Tara

I've been saying the Tara mantra while walking home from dropping my daughter off from school. Then when I get home, I finish off the 108 mantras looking at the image of Tara on my wall. 

I've seen a tanka with like a zillion Taras on it. I'd like an old woman Tara image, but I can't find one. I've found some images of women who could serve as model for a more mature woman. I'm not sure if I'm on board with impossibly round breasts, though I know she is 16. It's kind of fun to look at all the various versions you can see on the internet. I'm afraid it also attracts some people who kind of skirt around going deeper into Buddhism, but I'm disinclined to put down people's journeys. There's a kind of person who's into female goddesses, good for them.

My daughter loves rainbows, and I like it that her skirt is rainbow colored. In Vessantara's descriptions rainbows are whispering Tara's mantra. The mantra actually feels kind of long and wasn't my favorite. I like Avalokiteshvara, Amitabha, Shakyamuni, Amoghasiddhi, and Padmasambhava mantras. Not sure why I like those mantras, and this one less. 

I really enjoy the 21 Tara praise. I will admit that I sat for the first time for 40 minutes in a while. I have begun piecing together my own practice sheet cobbled together from everything I've learned.

Wooten discusses anger in the best way I’ve ever read. She doesn’t say it’s always bad and notices how we’re conditioned to not express or admit it. She discussed it from a woman’s perspective.

links:

Green Tara Puja Commentary.

Meditations on the Path to Full Awakening and Green Tara Practice Class One.

Red Tara: Om Tare Tam Soha.

The Smile of the Sun and Moon by Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche.

Mantra from Dharma Refuge, Rochester NY.

Vessantara visualization excerpt: 

Out of the lake of tears rises a pastel blue lotus flower, of an extraordinary delicacy. A stream of tears falls into the soft heart of the lotus and transforms it into a white full-moon disc slowly, just above the surface of the moon disc, jade green light appears. Its outlines become more definite, without gaining any solidity. We are watching the birth of a princess, a goddess, a Bodhisattva. She is jade green in color, clad in a rainbow skirt, with a meditation sash tied around her body. She is decked in precious jewels: bracelets, armlets, anklets, necklaces, ear-rings, and a tiara of gems. She is seated, her left foot resting on her right thigh in meditation posture. Her right foot steps down gracefully and as it does so a small pastel blue lotus and moon mat rise out of the lake to make a footrest. Her right arm reaches down, the back of her hand resting on her right knee. Her palm is open in a mudra of supreme giving. Her left hand is held in front of her heart, palm outwards, the thumb and ring finger together, so that the other three fingers point upwards. This mudra bestows protection and fearlessness through invoking the Three Jewels. Her thumb and ring finger delicately grasp the stem of a lotus flower, which curves upwards to open into a spray of blossoms by her left shoulder. There is a bud, a half opened flower and a fully opened blossom of pale blue. She is sixteen years old, full-breasted with flowing black hair. She is supremely beautiful. Her apparitional birth complete, her jade eyelids open for the first time to reveal two perfect blue eyes, identical to those from which she was born. She looks out over the world and the lake of tears, and upward to the while cloud of compassion far above her, and her face breaks into a smile of such beauty and tenderness that the whole world trembles with joy.

Wikipedia:

As Green Tārā she offers succor and protection from all the unfortunate circumstances one can encounter within the samsaric world. As White Tārā she expresses maternal compassion and offers healing to beings who are hurt or wounded, either mentally or psychically. As Red Tārā she teaches discriminating awareness about created phenomena, and how to turn raw desire into compassion and love. As Blue Tārā (Ekajati) she expresses a ferocious, wrathful, female energy whose invocation destroys all Dharmic obstacles that engender good luck and swift spiritual awakening.

November 1st Rachael Stevens comes out with Red Tara. If you'd rather read her Ph.D dissertation you can read that.

Tara has a tiara on her head that has the colors of the Buddha families, and the various colors of the Buddhas determine the flavor Tara gives.