, the one who originates the Treasures must have the supreme attainment of Buddhahood. Lady of the Lotus-Born is thus a testimony of Yeshe Tsogyal's enlightenment" [5]. More
Tara (Sanskrit तारा, tārā, Standard Tibetan སྒྲོལ་མ, dölma), Ārya Tārā ("Noble Tara") is also known as Jetsün Dölma (Tibetan rje btsun sgrol ma, "Venerable Mother of Liberation"). She is an important female buddha in Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism.
Our reading of Mahayana Buddhism, of which Vajrayana is a sub-school, suggests that the MOST powerful Buddhist goddess is actually Kwan Yin (Guanyin, a female manifestation of Avalokiteśvara) Bodhisattva. She is queen or in any case certainly the most powerful, for she looks on and hears the cries of the world with utmost compassion, a kind of Virg Yin Mary(not Jewish or Essene Miriam so much as the ultimate goddess in Gnostic Christianity, Mary Magdalene).
If Theravada Buddhism made much of personifying qualities through transcendent goddesses (devis), our vote for the Ultimate Goddess right alongside Kwan Yin (Guanyin) would certainly be the glorious Prajnaparamita of Java, Gnostic Sophia, the personification of the Perfection of Wisdom. And we wouldn't stop there. Maha Pajapati Gotami, Yasodhara (aka Bimba Devi, Rahulamata, Bhaddha Kaccana, Sundari Kaccana, etc.), Khema Theri, Uppalavanna Theri, and Queen of [Tusita] Heaven Maya would serve as the raw basis for building up goddesses, venerable enlightened Buddhist women in history.
[Earlier traditions hold to the view, one of five niyamas, that while females are of course equally capable of arahantship, full enlightenment, as well as many other accomplishments, literal buddhas only arise as males. Why this would be, or why any of the niyamas are true in and of themselves, is not explained. 5. dhamma-niyāma "the constraint of dhammas (things, phenomena)," namely, such events as the quaking of the 10,000 world-systems at the conception of a bodhisatta conception in his mother's womb and again at his birth (partition from that womb). At the end of the discussion Sumaṅgalavilāsinī passage, the Commentary states that dhamma-niyāma explains the term dhammatā in the text of the Mahāpadāna Sutta (DN ii.12) (Cf. S 12.20 for a discussion of the use of the word dhamma-niyamatā in the Pali canon sutras.
It should always be borne in mind that no individual is an actual sex but fluid because one can be reborn as any of the three genders -- male, female, pandaka. How many genders are there? The answer could easily be more than three because pandaka can be variously defined as pervert, eunuch (pansexual as the word is understood in the East not as we use it in the West), hermaphrodite, bi, gay, asexual, intersex, transgender, transsexual, crossdresser, etc.)
The Dalai Lama, who is Tibetan Vajrayana joked about this in one of his PR movies, declaring something like: "Of course a woman can become a buddha...she just has to be reborn as a man first" then laughing. People popularly regard him as the "Pope of Vajrayana Buddhism," though he is not; he's not even the pope of Tibetan Buddhism because the non-Gelug schools do not regard him as the pontiff but rather a useful political leader, a kind of temporal king who made it to the world stage with more than a little help from the CIA. This topic of gender should be questioned, debated, and explored as it seems awfully unfair and denigrating to femalehood, but might it be the case, as a Hindu priest once told our college Comparative Religion class that the reason a being, a gandhabba seeking rebirth in a human body, is reborn as a female rather than a male at any given rebirth is due to the level of attachment, affection, and clinging present in that relinking moment. If that is the case, we have all been and will all be females, so placing femininity one down from masculinity is a bad strategy that will turn around and bite us. Likewise, all females reborn as humans, as rare and difficult as it is to ever secure a human rebirth, will also experience what it's like to be a male. And we say with no confusion, it's not all it's cracked up to be.]
Humans love to carve ideal attributes in stone.
She may appear as a female bodhisattva (a "being bent on full or supreme enlightenment," the two not being the same thing, one being an arhat, the other a buddha) in Mahayana Buddhism [1].
In Vajrayana Buddhism, Green Tara is a female buddha who is a consort of the Cosmic Buddha Amoghasiddhi.
