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57-447: Aizen may refer to: Aizen Myō-ō (愛染明王), a Japanese Buddhist deity Sōsuke Aizen (藍染 惣右介), a main antagonist of the manga series Bleach See also [ edit ] All pages with titles containing Aizen All pages with titles beginning with Aizen Eizen Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

114-497: A tantric deity whose secret practices and tantric sadhanas would be used by monks and yogis in order to develop her awakened qualities in themselves, ultimately leading to Buddhahood . Another quality which Tara shares with feminine spirits (such as dakinis ) is playfulness. As John Blofeld explains in Bodhisattva of Compassion , Tārā is frequently depicted as a young sixteen-year-old girlish woman. She often manifests in

171-415: A Tārā mantra is termed a "vidyā" (the proper term for a mantra of a female deity). The main vidyā mantra of Tārā is: Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. This is the most popularly recited mantra of the deity and is her root (mula) mantra. Tāre tuttāre ture is in the vocative case . Tāre is the basic name of the deity ("O Tara"). Tuttāre (prefixed by ud-) refers to Tara as "the one who helps [beings] to cross"

228-678: A bodhisattva, Tārā remains very popular in Tibet (and Tibetan communities in exile in Northern India), Mongolia , Nepal , Bhutan , Sikkim and is worshiped in many Buddhist communities throughout the world (though in East Asian Buddhism , Guanyin is the most popular female deity). In Tibet, Green Tārā was also considered to have manifested as the Nepalese Princess ( Bhrikuti ), and White Tārā's manifestation as

285-698: A form of the goddess Durga . Tārā is worshiped both in Buddhism as well as in Shaktism (Hinduism) as one of the ten Mahavidyas . According to Beyer, the enlightened feminine makes its first appearance in Mahayana Buddhism as Prajñāpāramitā Devi , the personified Perfection of Wisdom , who is also called mother of Buddhas. Tara eventually came to be considered the "Mother of all Buddhas" by Indian tantric Buddhists, taking on this epithet from Prajñaparamita. The term mother of Buddhas usually refers to

342-418: A male to progress further. At this point she lets the monks know in no uncertain terms that it is only "weak minded worldlings" who see gender as a barrier to attaining enlightenment . She sadly notes there have been few who wish to work for the welfare of sentient beings in a female form, though. Therefore, she resolves to always be reborn as a female bodhisattva, until samsara is no more. She then stays in

399-436: A mother does for her children. Tārā is most often shown with the blue lotus or night lotus ( utpala ), which releases its fragrance with the appearance of the moon and therefore Tārā is also associated with the moon and night. In general, Tārā is especially seen as a savior who provides salvation and protection from the eight fears (aṣṭabhaya) or eight dangers (aṣṭaghora). This is a common theme in her iconography and she

456-455: A palace in a state of meditation for some ten million years, and the power of this practice releases tens of millions of beings from suffering. As a result of this, Tonyo Drupa tells her she will henceforth manifest supreme bodhi as the Goddess Tārā in many world systems to come. A similar story is told by the 14th Dalai Lama : There is a true feminist movement in Buddhism that relates to

513-404: A receptive heart then. For in this openness and receptivity her blessings can naturally unfold and her energies can quicken the aspirants spiritual development. Tārā as a focus for tantric deity yoga can be traced back to the time period of Padmasambhava . There is a Red Tārā practice which was given by Padmasambhava to Yeshe Tsogyal . He asked that she hide it as a treasure . It was not until

570-526: A tantric practice quickly spread from around the 7th century CE onwards, and remains an important part of Vajrayana Buddhism to this day. The practices themselves usually present Tārā as a tutelary deity (thug dam, yidam ) which the practitioners sees as being a latent aspect of one's mind, or a manifestation in a visible form of a quality stemming from Buddha Jnana . As John Blofeld puts it in The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet : The function of

