The 400 missing years in Christian Bible

(Finding Meaning Project) Why the Gnostic Gospels were censored, banned, and buried

• The Ground of Being?

(Matt, Buddha's Wisdom, hijacked by Buddhist Mind Lab) The Creator?

(Finding Meaning Project) The secret hidden inside every religion

Why are Church Bibles silent about 400 years?

(Time Routes) What happened between Old and New Testaments? The 400 years of silence

Osho on Jews and the Jewish problem

(G&U) Osho on on the Jews, Part 1. God is dead. Who are the chosen people?

Send me more money and girls and Mercedeses

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh ("Osho") was born Chandra Mohan Jain on Dec. 11, 1931–Jan. 19, 1990). He is was previously known as Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh [2], Acharya Rajneesh [3, 1], and is now commonly called "Osho."

He was an Indian "godman" [4], sadhu, philosopher, mystic [5], cult leader, corrupt "saint" with a messianic complex, comedian, scam capitalist, clever and funny speaker (whose talks were transcribed into books that are sometimes quite funny), and founder of the Rajneesh Movement [1].

(Mystics of India) Con-man or God reborn among men?

Family Guy (real reason for the holocaust 🤣 - Where do Jewish people go when they die?

Family Guy on Jewish guy bankers - 5 times Family Guy roasted Jewish people

He was a controversial new religious movement leader during his life. He rejected institutional religions [6, 1, 7], insisting that spiritual experience could not be organized into any one system of religious dogma [8], as Patanjali did with yoga and the historical Buddha did in outlining general Eightfold Paths.

As a scandal-ridden sex guru in America, he advocated meditation but taught a unique form of his own devising, which he called "dynamic meditation."

I am God. Leave it all and get on my treadmill.

Rejecting traditional ascetic practices of all kinds, he encouraged his followers to [hedonistically] embrace life fully while remaining unattached to worldly desires.

Radicalized by Anti-Jewish Neo-Nazis?

(Uncle Judy) Can this music radicalize me?

Rajneesh claims he experienced a "spiritual awakening" in 1953 at the age of 21 [8].

Following several years in academia, in 1966 he resigned his post at the University of Jabalpur as a lecturer of philosophy and began traveling throughout India, becoming known for his criticism of the orthodoxy of mainstream religions [1, 9, 10, 11] as well as of mainstream political ideologies... More

They stole our music and healing sounds

(Erased Century) The frequency they changed -- and why everything sounds wrong now. What is the "natural" standard for sounds? Solfège? Binaural beats (acoustics)?

First female 'Pope' for Church of England

Anglican leader: the Archbishop of Canterbury

A historic shift: Sarah Mullally becomes first female head of the Church of England

Don't spoil this for us, Sinead!

Right Honorable Dame Sarah Mullally has‌ broken barriers, ascending to the position of [the 106th] archbishop of Canterbury. This momentous ⁢appointment, announced on October 3rd, marks a pivotal turning point for the Church of England ⁣and​ the wider Anglican Communion.

Don't think of me as a woman!

She is the 106th individual to hold this esteemed⁣ role and, significantly, she is the first ‍woman to lead the⁣ church established nearly 500 years ago.

The Church of England’s origins trace back to 1534, when King Charles VIII sought to circumvent the ⁤[Roman Catholic] Pope’s refusal to annul‌ his marriage to Catherine of Aragon [who due to him would not bear him a male heir].

• We say "Pope," but the official Church says she's the "ceremonial head" or primus inter pares, "first among equals.

This act fundamentally reshaped the religious landscape ⁣of England ⁤and now, centuries​ later, ‌it’s experiencing another profound transformation.

Rome still rules the world with its pope.

[Pope] Mullally, 63, was a leading⁤ contender to succeed Justin Welby, who stepped down in November 2024. Her reputation as⁤ a highly capable administrator undoubtedly played a key role in her ⁣selection. 

• Sarah Mullally confirmed as first female archbishop of Canterbury
• 'Greedy pig' Harry Styles is shamefully exploiting obsessed women. I know... because it happened to me: LIZ JONES | Daily Mail Online

The Selection Process: An Intentional Path

What Brits need is more pomp 'n circumstance.