Tārā is also known as a savioress who hears the cries of beings in saṃsāra (the interminable round of rebirth and suffering) and saves them from worldly and spiritual danger [2].
In Vajrayana, she is considered to be a buddha, and the Tārā Tantra describes her as "a mother who gives birth to the buddhas of the three times [past, present, and future]" who is also "beyond saṃsāra and nirvāṇa" [3].
Earlier tradition distinguishes nirvana as being nothing like samsara, and since all we have ever known is the latter, anything else could be considered nirvana. Some do not like this definition as it seems to define nirvana, which many feel is ineffable, indescribable, and incomparable even though the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama did indeed define and describe it.
Tārā is one of the most important female deities in Vajrayana (Esoteric Buddhism) and is found in apocryphal sources like the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa and the Guhyasamāja Tantra [4].
Key Indic Vajrayana texts that focus on Tārā include the Tantra Which Is the Source for All the Functions of Tārā, Mother of All the Tathagatas (Sanskrit Sarva-tathāgata-mātṛtārā-viśva-karma-bhavanāma-tantra) and Tārā's Fundamental Ritual Text (Tārāmūlakalpa) [5, 3].
Both Green and White Tārā remain popular meditation deities or yidams in Tibetan Buddhism, and Tara is also revered in Newar Buddhism.
Tārā is considered to take on many forms or emanations, while Green Tara emanates 21 Tārās, each with different attributes—colors, implements, and activities such as pacifying (śānti), increasing (pauṣṭika), enthralling (vaśīkaraṇa), and wrathful (abhicāra) [2].
Green Tara (or "blue-green," Sanskrit Samayatara or śyāmatārā) remains the most important form of the deity in Tibetan Buddhism [6, 7].
A practice text entitled Praises to the 21 Taras is a well known text on Tara in Tibetan Buddhism within Tibet, recited by children and adults, and is the textual source for the 21 forms of Green Tārā.
The main Tārā mantra is the same for Buddhists and Hindus: oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. It is uttered by Tibetans and Buddhists who follow Tibetan culture as oṃ tāre tu tāre ture soha. The literal translation would be "Oṃ O Tārā, I pray O Tārā, O Swift One, So Be It!" More
TARA: The most powerful Goddess in Buddhism — and why she refused to be reborn as a male
(Buddha's Wisdom) Dec. 7, 2025: ⚡ THE BUDDHIST GODDESS WHO ANSWERS BEFORE WE FINISH PRAYING. Tara is Buddhism's most powerful female deity [of course, most would argue that designation actually belongs to Bodhisattva Kwan Yin (Guanyin, Chenrezig, Kwannon) the Goddess of Compassion].
But Tara's not just a goddess, she's a fully enlightened buddha who defied every monk who ever told her to become a man.
Born from the compassionate tears of Avalokiteshvara [who was transformed into the feminine deity Kwan Yin], Green Tara took a sacred vow to remain female forever and save beings faster than any other enlightened being in Buddhist history.
[Buddhist "history" is much older than it is ever given credit for because the historical Buddha spoke of at least 28 previous supremely awakened buddhas in this great aeon and countless before that in the endless cycle of time or three ages of past, present, and future. Much of what Shakyamuni Buddha, born Prince Siddhartha Gautama, taught he either discerned on the spot or recalled from casting his mind back to how previous buddhas had handled various situations.]
From Tibetan warriors carrying her image into battle to modern practitioners calling her name in life-or-death emergencies, Tara represents the radical feminine power that [some male-centric element, likely a monastic one or a worldwide influence and push to bury the divine feminine in Abrahamic and Dharmic religions like] Buddhism tried to hide for centuries.