627-497: A transcendent awakened wisdom, though it also echoes the ancient Indian motif of the Mother Goddess ( Devi Mata). Tārā became a very popular Vajrayana deity with the rise of tantric Buddhism in north India. Tārā worship also spread to other parts of India, as well as to Nepal , Sri Lanka and Indonesia , where depictions of the deity have been discovered by archeologists. With the movement of Indian Buddhism into Tibet,

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684-429: A woman. Tārā, then, embodies certain ideals which make her attractive to women practitioners, and her emergence as a Bodhisattva can be seen as a part of Mahayana Buddhism's reaching out to women, and becoming more inclusive even in 6th-century CE India . Tārā's name literally means "star" or "planet", and therefore she is associated with navigation and travel both literally and metaphorically as spiritual crossing to

741-596: A young princess who lives in a different world system, millions of years in the past. Her name is Jñanachandra or Yeshe Dawa, which means "Moon of Primordial Awareness". For quite a number of aeons she makes offerings to the Buddha of that world system, whose name was Tonyo Drupa. She receives special instruction from him concerning bodhicitta —the infinitely compassionate mental state of a bodhisattva. After doing this, some monks approach her and suggest that because of her level of attainment she should next pray to be reborn as

798-614: Is Tārā scriptures used as Tantric sadhanas. For example, a Tārā sadhana was revealed to Tilopa (988–1069 CE), the human father of the Karma Kagyu . Atisa , the great translator and founder of the Kadampa school of Tibetan Buddhism, was a devotee of Tārā. He composed a praise to her, and three Tārā Sadhanas. Martin Willson's work also contains charts which show origins of her tantras in various lineages, but suffice to say that Tārā as

855-576: Is a Sanskrit hymn which contains a set of 108 names and epithets for the deity. Buddhist studies scholars generally agree that the worship of Tara began growing in popularity in India during the 6th century. Tārā came to be seen as an expression of the compassion of perfected wisdom only later, with her earliest textual reference being the Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa ( c.  5th –8th centuries CE). The earliest, solidly identifiable image of Tārā

912-618: Is an important female Buddha in Buddhism , especially revered in Vajrayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism . She may appear as a female bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, Green Tara is a female Buddha who is a consort of Amoghasiddhi Buddha . Tārā is also known as a saviouress who hears the cries of beings in saṃsāra and saves them from worldly and spiritual danger. In Vajrayana, she

969-415: Is chanted to invoke Tārā's protection. In Tibetan Buddhism, each of these outer dangers is also associated with an inner psychological meaning. As such, lions represent pride, wild elephants represent delusion, fires represent anger, snakes represent jealousy, bandits represent wrong views, bondage represent avarice, floods represent desire and attachment, and evil spirits and demons represent doubts. With

1026-687: 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" who is also "beyond saṃsāra and nirvāṇa ." She is one of the most important female deities in Vajrayana and is found in sources like the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa , and the Guhyasamāja Tantra . Key Indic Vajrayana texts which focus on Tārā include the Tantra Which

1083-423: Is further associated with longevity, countering illness, and purification. Red Tārā meanwhile is associated with power, controlling and influencing others as well as with the transformation of desire into compassion. The manifestation of Blue Tārā ( Ekajati ) is a ferocious female protector whose invocation destroys all obstacles. Tārā is also a forest goddess, particularly in her form as Khadiravani , "dweller in

1140-501: Is known as Jetsun Drölma ( རྗེ་བརྩུན་སྒྲོལ་མ།།, སྒྲོལ་མ , Wylie: rje btsun sgrol ba ), meaning "Venerable Saviour" which is derived from the Tibetan verb sgrol ba meaning "to save, rescue, liberate; to carry, transport, or cross; and to expel or drive away [evil]". The name Tārā may also mean "star" or "planet" (since they are celestial bodies which cross the sky and are thus literally "crossers"). In East Asian Buddhism she