The Crown Nominations Commission, responsible for filling the Church of England’s most senior positions, chose Mullally. This commission⁤ comprises prominent bishops‍ and archbishops, and⁣ its process differs significantly‌ from the papal​ conclaves⁣ of the [Roman] Catholic Church. Here’s ‍a breakdown of how the selection unfolds:

• Extensive⁣ Consultation: The Commission engages in months of thorough discussions and evaluations.
• Rigorous review: Candidates are assessed on ⁤their theological understanding, leadership skills, and administrative experience.
• Governmental Approval: Ultimately, the⁣ chosen nominee ‌requires validation from both the [UK] Prime Minister [Keir Starmer] and the King of England [Charles III], reflecting ⁣the Church of England’s‌ status as the state religion.

I’ve found that this deliberate, multi-layered process underscores the gravity of the Archbishop of Canterbury's

position and the importance of selecting a ⁣leader equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities facing the church today. More

"Sarah Mullally: First Female Bishop of England Faces Abuse Scandal Challenge"

Sinead O'Connor rips into the Pope on live TV (SNL)

• Business Editor Olivia Bennett, world-today-journal.com, Oct. 3, 2025; Ashley Wells, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Trump MAGA man shoots up Mich. church

SUMMARY: Police said the right-wing suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, drove his American flag strewn pickup truck into The Church of Jesus Christ of LDS in Michigan before firing, killing and injuring a dozen people, and setting the building on fire. Police then killed Sanford in a shootout, officials said.

Authorities identify suspect after two killed in US church shooting

Church shooter opened fire on hundreds of Mormon worshippers is pictured in Donald Trump shirt

My warrior may have shot up Church, but Israelis
shot Charlie Kirk, not me, uh, I mean, did not...

(The Independent) A Sunday worship [yesterday, Sept. 28th, 2025] service turned into a scene of horror when an American gunman [Iraq War veteran and mass murderer] rammed his Chevy pickup into a Mormon church in Michigan before opening fire on congregants and setting the building on fire, killing four people and injuring at least eight others.

• Grand Blanc Township church attack
• Michigan church shooting latest: ‘Evil act of violence’ left 4 victims dead and 8 wounded as police reveal details on victims

Loser Confederates, Nazis, Trump/MAGA

Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, was identified as the suspect, police said during a press conference on Sunday evening. The attack unfolded around 10:25 am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, about 50 miles north of Detroit, according to police.

Hundreds of people, including children, were inside at the time of the shooting. After the suspect smashed his pickup truck with two American flags affixed to the bed through the front doors of the church, Sanford emerged with an assault rifle and began firing on worshippers, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said.

4 mass shootings over weekend

(Breaking Points) Chaos as shootings erupt: Church, Boat, Casino

I support Bibi and my MAGAotts in all things.

• Karoline Leavitt claims Michigan church shooter ‘hated people of Mormon faith’ as Trump decries ‘attack on [fake] Christians’
• Gunman in Michigan church shooting was U.S. Marine and Iraq War veteran: Officials

Look, Jeffrey Epstein, this capital is MY
capital. I'll see you on Kiddie Island soon.

His reign of terror continued as he intentionally set a fire that turned into a massive blaze, police said. It was brought under control just before 1:00 pm. As the suspect fled the church, he exchanged gunfire with two officers and was killed. More: the-independent.com

IHIP News: 🚨 Trump's plan leaked to press; Dems secretly helping him?

• NY Post: What we know about Thomas J. Stanford, Michigan LDS church shooter
• The Independent UK; IHIP News; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Brutal South Park by billionaires Matt, Trey

South Park's NEW Trump explained

How bad/shocking could this episode be?

South Park's new episode is BREAKING the Internet....and Trump

(Armchair Analysis) July 25, 2025: "Hey, relax Guy!" Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio. The video maker does not own South Park or any of the clips or images used. Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted.

Is Trump literally illiterate?

The dangers of Christian Zionism for 'Israel'

Politics and Religion: Last Week Tonight

Alliance Defending Freedom: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
(LastWeekTonight) John Oliver takes a look at the Alliance Defending Freedom – the legal organization behind several landmark Supreme Court cases, including the Dobbs case that overturned Roe v. Wade. Plus, a five-star book review of a one-star book.

