Green Tara

Tara, which means liberator, is an emanation of all the buddhas’ miraculous enlightened activities, and like Chenrezig, she is one of the most popular deities in Tibetan Buddhism.

Tara is said to have been born from the tears of Chenrezig who wept at the plight of ignorant sentient beings. She pledged to help him liberate beings. Her inner realizations and outer activities are expressed by her pose. Her female form represents the wisdom that liberates from samsara. Thus, she is also known as the Mother of the Buddhas. Her outstretched right foot indicates her readiness to step into the realms of suffering to help confused beings. Her left leg is tucked in, demonstrating that she has full control over subtle inner energies. Tara’s right hand is in the gesture of granting supreme realizations and her left is in the gesture of the Three Jewels.

Traditionally, it is said Green Tara protects us from the eight great fears, which are in reality the projections of the mind’s negativities: elephants (ignorance), fire (anger), lions (pride), robbers (wrong views), floods (desire), imprisonment (miserliness), demons (doubts), and snakes (jealousy).

[BACK TO ALL (Smaller) THANGKAS]