1197-423: Is known as 多羅菩薩 ( Pinyin : Duōluó Púsà ), with Púsà indicating bodhisattva status. In Japanese she is 多羅菩薩 たらぼさつ Tara Bosatsu. The name means "Bodhisattva who catches many" or "Bodhisattva who collects numerous [sentient beings]", derived from the characters : 羅, "to catch, gather, collect, sift," and 多 "many; much; a lot of; numerous". The Tārāṣṭottaraśatanāmāvalī , "108 Names of [Divine Personage] Tara",

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1254-634: Is known to transform worldly lust into spiritual awakening. When scriptures related to him reached China during the Tang dynasty , his Sanskrit name was translated as Àirǎn Míngwáng "Love-stained Wisdom King". In Japanese, the same Kanji characters are read Aizen Myō'ō . Rāgarāja, also known as Aizen-Myōō, is one of many Wisdom kings, (but not in the traditional grouping of the five great Myoo, or Godai Myoo) Wisdom Kings like Acala (Fudo-Myōō). There are four different mandalas associated with Rāgarāja: The first posits him with thirty-seven assistant devas ,

1311-411: Is most commonly depicted sitting in full lotus position atop an urn that ejects jewels showing beneficence in granting wishes. He is portrayed as a red-skinned man with a fearsome appearance, a vertical third eye and flaming wild hair that represents rage, lust and passion. Rāgarāja was also popular among Chinese tradesmen who worked in the fabric-dying craft, typically accomplished with sorghum . He

1368-647: Is most likely that which is still found today at cave 6 within the rock-cut Buddhist monastic complex of the Ellora Caves in Maharashtra ( c.  7th century CE ). Her worship was well established by the onset of the Pala Empire in Eastern India (8th century CE). The origin of Tārā is unclear and remains a source of inquiry among scholars. Mallar Ghosh believes her to have originated as

1425-420: Is one of the most popular deities which are appealed to by laypersons and monastics alike for aid. Tara's main form is depicted as dark green in color, which is associated with awakened activity. In Himalayan Buddhist iconography, each color is typically associated with a specific kind of activity (for example white is pacification and red is power). Because dark green is seen as a combination of all other colors,

1482-634: Is one of the most popular systems in Tibetan Buddhism. The main source for this system is Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna’s (982–1054 CE) Sādhana of the Twenty-One Tārās ( sgrol ma nyi shu rtsa gcig gi sgrub thabs ). Thus, in Atiśa's tradition, the mantra of Swift and Heroic Tārā (used for subduing enemies and hindrances) is Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture vāśaṃ kuru svāhā, the mantra of White Tārā (for healing and longevity): Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture śāntiṃ kuru svāhā and

1539-401: Is petitioned by devotees for a peaceful home and fortune in business. There is usually a lion's head on top of his head in his hair, representing the mouth into which thoughts and wishes may be fed. Some of these are the wishes of local devotees who make formal requests for success in marriage and sexual relations. According to the "Pavilion of Vajra Peak and all its Yogas and Yogins Sutra" with

1596-478: Is sometimes depicted in a specific iconographical style called "Tara who protects from the eight dangers" (Tārāṣṭaghoratāraṇī). According to The Noble Sūtra “Tārā Who Protects from the Eight Dangers” (* Āryatārāṣṭaghoratāraṇī­sūtra ), the eight dangers (aṣṭaghora) are: lions, elephants, fire, snakes, robbers, waters, infectious diseases, and demons. This sutra also contains an incantation ( dharani ) which

1653-983: Is the Source for All the Functions of Tārā, Mother of All the Tathagatas (Skt. Sarvatathāgatamātṛtārāviśvakarmabhavanāmatantra ) and Tārā’s Fundamental Ritual Text ( Tārāmūlakalpa ). 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 have many forms or emanations, while Green Tara emanates twenty-one Tārās , each with different attributes—colors, implements, and activities such as pacifying ( śānti ), increasing ( pauṣṭika ), enthralling ( vaśīkaraṇa ), and wrathful ( abhicāra ). The Green Tara (or "blue-green", Skt. Samayatara or śyāmatārā ) remains