Subscribe to the #lastweektonight YouTube channel for more almost news as it almost happens, or find the show on favorite social media platforms we may or may not have discussed at length on the show: Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Bluesky, Facebook, or visit the official site for all that other stuff at once: hbo.com/lastweektonight

• John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, May 11, 2025; Ashley Wells, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Bishop calls out Trump to his face; Gaza

Female church pastor targets Trump and GOP shrugs off Jan. 6 pardons | The Daily Show

(Owen Jones) Genocidal Israel's ceasefire in Gaza is set to collapse under Trump

WOW: Bishop calls out Trump to his face at church

(Brian Tyler Cohen) Jan. 21, 2025: For more from Brian Tyler Cohen, order his Number 1 New York Times bestselling book: harpercollins.com/pages... YouTube (Español): @briantylercohenespanol

• VIDEO: Norm Finkelstein on Israeli ceasefire agreement

Trump fires back at bishop

(DN) World headlines today

Top U.S. & World Headlines — January 20, 2025

A Gnostic Jesus for the Holidays

Ginger Jesus (TziganeArt/DeviantArt) Spaceman ET?

Gnostic story of Jesus: What we were never told

(Occulys) Dec. 3, 2024: Who really was "Jesus" (Issa, Messiah/Maitreya, Isa, Ieoeus, Y'shua Ben Yusuf, Joshua, Son of Zeus, Emmanuel)? To most, he’s the savior who died (killed by temple Jews or Roman pagans) for humanity’s sins. But to the Gnostics, an ancient group of mystical Christians, Jesus wasn’t here to atone for sin. He was here to reveal a mind-blowing truth about the world and our place in it.

⌛ CHAPTERS

• 0:00 Introduction
• 01:07 Who were the Gnostics?
• 03:00 The Gnostic Jesus
• 04:17 The teachings and miracles of Jesus
• 05:42 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
• 07:21 The betrayal of Judas
• 08:10 The Last Supper and Eucharist
• 09:55 The Crucifixion and Resurrection
• 12:05 Outro

This video begins to uncover the story of Jesus through the lens of Gnostic texts like The Gospel of Thomas and The Gospel of Philip.

[See further the amazing work of Bible scholars like Dr. Elaine Pagels, Dr. Bart Ehrman, Dr. Francesca change-your-last-name-already Scrvyysthhyllk, and the possibly demonically-possessed but in any case genius classicist and Ancient Greek scholar Dr. DC Ammon Hillman because, sadly, the scholars who try to reveal the truth of biblical matters all get condemned as madmen, heretics, and Satanists for not telling mainstream Christians what they want to hear but what the textual evidence actually shows. What Christians accept on blind faith and find most comforting to their cultural way of thinking is dangerously wrong, but try to tell them that. It comforts them to rest on delusion, but who can say anything?]

From the Garden of Gethsemane to the Last Supper and the resurrection, this video explores how Gnostics saw Jesus as a cosmic teacher, a liberator of the soul, and the key to awakening the divine spark within us.

Get ready to challenge everything we thought we knew about Jesus, Christianity, and current Bible interpretations and discover a side of his story that’s purposely been hidden and kept from us for centuries.

🎓 SOURCES

• Gospel of Thomas
• Gospel of Philip
• Gospel of Judas
• Second Treatise of the Great Seth 
• gnosis.org
• ehrmanblog.org

🎶 Music used in the video: "Background Music - Gunpowder" by CO.AG "Background Music - Game of Thrones" by CO.AG "Wonderful Things - Cinematic Music" by CO.AG Licensed under Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Some of the images are hand colored by Adam McLean and taken from the alchemy website www.alchemywebsite.com (Copyright Adam McLean 1997-2011). Thanks to Adam McLean for beautiful work. All other images and clips are in the public domain. If I have used an image or clip that you own, please contact me at the email address below. 🤝 Contact information: occulys@gmail.com. #gnosticism #gnostic #AncientHistory #history #mythology #spirituality #mysticism #alchemy

Trump's 'Black Nazi' MAGA GOP gov of NC

I'm not the only fan. The NC governor, too.

Black Nazi Mark Robinson, who is supported by Trump, is trying to governor of North Carolina. He is already lieutenant governor and a MAGA, GOP, LGBTQ-condemning transexual porn-loving hypocrite and kind of preachy in that old time Baptist preacher sort of way.

Ronny on Springfield, Trump's crypto scam, the Black Nazi MAGA GOP (Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson) scandal | The Daily Show

(The Daily Show) Sept. 21, 2024: Ronny Chieng weighs in on the fallout from the cat-eating conspiracy in Springfield, Ohio, North Carolian governor candidate Mark "Black Nazi" Robinson's unhinged online comments, Trump's new crypto grift, and the second assassination attempt on the ex-president. #DailyShow #RonnyChieng #Trump

• New post surfaces from online account linked to Republican praising Hitler's manifesto

They is a makin' editorial cartoons showin me as a Klansman racist

Chemical Muse: Western civilization's roots

If you suffer from poor "vision," you might be stoned with dry eyes and dilated pupils.

