Tara, the Goddess of Yoga and Meditation This Will Change Your Perspecti...

 

In both Hinduism and Buddhism, Tara is a female deity who personifies compassion and gives an escape from the sufferings of reincarnation and death. She is frequently summoned for protection, wisdom, and deliverance from tough situations and is considered to have been conceived out of pity for the suffering world. She is the second of 10 Mahavidyas, or incarnations of the great Mother Goddess Mahadevi, in Hinduism (also known as Adi Parashakti as well as other names). The goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati form the Adi Parashakti trinity, and the Mahavidyas are more precise embodiments of these three. As Hinduism is henotheistic, she is a Rishta-Devi, one's favorite female god (the male version is an ishta-deva) (a belief in a single deity with many manifestations). Tara is supposed to be the mother of Sakyamuni Buddha, who is revered in Hinduism as an avatar of the deity Vishnu. She is a manifestation of Parvati as a dedicated mother who cares for and protects her children. Tarapith, in West Bengal, is her main cult center. Tara is a Buddhist savior goddess (savioress) who frees souls from their sorrow. In Mahayana Buddhism, she is regarded as a bodhisattva ("essence of enlightenment"), and in Esoteric Buddhism, notably Vajrayana Buddhism, she is known as a buddha and the mother of buddhas (also known as Tibetan Buddhism). According to one legend, she arose from the tear of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who wept as he contemplated the suffering world. She is therefore connected largely with compassion, although she may take on a variety of forms to assist and protect her worshippers, including a wrathful deity resembling Kali, the Hindu goddess of death and transformation. The oldest completely confirmed written evidence of Tara's worship dates from the 5th century CE, although the goddess has long been recognized since she is referenced in the Rig Veda (c. 1500-1100 BCE) and was well-known during the Vedic Period (c. 1500 - c. 500 BCE). She is also linked to the goddess Prajnaparamita, who appears in the Buddhist anthology Perfection of Wisdom, which was written between c. 50 BCE and c. 600 CE. She is also mentioned in the 8th century CE Tibetan Book of the Dead, the Bardo Thodol. Her name means "savioress" in Sanskrit, but it may also be translated as "star," and she is summoned for direction in life in general, as well as by individuals who are lost and having difficulties finding their path. Tara, like a star, is considered to offer a single point of light that may be used to navigate. She is linked to mother goddess images in Buddhist schools from all over the world, but she is probably best recognized in the West as Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of compassion. She is still revered in both Hinduism and Buddhism today, and she is one of the most powerful and popular goddesses in Esoteric Buddhist traditions.