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Green Tara White Tara ...

The Feminine is expressed in multiple ways.
From Buddhism we have the Tara Bodhisattva, who 
takes on many forms herself, the two most well-known
to the West being Green and White Tara.

"The White and Green Taras with their contrasting symbols of the full-blown and closed lotus, are said to symbolize between them the unending compassion of the deity who labours both day and night to relieve suffering. Under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism the different forms of Tara multiplied to a traditional 108. Tibetan temple banners frequently show 21 different Taras, coloured white, red, and yellow, grouped around a central Green Tara. " 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tara-Buddhist-goddess


I have heard the Taras discussed in many ways, but here I wish to focus on the idea of two essences of a woman:  the fresh green of youth and the whiteness of the elder.  In my own heart, I have both quite alive in me, but my relationship to each has changed over time.  

For me, the ideal of compassion as a young woman expressed itself in the intention to be kind, innocent, and to call on the higher spirits of people around me, especially when I felt I needed protection.  Tara is about protection, including on the spiritual journey each individual undertakes.  When I learned about the Taras in mid-life, the Green Tara was the first I encountered.  I recognized her part of my youthful feminine.

It wasn't until I was post-menopause and dealing with my fear of growing older that I met the White Tara.  I was astounded by her beauty and the compassion she blessed me with as she helped me accept the role of an elder.  I had been struggling with the idea of "giving up the girl" in me (my own words for that grieving process).  I had been grieving the loss of youth deeply and doing all I could to delay and deny the process of aging.  White Tara meditations helped me accept the beauty of the stage I had entered as an elder.

A few months after beginning to accept my inner White Tara I realized I had conceptualized that I had felt acceptance of White Tara meant I must relinquish Green Tara (who, to me, symbolized "the girl") with White Tara (whom I saw as "the grandmother").  My thinking about the process was dualistic; it was an either/or idea.

But then I revisited some readings about the Taras and realized I had been blind to the idea that ALL the Taras (Green and White and many, many more) co-exist, and thus, perhaps "the girl" was not necessarily gone just because I had ALSO embraced "the grandmother."  This was an and/more idea.

For me, this was a revelation.  It forms much of the basis of the thoughts I am expressing in this blog about rising above ageism within an ageist culture.


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