The Chemical Muse: Drug Use and the Roots of Western Civilization

Author Dr. D.C. Ammon Hillman, Ph.D. has 4.6 out of 5 stars with 71 ratings.

The Chemical Muse uncovers decades of [scholarly] misdirection and obfuscation to reveal the history of widespread drug use in ancient Rome and Greece.

In the city-states that gave birth to Western civilization, drugs were an everyday element of a free society.

Often, they were not just available but vitally necessary for use in medicine, religious ceremonies, and war campaigns.

Their proponents and users existed in all classes, from the common soldier to the emperor himself.

.

Christian she-male gods

Citing examples in myths, medicine, and literature, Dr. Hillman shows how drugs have influenced and inspired artists, philosophers, and even politicians whose ideas formed the basis for civilization as we know it.

Many of these ancient texts may seem well-known, but Dr. Hillman shows how timid and prudish translations have left scholars and readers in the dark about the reality of drug use in the Classical world.

Dr. Hillman's argument is not simply "pro-drug." Instead, he appeals for an intellectual honesty that acknowledges the use of drugs in ancient societies despite today's conflicting social mores.

In the modern world, where academia and university life are often politically charged, The Chemical Muse offers a unique and long overdue perspective on the contentious topic of drug use and the freedom of thought.

• "The last wild frontier of classical studies" - The Times (UK)

Read sample: The Chemical Muse: Drug Use and the Roots of Western Civilization (Politics & Social Sciences)

Trump Bible for sale, Jan 6 gift? (Daily Show)

OMG! - Yes, Donny? - No, I was just takin' your name in vain. I'm selling your book! - OMG.

Bibles (KJV) are available everywhere for free, but why not pay $60 so billionaire Trump can profit?

Jordan Klepper on how we should deal with Jan 6th rioters

(The Daily Show) March 27, 2024: Clever Jordan Klepper reports on Ronna McDaniel’s short-lived stint at NBC News and the key question it raises: How should America deal with the people who denied the results of the 2020 election and stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021? #DailyShow #Jan6 #Insurrection #Trump

How the GOP is trying to win female voters amidst anti-abortion legislation

March 27, 2024: The Supreme Court’s latest abortion pill ruling exposes the

Republicans' struggle to secure female voters while taking their rights away.

Jordan Klepper dives into the GOP’s woman problem, and how they're

planning to win them back. Rape, incest, life and death. #SCOTUS

Jordan Klepper on Trump's Bible grift and GOP reaction to Baltimore bridge collapse

Angelic Ariel, aborted offspring ofTrump and his womanizing, is rolling in her baby eyes.

.

(The Daily Show) March 26, 2024: Jordan Klepper tackles Trump’s new branded Bibles and how right-wing media is rushing to blame the Baltimore bridge collapse on Democratic policy. Plus, Josh Johnson weighs in on Florida’s social media ban for children under 14, and what this means for the rising generation of schoolyard bullies.

• 00:00 - Jordan Klepper welcome
• 00:21 - Trump announces his latest business venture: Bibles
• 02:33 - GOP’s reaction to the bridge
• 04:57 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs social media ban for children
• 07:20 - Josh Johnson weighs in on Florida’s social media ban

Subscribe to The Daily Show: @thedailyshow, Twitter: thedailyshow, Facebook: thedailyshow, Instagram: thedailyshow. Stream full episodes of The Daily Show on Paramount+: paramountplus.com...

• Jordan Klepper, Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Virgin Marys in Buddhism (video)

Biography, 3/11/22; Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

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?"

"That," she said, "is the Virgin Mary."

"And she's Chinese [Asian]?"

The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara

"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 Buddha Ammonius 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.

Taylor Swift as modern Mary?

Blossoming as Beth (wordpress.com) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

I am not a prostitute. I'm misunderstood.

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 Goddess Kwan 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."

• Visit the Virgin: Long Beach Sagely Buddhist Monastery (theclio.com)
• PHOTOS: Long Beach Sagely Buddhist Monastery, 3361 E. Ocean Bl., Long Beach, California (Yelp)
• longbeachmonastery.org (562) 438-8902

Burying Marys

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?

• Buddhist Madonna and Child, Prince Siddhartha and Queen Pajapati Gotami

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

Theravada Buddhism's own Tara: TaraBrach.com (New book: Trusting the Gold)