This is the untold story of Tara: the "Female Buddha" who can move faster than fear.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 The Sea Legend
01:57 Chapter 1: The Tear That Became a Revolution
05:45 Chapter 2: The 21 Faces of Protection
10:17 Chapter 3: What Makes Tara Unlike Any Other Buddhist Deity
13:55 Chapter 4: The Night She Saved Tibet
17:56 Chapter 5: When You Actually Need Her
23:12 Why Tara Still Matters Today
DISCOVER:
How Tara was born from Avalokiteshvara’s tear and why her vow changed Buddhism forever
How Green Tara saved an 11th-century Indian master traveling to Tibet and changed Tibetan Buddhism forever
The 21 Taras and the legends behind their protective powers (including the Eight Great Fears)
Why Tara answers prayers instantly, while the historical Buddha taught the slow [systematic] path of gradual enlightenment
Why Tara is experiencing a global renaissance today
"In Praise of the Twenty-One Taras" (traditional liturgical text)
"The Biography of Atisha Dipankara" (11th century Tibetan sources)
"The Praises to the Twenty-One Taras" by Sūryagupta
Tibetan Buddhist canonical texts on Tara's origins and manifestations
Scholarly resources:
"Tara: The Feminine Divine" by Bokar Rinpoche
"In Praise of Tara: Songs to the Saviouress" translated by Martin Willson
"The Cult of Tara: Magic and Ritual in Tibet" by Stephan Beyer
Historical accounts of Atisha's journey to Tibet (1042 CE)
Studies on feminine enlightenment in Vajrayana Buddhism
Cultural Context:
Traditional Tara sadhana [daily] practices across Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal, and Bhutan
The Eight Great Fears in Buddhist iconography
The relationship between Avalokiteshvara and Tara in Mahayana texts
Modern applications of Tara practice in contemporary Buddhism
ABOUT: Buddha's Wisdom brings ancient Buddhist teachings to life through compelling storytelling, historical deep dives, and philosophical explorations. From forgotten masters to revolutionary ideas, it uncovers the wisdom that transforms lives.
🙏 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE BUDDHIST WISDOM. Enjoy deep dives into Buddhist history, mythology, and philosophy? Subscribe and turn on notifications to catch all new episodes. #Tara #Buddhism #GreenTara #FemaleBuddha #TibetanBuddhism #BuddhistGoddess #Avalokiteshvara #BuddhistTeachings #Enlightenment #TaraMantra #BuddhistHistory #SpiritualPractice #TwentyOneTaras #VajrayanaBuddhism #BuddhistWisdom #Buddha
Tara Harris claims one Bigfoot told her and her paranormal investigative team that they are called "Ayloyn," not "Bigfoot," which is derogatory and insulting to them. Ayloyn is both their name and where (the dimension) they are from and where they return at will. More evidence comes from all of the Native American tribes (First Nations) in this country.
"Sasquatch knows that these humans don't mean to be bad. They're just ignorant, and he's disappointed in where they are as a species. He wishes they would evolve, but at this point he can only watch, so he stays in the dark and out of sight" (cbc.ca).
All of the American tribes are aware of these Ayloyn ("alien"?), these "nature protectors," and each has a special name for them, considering them a fellow tribe of intelligent humanoids, not just animals.
The Salish tribe dubbed them Sasquatches (se’sxac or “wild men”). Brazilian/South American tribes in the Amazon know them as Mapinguari. High strangeness often accompanies contact. Or, maybe, it's all one big misunderstanding, and that's why the world has so many specific names for them:
It must be said that, as witnesses report it, ogresses (yakshis) are fiercer and more deadly than males (ogres), with perhaps the exception of male adolescent troublemakers in heat or not yet raised to understand to stay away from man. (The most famous Bigfoot, from the Paterson-Gimlin footage, was a female with large breasts, though there are others accompanying her in the background brush not visible in degraded versions of the film but visible in the original. British poet Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book) observed this sexual dimorphism in temperament in his famous 1911 poem:
The Female of the Species
When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
When Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can.
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws.
'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husbands, each confirms the other's tale --
The female of the species is more deadly than the male. More
Another interesting fact is that most places in the U.S. that include the word "devil" are actually referring to sighting of these monstrous creatures in the area, usually along natural ridges
These names are in addition to their names for neighbor animals (pandas, gorillas, orangutans, monkeys, bears, bonobos, outcasts, demons) and what individual tribes call them in their indigenous languages and dialects. They are remembered in lore, legends, petroglyphs, and private relationships.
(Jack Links) Now that we found them, how can we commoditize them?
