AVALOKITESHVARA

AVALOKETESHVARA It is said that Avaloketeshvara was entrusted with the task of rescuing all living beings from samsara. In attempting to accomplish this he grew exhausted and despaired. At this moment he gave vent to tears that fell to the ground and grew as lotuses (illustrating the creative power of his compassion).

From these lotus flowers were born the Bodhisattvas Green and White Tara. Their destiny was to assist him in his task. As an indication of this; Green Tara is always depicted with one foot released from the meditation posture towards the ground; illustrating her readiness to come to the aid of suffering being. There is also a story that removes Tara from the mythological realm indicating not only the practically of the doctrine of compassion; but also the ignorance of thinking that form is the means of detecting the presence of a compassionate being. This story goes as follows:

In lifetime after lifetime; Tara has manifested in female form; demonstrating that enlightenment is attainable by all men and women alike. Once there was alone traveller making his perilous way across the forbidding plateau of Tibet. Exhausted and without food he was in immediate danger of losing his life when he came across a young girl tending a herd of yaks. She took the weary man into her tent; nursed him back to health and fed him until his strength returned. As the man was recovering he observed that the young girl was alone. Single-handedly she was doing the work that even a number of strong men would have found difficult. Eventually he was fit to travel again and the girl sent him on his way with a bag of provisions. Although it was a long journey; the man discovered that the food she had given him never ran out until he was back in his own valley again. Marvelling at all that had happened he thought. 'Perhaps that girl was actually Tara!' When he went to his lama and told him the story; the lama upbraided him saying; 'Of course she was Tara; you blockhead! How stupid of you not to recognize her? You must have a strong connection with her; boy if you ever want to see her again you had better purify your delusions and practice harder.'