Tara's roots are in Sanskrit and the tradition of Indian Buddhism, however the Tibetans have made the practice of chanting praises to Tara their own. As the female aspect of the Buddha, Tara reveals the awakened state of mind in feminine form to inspire and liberate all. She embodies the enlightened aspects and activities of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and is readily accessible to everyone. Non-traditional paintings depict each of Tara's 21 exquisitely desirable qualities. The first of the series- 00- is not a rendition of a specific quality, but an overall representation describing her beginnings and titled by her mantra- Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha.
Each of Tara's 21 qualities are either peaceful or fierce and activities or attributes. They are: 01- Swift Courage, 02- Creative Wisdom, 03- Six Perfections, 04- All Victorious, 05- Giver of Intelligence, 06- Worthy of Praise, 07- Invincible Conqueror, 08- Destroyer of Negativity, 09- True Refuge, 10- Resplendent Laughter, 11- Dispeller of Misfortune, 12- Auspicious Light, 13- Bestower of Maturity, 14- Fierce Compassion, 15- Virtuous Peace, 16-Subduer of Passion, 17- Bliss Endowed, 18- Remover of Poison, 19- Dispeller of Distress, 20- Advent of Spiritual Power, 21-Total Enlightenment.
Each painting is Acrylic on Canvas, 42" x 31" (47" x 36" framed).
Each of Tara's qualities are also represented by an adaptation of a corresponding traditional icon. These are adapted from the Quadrilingual blockprints of the Suryagupta School. In each, Tara's gestures and the objects she holds are traditional but I have taken liberties with the other elements Therefore, my icons are not drawn to the precise requirements of Tibetan art. The inclusion of these is simply my attempt to honor the traditional alongside the intentionally non-traditional paintings.
They are: 00- Ordinary Green Tara, 01- Tara Swift and Heroic, 02- Tara White as the Autumn Moon, 03- Golden-Colored Tara, 04- Tara the Victorious Usnisa of theTathagatas, 05- Tara Proclaiming the Sound of Hung, 06- Tara Victorious Over the Three Worlds, 07- Tara Crushing Adversaries, 08- Tara Who Crushes All Maras and Bestows Supreme Powers, 09- Tara Granter of Boons, 10- Tara Dispelling All Sorrow, 11- Tara Summoner of All Beings, Dispeller of All Misfortune, 12- Tara Giver of All Prosperity, 13- Tara the Ripener, 14- Tara the Wrathful Summoner, 15- Tara the Great Peaceful One, 16-Tara Destroyer of All Attachment, 17- Tara Accomplisher of All Bliss, 18- Tara the Victorious, 19- Tara Consumer of All Suffering, 20- Tara Source of All Attainments, 21-Tara the Perfecter.
Each icon is Watercolor/Acrylic/Ink on Paper, 4.625" x 3.625" (13" x 10.5" matted/framed)
The organization of this work corresponds to the flow of the Sanskrit prayer framed by two elements of Tibetan traditions; the Preparatory Practices and a Final Prayer which I have delineated as a Blessing. The Sanskrit prayer begins with a verse referred to as the Root Mantra, numbered 0. It provides an overall description of Tara's qualities through an explanation of her mantra-- Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha. Each of the Verses numbered 1-21 describe a specific aspect or activity. Verses 22-27 describe the Benefits of reciting this prayer. My adaptation is based on various available translations, most of which were briefly worded. In my Verse, I have taken license to be more descriptive and to attempt to decipher ideas that seemed unclear or had a number of possible meanings. In some cases, I combined options. In others, I set out to define unfamiliar terms within the context of my adapted Verse.
The complete body of work, Tara paintings, icons and verse- are shown here as double page spread layouts of the book application.
Also see Book Proposals for a more detailed presentation of the book - Tara, The Twenty-One Praises: An Offering of Paintings & Verse.