1710-471: Is tāṃ. This seed syllable is often visualized in Tara sadhanas (meditative rites. spiritual practices). This seed syllable may also appear in longer Tārā mantras. For example, there is a common Red Tārā mantra which goes: Oṃ tāre tāṃ svāhā. Some traditions also contain a mantra for each of the twenty one Tārās, which are used to invoke a specific activity of Tara, like Atiśa's lineage of Tara practice, which

1767-468: The 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!" Tārā ( Devanagari : तारा) is a feminine noun derived from the root √tṝ , "to cross." It is causative , and as such means "to cause to cross," i.e., "to rescue." This is why the name is sometimes translated as "savioress" or "rescuer". For example, in Tibetan, she

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1824-630: The "other side" of the ocean of existence (enlightenment). Hence she is known literally as "she who saves" in Tibetan. In the 108 Names of the Holy Tara , Tara is "Leader of the caravans ..... who showeth the way to those who have lost it" and she is named as Dhruva , the Sanskrit name for the North Star . Due to her association with navigation and travel, she is thus popular as a savior and protector from danger. In modern Tibetan Buddhism , Tārā

1881-552: The 20th century, that a great Nyingma lama, Apong Terton rediscovered it. It is said that this lama was reborn as Sakya Trizin , present head of the Sakyapa sect. A monk who had known Apong Terton succeeded in retransmitting it to Sakya Trizin, and the same monk also gave it to Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche , who released it to his western students. Martin Willson in In Praise of Tārā traces many different lineages of Tārā Tantras, that

1938-463: The Chinese princess Kongjo ( Princess Wencheng ). Tārā has many origin stories which explain her origin as a bodhisattva . According to one story, Tārā arose from Avalokiteshvara's compassionate tears when he wept on seeing all the suffering of all the beings in samsara . His tears turned into a lotus, out of which Tārā arose. The Indian master Sūryagupta explains this myth as follows: What

1995-648: The Khadira forest" and is generally associated with plant life, flowers, acacia (khadira) trees and the wind. Because of her association with nature and plants, Tārā is also known as a healing goddess (especially as White Tārā) and as a goddess of nurturing quality and fertility. Her pure land , Paradise Arrayed in Turquoise Petals, in Mount Potalaka (Avalokiteshvara's Pure Land) is described as "Covered with manifold trees and creepers, resounding with

2052-613: The Yidam is one of the profound mysteries of the Vajrayana...Especially during the first years of practice the Yidam is of immense importance. Yidam is the Tibetan rendering of the Sanskrit word "Iṣṭadeva"—the in-dwelling deity; but, where the Hindus take the Iṣṭadeva for an actual deity who has been invited to dwell in the devotee's heart, the Yidams of Tantric Buddhism are in fact the emanations of

2109-571: The abbreviated name of the "Yogins Sutra" (likely an apocryphal work attributed to the great Buddhist patriarch Vajrabodhi) Rāgarāja represents the state at which harnessed sexual excitement or agitation—which are otherwise decried as defilements—are seen as equal to enlightenment "bonno soku bodai," and passionate love can become compassion for all living things. Rāgarāja is similar to the red form of Tara , called Kurukulla , in Tibetan Buddhism . Appropriately, Rāgarāja's mantras are pronounced in either Chinese or Japanese transliterations of Sanskrit;

2166-664: The adept's own mind. Or are they? To some extent they seem to belong to that order of phenomena which in Jungian terms are called archetypes and are therefore the common property of the entire human race. Even among Tantric Buddhists, there may be a division of opinion as to how far the Yidams are the creations of individual minds. What is quite certain is that they are not independently existing gods and goddesses; and yet, paradoxically, there are many occasions when they must be so regarded. The various systems of Vajrayana Tārā practice contain numerous mantras for Tara. Technically speaking,