(A Flash of Beauty: Bigfoot Revealed) Nov. 14, 2024: Tara Harris was never sure Bigfoot existed, but she knows ghosts are real. One day with a friend in the woods in a special spot suitable for paranormal work, she was approached by one (able to read aura-like energy fields around the human head) and ended up learning a lot about this class of creature and another accompanying spirit that makes knocking sounds in the woods.
Recorded vocalizations such as howls, screams, moans, grunts, whistles, [whoops, yelps, and mimicking of human voices and tones], and even a form of language have been recorded and reported [183, 184].
Some of these vocalization recordings have been analyzed by individuals such as retired U.S. Navy cryptologic linguist Scott Nelson. He analyzed audio recordings from the early 1970s recorded in California Sierra Nevada mountains Ron Moorehead dubbed the "Sierra Sounds" and stated:
"It is definitely a language, it is definitely not human in origin, and it could not have been faked" [185].
Survivalist Les Stroud spoke of a strange vocalization he heard in the wilderness while filming Survivorman that he stated sounded primate in origin [186].
A number of anecdotal reports of "Bigfoot" (cryptid) encounters have resulted in witnesses claiming to be disoriented, dizzy, and anxious.
Some Bigfoot researchers, such as paranormal author Nick Redfern, have proposed that Bigfoot may produce infrasound, which could explain reports of this nature [187]. More
Lloyd Pye had hours of forensic evidence to present. Some of the most significant was this simple fact: Assume it's a hoax. There are over 20,000 plaster casts of oversize footprints that exist to be examined (surely made by wooden carved feet used by redneck hicks) from around the world, and the one thing they never tell us is that they have unique fingerprints. So we are to believe that hicks and hayseeds took the time to carve prints into their wooden carvings on 20,000 samples around the world? Moreover, from time to time, a deformed foot makes the print and a podiatrist can confirm that that's how it would have healed, something no hoaxer would know. These yaksha/rakshasa creatures in Buddhist lore are found around the world. The ones near the Caucasus region of Georgia (country) are called Almas, which differ from other varieties. The U.S. government is well aware of their existence and cannot control their comings and goings. When one is shot, when a body is turned in, it does not see the light of day. It must all be discredited to conceal other facts the government does not want to disclose. There is published science by veterinarian Melba Ketchum to establish its existence.
Most convincing encounters on camera
(Dark Matter) June 18, 2024: From a giant Australian "Yowie" filmed on thermal (heat-detecting camera), to a juvenile "Sasquatch" performing incredible speeds, watch some of the "most convincing Bigfoot encounters caught on camera..."
Sleigh Bells wears her love of the Goddess of Compassion on her arm, La Virgen de Guadalupe
Mary Magdalane: Jesus and his Early Followers | full documentary | Biography
Honoring the sacred feminine
(Biography) For nearly 2,000 years, she was believed to be a "prostitute" who repented and became a disciple of Jesus. But we reveal the truth about Mary Magdalene [Hebrew "Mīryām of Magdala," ancient Judea, Rome] that is finally emerging.
ABOUT: Dive more deeply into Biography on the website:
biography.com.
Follow Biography for more surprising stories from fascinating lives:
Facebook: biography, Instagram: biography, Twitter: biography. Biography highlights newsworthy personalities and events with compelling and surprising points-of-view, telling the true stories from some of the most accomplished non-fiction storytellers of our time. #Biography
~
In my house
Virgin Mary or Kwan Yin?
I was raised Catholic with a very Catholic mother who always had a Buddhist statue of Kwan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess (or Bodhisattva) of Compassion, in the living room even when we moved to a new house. When I discovered Buddhism as a teen, and like Lisa Simpson thought this is the greatest nonreligion in the world and slowly became a Buddhist, I thought my mother would understand. She didn't.
"You don't?" I asked. Then why do you have that Buddhist statue in the living room.
"I have no such statue," she insisted.
I walked her to the living room and pointed, "Then what's this?"
"No, it's just that the Chinese [Asians] don't make her eyes right because every group makes her look like themselves. But it's the Virgin Mary."
Then I showed her a book with Kwan Yin's picture and said, "Well, I suppose now you'll be throwing her away since it's the wrong [Mother Goddess/saint] one? I'll take it." And I picked her up and brought her to my bosom.
