Green Tara is considered an incarnation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in Tibetan Buddhism. She is also known as the Swift and Courageous Mother of Salvation and the Savior Tara of the Eight Great Fears.
Green Tara, whose Sanskrit name is Tara, is fully known as the Holy Savior Buddha Mother. In ancient China, she was called Duoluo Bodhisattva or Duoluo Guanyin. The Praise to Green Tara records that the Twenty-One Taras are manifestations of Green Tara’s different enlightened activities, while Green Tara herself embodies and gathers all the merits and virtues of the Twenty-One Taras.
She is believed to rescue beings from eight kinds of suffering and danger, including fire, lions, elephants, snakes, floods, imprisonment, thieves, and harmful spirits, which is why she is also called the “Savior Tara of the Eight Great Fears.” At the same time, she can transform “doubt,” one of the five poisons of human behavior—greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt—into ultimate perfect wisdom. She is also regarded as a protector of women and children.
The Image of Green Tara
Green Tara is depicted in the appearance of a bodhisattva, with her entire body shining emerald green. She has one face and two arms, with a graceful and beautiful appearance like a young woman in her prime. Her figure is slender, and her beauty is incomparable. She wears a crown adorned with the Five Buddha Jewels, radiates rainbow-like light, and is decorated with necklaces and precious ornaments. Clothed in heavenly garments and layered skirts, her image appears noble, elegant, compassionate, and dignified.
In her right hand, Green Tara holds an utpala flower (blue lotus), extended outward before her knee with the palm facing outward in the gesture of granting wishes. This mudra symbolizes giving, fulfilling wishes, granting protection, and universal salvation, representing her fearless compassion and her ability to fulfill the wishes of all beings.
Her left hand also holds a blooming utpala flower, placed before her chest in the gesture representing the Three Jewels. The raised index finger symbolizes the Buddha Jewel, the middle finger symbolizes the Dharma Jewel, and the little finger symbolizes the Sangha Jewel. The touching thumb and ring finger symbolize the union of compassion and wisdom.
Green Tara sits upon a lotus and moon disc seat in the bodhisattva posture, with her left leg folded and her right leg extended downward, resting upon a lotus. This posture symbolizes her readiness to rise immediately and rescue suffering beings, just like a loving mother rushing to save her beloved child. The two lotus flowers held in her hands extend upward to her shoulders. At the top of each stem are a fruit, a fully bloomed flower, and an unopened bud. Green Tara protects all beings with feminine compassion. Her nurturing kindness is compared to fertile green earth, selflessly giving like a mother.
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