2223-481: The blank here, depending on what activity is required, such as grahān (evil spirits), vighnān (hindering demons), vyādhīn (diseases), upadravān (injuries), akālamṛtyūn (untimely deaths), duḥsvapnān (bad dreams), cittākulāni (confusions), śatrūn (enemies), bhayopadravān (terrors and injuries), duṣkṛtāni (evil deeds). Thus, for example, if one wanted to pacify evil spirits, one could recite: Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture sarva grahān śāntiṃkuru svāhā. Other appendixes may be added to

2280-509: The cadences depending upon the respective region where his devotees reside and practice, and whether in the Shingon or Tendai schools. His seed vowel, as written in bonji , is pronounced "HUM," usually with a forceful emphasis coming from the use of lower belly muscles. This is part of the syncretic practice of mixing Tantra and Buddhism as was popular during the Heian period courts and amongst

2337-426: The development of esoteric or tantric Buddhism , two main ways of approaching Tara developed. In one, common folk and lay practitioners continued to directly appeal to her for protection and aid in worldly affairs, often chanting prayers, dharanis , or mantras to her and doing puja (worship rites). Tara's mantra and her twenty one verses of praise are widely learned and chanted by Tibetan laypersons. Tara also became

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2394-488: The goddess Tārā. Following her cultivation of bodhicitta, the bodhisattva's motivation, she looked upon the situation of those striving towards full awakening and she felt that there were too few people who attained Buddhahood as women. So she vowed, "I have developed bodhicitta as a woman. For all my lifetimes along the path I vow to be born as a woman, and in my final lifetime when I attain Buddhahood, then, too, I will be

2451-741: The historical record. Male kabuki actors placed love letters to the men they desired on the wall of Rāgarāja's temple at Naniwa in hopes of attaining success in love. In a story from the Ashikaga era, a man praises his male lover by comparing him to Rāgarāja. Rāgarāja's dharani was also included in the preparatory prayers performed by the young male consorts of Japanese Buddhist monks in some kanjo rituals. Tara (Buddhism) Samding Dorje Phagmo Tara ( Sanskrit : तारा , tārā ; Standard Tibetan : སྒྲོལ་མ , dölma ), Ārya Tārā (Noble Tara), also known as Jetsün Dölma (Tibetan: rje btsun sgrol ma, meaning: "Venerable Mother of Liberation"),

2508-676: The lives of dharma practitioners when they take themselves, or the spiritual path too seriously. There are Tibetan tales in which she laughs at self-righteousness, or plays pranks on those who lack reverence for the feminine. In Magic Dance: The Display of the Self-Nature of the Five Wisdom Dakinis , Thinley Norbu explores this as "playmind". Applied to Tārā one could say that her playful mind can relieve ordinary minds which become rigidly serious or tightly gripped by dualistic distinctions. She takes delight in an open mind and

2565-692: The lower classes of both China and Japan. His popularity in Japan reached an apogee when a Shingon priest used magical chants and rituals to call up the Kamikaze that protected the Japanese from sea-born invaders. At various periods throughout Japanese history, Rāgarāja was invoked as a patron and symbol of homoerotic male desire. While it is ahistorical to ascribe a "gay" self-identification to historical figures, clear examples of Rāgarāja's patronage of men having intimate sexual relations with other men appear in

2622-492: The main form of Tārā, Green Tārā, is considered to be the source of all beneficial activities. Within Tibetan Buddhism, Tārā appears in many forms, each tied to certain colors, symbols, and beneficial activities. As Green Tārā she offers succor and protection from all the unfortunate circumstances one can encounter in the world of suffering. As White Tārā she expresses maternal compassion and offers healing to beings who are hurt or wounded, either mentally or psychically. White Tara