"Nothing doing, Mister! Give it back!" She took Kwan Yin from me, dusted her off, and put her right back in her place on the windowsill in the bright Southern California sun.
"So what are you a Buddhist now?" I asked her.
"Never you mind," she answered. "Move it along."
And that's how we became a two-religion household, all thanks to this one sacred feminine figure.
~
A devi with gandharvas
Origen [the Church Father who followed the BuddhaAmmonius Saccas aka "Shakyamuni"] preserves a statement from Celsus that some Christians in his day followed the teachings of a woman named "Mariamme," who is almost certainly Mary Magdalene [142, 143].
Origen merely dismisses this, remarking that Celsus "pours on us a heap of names" [142]. More
~
Virgin Mary appears to a Native?
What's with the iconography on the Queen of the Angels, the Queen of Heaven, the Virgin of Guadalupe (the appearance of a Mary in Mexico)? Those are bull horns under her but a crescent moon. She has a radiant aura, projecting her subtle energies all about. There's a blue cloak (the sky) spangled with stars (space, heaven, the celestial realm), where she is queen, crowned, held up by a cherubic angel in a cloud...
British Theravada Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm explains the Buddhist
significance of the early Christian Church Father Origen and his teacher.
Mary Magdalene, as described in the Bible, was a devoted follower of Jesus. She was present at his crucifixion and resurrection. She is often depicted as a repentant sinner and prostitute, but recent scholarship says that portrayal is wrong and was no accident. Taylor "Nazi Barbie" Swift, like Mary Magdalene, has been a powerful and influential figure in music and has faced much criticism and misunderstanding. Throughout her career, Swift has been depicted as a “serial dater” and a “manipulative celebrity,” just as Mary Magdalene was demonized as a prostitute. More
Buddhism and the Virgin Mary
Ven. John, Adrian Urias, June 10, 2020 edited by Wisdom Quarterly
Kwan Yin (Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara) is NOT Mary, but both are Goddesses of Compassion
.
A Goddess emerges from a giant clamshell
(Adrian Urias) My friend "John," a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, tells me the story of why there is a statue of the Virgin Mary [looking like beloved Buddhist GoddessKwan Yin] at a Mahayana Buddhist temple in Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, right next to the famous ship the RMS Queen Mary, in front of the shore. She is emerging from a clamshell like the famous Botticelli painting (shown above), "The Birth of Venus."
The baby Future-Buddha and the mother who raised him (Sri Lankan art)
Do Buddhists have a Madonna and child, the Buddha and his mother?
Mother Goddess and child
It's easy to think that the Virgin Mary refers only to Mother Mary, but the real star is usually the Apostle and Super-Disciple Mary of Magdalene. The Bible reduces all the Marys to one generic Mary, and it's not an accident. Sexism is burying the significance.
The same thing happened to Prince Siddhartha's wife, (Bimba Devi) known to the world by her descriptive title Princess Yasodhara. What happened to her after Prince Siddhartha decided to leave on a spiritual quest to find a solution to the universal problem of suffering.
He set off, leaving behind his family, friends, and future subjects, renouncing the throne and all the luxuries of the palace, including wife and son. He left to return with a solution.
We run this Church, not the people
And, indeed, seven years later, now awakened to the utmost, supremely enlightened, he returned. He ordained his 7-year-old son as a monk. Now where did this leave his son's mother? She ordained as well and became fully enlightened, a great teacher, and a remarkable debater willing and able to take on anyone anywhere. Why don't we hear about her? Why has she been forgotten to history?
Ask the average Buddhist, and all that's likely to be remembered is that she got left behind. Nothing of the sort happened. She was remembered and saved -- as were the Buddha's adoptive mother, who raised him from the age of 7 days (when his biological mother, her sister, Queen Maya Gotami, passed away). His mother, Pajapati Gotami, became the world's first Buddhist nun.
The Buddha Gautama remembered everyone, and came back to offer them the Dharma, the Teaching that leads to deathlessness (nirvana), ultimate liberation from all suffering.
Honoring the Buddhist feminine
But his former wife, like Mary Magdalene, gets short shrift. How is she hidden and buried?
