Tara Religious Context Page

Definition, Textual Sources and Bibliography

Tara is a completely enlightened buddha and having promised to appear in the form of a female bodhisattva and goddess for the benefit of all beings she especially protects from the eight fears. Practiced in all Schools of Tibetan Buddhism Tara is second in popularity only to Avalokiteshvara. Her practices are found in all classes of tantra - Nyingma and Sarma.

English Bibliography

84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha: Tārā Who Protects from the Eight Dangers, Tārāṣṭa­ghora­tāraṇī (Tārāṣṭa­ghora­tāraṇī, ’phags ma sgrol ma ’jigs pa brgyad las skyob pa’i mdo)

A Prayer Flag for Tara, #36, page 548-552. Donald S.Lopez. Religions of Tibet in Practice. Edited by Donald S.Lopez. Princeton Readings in Religions, Princeton University Press, 1997.

The Cult of Tara, Magic and Ritual in Tibet. Stephan Beyer. University of California Press, 1973, 1978.

The Origin of the Tara Tantra by Jo-nan Taranatha. Translated & Edited by David Templeman. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1981, 1995.

In Praise of Tara, Songs to the Saviouress. Martin Wilson. Wisdom Publications, 1986, 1996.

The Sakti Cult and Tara. Edited by D.C.Sircar. University of Calcutta, 1967.

The Tara Tantra: Tara's Fundamental Ritual Text (Tara-mula-kalpa) (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences), by Susan A. Landesman May 19, 2020.

[updated 7-2020]