2679-436: The mantra in the same manner. For example, sarvapāpaṃ āvaraṇa viśuddhe (cleanse all evil and obscurations), or dhanaṃ me dehi (give me wealth). Other extensions of the basic vidyā mantra include a common mantra for wrathful forms of Tārā: Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture hūṃ phaṭ, and a common mantra for White Tārā used to increase lifespan is: Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture mama ayuḥ punya jñānā puśtiṃ kuru svāhā. Tara's seed mantra ( bijamantra )

2736-463: The mantra of Golden Tara (for increasing and wealth): Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture puṣṭīṃ kuru svāhā. Other Atiśa tradition Tārā mantras require one to insert a specific name into it. For example, the mantra of Tārā who utters hūṃ allows you to influence or seduce a person, and thus is structured as follows: Oṃ tāre tuttāre ture [name of person] ākarṣaya hrī svāhā. There are various prayers, odes ( stotras ) and dharanis associated with Tara. The most famous

2793-602: The most important form of the deity in Tibetan Buddhism. A practice text entitled Praises to the Twenty-One Taras is a well known text on Tara in Tibetan Buddhism and in Tibet, recited by children and adults, and is the textual source for the twenty-one forms of Green Tārā. 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

2850-442: The ocean of saṃsāra, and who "pulls [them] up" ( ut-tārā ). Turā, the third epithet, means "swift." Many Tārā mantras build off this base vidyā mantra by adding various mantric words which activate different functions of the deity, such as pacification or subjugation. As Beyer notes, one way to do this is to add a phrase like "sarva ____ śāntiṃkuru" (pacify all ____ ) in between ture and svāhā. Different terms may be inserted into

2907-527: The second with seventeen. The other two are special arrangements: one made by Enchin , fourth Tendai patriarch; the other is a Shiki mandala which represents deities using their mantra seed syllables drawn in bonji . Rāgarāja is also depicted in statuary and thangka having two heads: Rāgarāja and Acala or Rāgarāja and Guanyin , both iterations symbolizing a commingling of subjugated, complementary energies, typically male/female but also male/male. There are two, four or six armed incarnations of Rāgarāja but

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2964-421: The six-armed one is the most common. Those six arms bear a bell which calls one to awareness; a vajra , the diamond that cuts through illusion, an unopened lotus flower representing the power of subjugation, a bow and arrows (sometimes with Rāgarāja shooting the arrow into the heavens), and the last one holding something that we cannot see (referred to by advanced esoteric practitioners as "THAT".) Rāgarāja

3021-400: The sound of many birds, And with murmur of waterfalls, thronged with wild beasts of many kinds; Many species of flowers grow everywhere." Her association with the wind element (vaayu) also means that she is swift in responding to calls for any aid. According to Miranda Shaw , " Motherhood is central to the conception of Tara". Her titles include "loving mother", "supreme mother", "mother of

3078-459: The title Aizen . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aizen&oldid=1243533371 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Aizen My%C5%8D-%C5%8D Rāgarāja

3135-506: The world", "universal mother" and "mother of all Buddhas". As such, Tārā embodies many of the qualities of feminine principle. She is known as the Mother of Mercy and Compassion. She is the source, the female aspect of the universe, which gives birth to warmth, compassion and relief from bad karma as experienced by ordinary beings in cyclic existence. She engenders, nourishes, smiles at the vitality of creation, and has sympathy for all beings as

3192-405: The worship and practices of Tārā became incorporated into Tibetan Buddhism as well. As the worship of Tārā developed, various prayers, chants and mantras became associated with her. These came out of a felt devotional need, and from her inspiration causing spiritual masters to compose sadhanas , stotras , or tantric meditations. Independent of whether she is classified as a deity, a Buddha, or

3249-615: Was Her origin? - Arya-Lokesvara, the Lord and Refuge of the Three Realms, Desire, Form, and Formless, which depend on the five or [in the Formless Realm] four aggregates that perish in an instant, saw that however many migrating beings he removed from samsara, they grew no fewer, and He wept. Tara sprang from the opening filaments of his face - of an utpala (blue lotus) that grew in the water of His tears. Another tale begins with

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