She is given many names, with a few recognizing they are all describing one single person: Bimba Devi, Princess Yasodhara, Rahulamata, Bhaddha Kaccana, Kaccana, and so on. Fortunately, scholars realized it.
Why did the men of the Christian religion bury all the Marys (Miriyams)? It seems the explanation is that it did not want to highlight the female contributions but rather bury and erase them. Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene (who, Jewish rules tell us, had to be Jesus' wife, not just his disciple otherwise he could not have been a rabbi, as he is called many times in the books of the Bible).
Then there are the Buddhist Taras
Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
Juan Diego, I've come to conquer the Natives here in New Spain/Mexico. Go tell the Church.
Many colorful Tibetan Taras are honored.
Tara (Sanskrit तारा, Tārā, སྒྲོལ་མ, dölma), Ārya Tārā ("Noble Tara"), also known as Jetsün Dölma (Tibetan rje btsun sgrol ma, meaning: "venerable mother of liberation"), is an important figure in Buddhism.
She is especially revered in Himalayan Vajrayana Buddhism and the larger Mahayana school. She appears as a female bodhisattva (being bent on supreme enlightenment) in Mahayana Buddhism and is considered to be the consort or shakti ("power") of Avalokiteshvara (a Buddhist god/goddess of compassion)[1].
Tārā is also known as a savioress who hears the cries of beings in the world (saṃsāra) and saves them from wordily and spiritual dangers [2].
In the Vajrayana school, she is considered to be a buddha, and the Tārā Tantra describes her as “a mother who gives birth to the buddhas of the three times [past, present, future],” who is also “beyond saṃsāra and nirvāṇa” [3].
She is one of the most important female deities in Vajrayana and is found in sources like the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa and the Guhyasamāja Tantra [4].
Key Indic Vajrayana texts that focus on Tārā include the Tantra Which is the Source for All the Functions of Tārā, Mother of All the Tathagatas (Sanskrit Sarvatathāgatamātṛtārāviśvakarmabhavanāmatantra) and Tārā’s Fundamental Ritual Text (Tārāmūlakalpa) [5, 3].
Tārā remains a popular meditation deity (yidam) in Tibetan Buddhism, and she is also revered in Newar Buddhism in Nepal.
Many Taras
Tārā is considered to have many forms or emanations, and there are several traditions that list 21 Tārās.
Each Tara has a different color, implements, number of faces and arms, and activities such as pacifying (śānti), increasing (pauṣṭika), enthralling (vaśīkaraṇa), and assaulting (abhicāra) [2].
Feminine iconography
The green (or "blue-green," Sanskrit śyāmatārā) form of Tārā remains the most important form of the deity in the Tibetan tradition [6, 7].
A practice text entitled Praise to Tara in Twenty-One Homages is the most important text on Tara in Tibetan Buddhism and is the source for the various traditions, which list 21 forms of Tārā (one Tara, many manifestations, aside from the main green form).
The main Tārā mantra is the same for Buddhists and Hindus alike:
Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā.
It is pronounced by Tibetans and Buddhists who follow the Tibetan traditions as oṃ tāre tu tāre ture soha. The literal translation is "Oṃ O Tārā, I pray O Tārā, O Swift One. So Be It!" More
All materials on this site are submitted by editors and readers. All images, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain.
In the event that there is still a problem, issue, or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial, and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof.
Contact us by submitting a comment marked "private."
Do not follow this journal if you are under vinaya or parental restrictions. Secure protection by Sucuri.
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at creativecommons.org/about/licenses.
_-Youth_(1893)%20wiki.jpg)
.png)
#/media/File:%E5%87%86%E6%8F%90%E8%8F%A9%E8%90%A8%E5%83%8F%E8%BD%B4.%E6%98%8E%E4%BB%A3.%E7%BA%B8%E6%9C%AC%E8%AE%BE%E8%89%B2%E6%8F%8F%E9%87%91.%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E6%95%85%E5%AE%AB%E5%8D%9A%E7%89%A9%E9%99%A2%E8%97%8F.jpg){kind=link}
#/media/File:China_monumentis_1667_(3756994).jpg){kind=link}
_LACMA_M.81.90.6_(3_of_6).jpg){kind=link}
