Skip to main content

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.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated before posting, generally within 24 hours.

Popular posts from this blog

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes ...

Nikolaus Gyzis' painting:  Grandma Dancing with Granddaughters, 1883. I'm reading Mary Pipher's recent book, _Women_Rowing_North_, in which she shares her ideas about being a woman as  entering her elder years. In her second chapter, Pipher wrote about ageism directly. The line that has stayed with me most clearly is this: What women mean when they say  "I'm not old," is "I won't accept the ideas that culture has about me." However, in the real world, I've been taking my grandchild to a weekly preschool music class where we delight in rhythms, songs, trying out instrument.  At circle time I used to sit down on the floor along with many (but not all) of the other parents and grandparents and their kids.  Those who chose to sit on chairs instead of on the floor had their reasons, but I liked to participate, even on days when, in order to stand up, I'd first have to get on my hands and knees then push up slowly.  I liked hol...
4 comments
Read more

Beautify Yourself

Beautify Yourself ...  ... a Facebook quizzish thing, so I tried it. With tech magic the program instantly smoothed out my wrinkles, slimmed down my face, plumped up my lips, applied eye makeup, and minimized the bags under my eyes.  Gee, I do think I look better!  I think I look sexier in the made-over image.  Younger, too.  I wonder if I could get away with using the image as my Facebook profile picture.  If I wasn't partnered and I had a dating site profile, I'd sure think about that:  but I should think about what might happen if did that then I met someone in person who had judged my attractiveness based on the makeover ... hmm ...  I'd have to wear a LOT of makeup to try to carry that off! And, I could spend a lot of time thinking about improving my appearance.  In truth I do, actually.  I rarely go out in public without tinted moisturizer, some eye makeup and lip gloss.  For evenings I might add mascara and a bit o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grandmother Spider

Grandmother Spider  Artist:  Jo Jayson Grandmother Spider created the world by spinning her webs, and the interconnections of her weaving bonded all beings together.  The magic of spiders is featured throughout the mythology of ancient cultures across the globe, from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.  People have been fascinated with the spider's ability to weave, and although the magical spider is not always portrayed as a woman, when she is often it is as a wise and powerful elder spirit.  A grandmother. Are you afraid of spiders?   I once saw a strong and independent friend jump up on a chair to avoid a spider crawling across her living room floor.  Another woman friend had a hedge near her house cut down because "there are spiders in there."  In Arizona a young mother routinely (and I maintain, reasonably) entered a shed in her backyard with a flashlight and a rubber flip-flop in her hand, finding black widow spiders in t...
2 comments
Read more