Sources describe Tārā as a fully awakened female buddha/bodhisattva figure within Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism rather than as a folkloric origin tale. In Vajrayāna she is treated as a meditation deity (yidam) and is sometimes described in tantric contexts as associated with Amoghasiddhi Buddha; sources indicate this association as part of Vajrayāna iconographic and soteriological frameworks rather than a single narrative origin.
Green Tara is conventionally depicted in Tibetan iconography as a youthful, active female figure in a seated posture of ease (lalitāsana) on a lotus throne, often with one foot partly extended on a padma (lotus) as a sign of readiness to aid; devotional descriptions frequently characterize her as youthful (some sources noting 'about 16 years old') and bearing the green coloration that identifies this manifestation. Museum and devotional accounts describe her as a radiant savioress and an embodiment of the perfected, enlightened mind in feminine form.
Doctrinally and devotionally Green Tara 'hears the cries of beings in saṃsāra and saves them from worldly and spiritual danger.' She is invoked to grant power to overcome obstructions, fears, and dangers, and functions as an embodiment of enlightened wisdom and active compassion. In Vajrayāna practice she is a yidam used in visualization and mantra practice to cultivate and receive swift assistance and liberation from suffering.
Weaknesses
- otherNo inherent weaknesses listed in provided sources
Wards
- mantraOm Tare Tuttare Ture Soha (devotional invocation to request Green Tara's aid)
- ritualDeity visualization and mantra practice (yidam practice) to invoke protection and removal of obstacles
- otherKeeping images (thangka, statue) of Green Tara as devotional focus
Acala
Acala (Sanskrit: अचल, 'The Immovable') is a wrathful protective deity (dharmapala) in Vajrayāna and East Asian esoteric Buddhism, classed among the Wisdom Kings (Vidyārāja). He functions as a ritual focus for visualization and mantra practice intended to remove obstacles and bind or destroy hostile forces.
Acalanātha (Acala / Achala)
Acalanātha (also Acala or Achala) is a wrathful deity and dharmapāla — a protector of the Dharma — prominent in Vajrayana and East Asian Mahayana Buddhist contexts. Presented as a fierce, non‑human or semi‑divine protector-figure, Acalanātha functions to defend the teaching and practitioners by removing obstacles and confronting threats to the transmission and practice of Buddhism.
Agni
Agni is the Vedic personification of fire in Hindu tradition: a sacred, mediating principle that manifests as terrestrial fire, atmospheric lightning, and celestial sun, and that receives and conveys sacrificial offerings. Prominent in the Rigvedic corpus, Agni functions as sanctifier, witness of rites of passage, and a transformational inner principle in later Upanishadic literature.
Aizen Myō-ō (Rāgarāja)
Aizen Myō-ō corresponds to the deity Rāgarāja, a wrathful/transformation-oriented figure venerated in Esoteric and Vajrayāna Buddhist traditions. The figure is especially revered in Chinese Esoteric Buddhism in Chinese communities and in the Japanese Esoteric schools Shingon and Tendai.
Akhu Tönpa
A Tibetan trickster figure, sent by Chenrezig to teach the art of being shrewd and witty, while championing the common man against social hierarchies. (Note: - Power tier should be Lesser or Minor Spirit, not Ancient, as it's more aligned with local spirit level of trickster figures. - The ability to outwit those in positions of power suggests Greater or P)
Akshobhya
Akshobhya is a transcendent buddha of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism, one of the Five Wisdom (Dhyāni) Buddhas. He personifies 'mirror knowledge' (ādarśa-jñāna), is conventionally placed in the East, and is lord of the eastern Pure Land Abhirati; in esoteric texts he is associated with the eastern Vajra division and invoked in mantra/mandala ritual contexts.
Akuma
Akuma (悪魔／あくま) in Japanese sources is an evil spirit, devil, or demon associated with misfortune and mental disturbance. The term appears in Buddhist texts and Heian-period literature and was later used to translate the Christian figure of Satan, as well as the Buddhist Mara.
Amanojaku
Amanojaku (天邪鬼 / あまのじゃく) is a Japanese yōkai-type being portrayed as a contrarian, heart-reading trickster. Treated in different contexts as a small ogre (ko-oni), a wicked demon (jaki) in Buddhist iconography, and a folkloric spirit that provokes human vice, it appears across regional tales with variable roles from malicious kidnapper to household oddity.
Amida Nyorai
Amida Nyorai (Amitābha / Amitāyus) is a principal Mahayana Buddha venerated across East Asia as the embodiment of Infinite Light and Infinite Life who presides over a Western Pure Land and is invoked as the savior who receives the dying into rebirth there.
Amitābha
Amitābha is a central celestial Buddha of Mahayana Buddhism who presides over the western Pure Land called Sukhāvatī. Devotional practices invoking his 'measureless' light and life (nianfo/nembutsu) are presented in Pure Land traditions as a path by which beings may be reborn in his buddhafield and quickly attain Buddhahood.
Amitābha Buddha
Amitābha is a principal Mahayana Buddha who presides over the Western Pure Land (the Land of Ultimate Bliss). Devotional practices—most centrally recitation of his name and chanting of Pure Land sutras—are presented in sources as the means by which Amitābha welcomes practitioners for rebirth in his hindrance-free realm.
Amoghapāśa
Amoghapāśa is recorded in the supplied sources as a named manifestation or form of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara/Lokeśvara attested in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna contexts. The evidence in the provided material is archival and bibliographic (sūtra/dhāraṇī/maṇḍala filenames and database entries) rather than descriptive narrative or doctrinal exposition.
Community Record
- [1]Tara (Buddhism) - Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 'Tara (Buddhism)'wiki
- [2]Green Tara Mantra: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha - Learn How to Say It. Yowangdu, 'Green Tara Mantra: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha - Learn How to Say It'other
- [3]Green Tara Year End Retreat 2024 - Drepung Loseling. Drepung Loseling, 'Green Tara Year End Retreat 2024'other
- [4]Fine Antique Tibetan Copper Gilded Goddess of Liberation Green Tara Statue (Buddha Museum). Buddha Museum, 'Fine Antique Tibetan Copper Gilded Goddess of Liberation green Tara Statue'other
- [5]Green Tara | Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Museum of Art, 'Green Tara' (thangka description)other
- [6]Green Tara - Dreaming in Japanese (Leanne Ogasawara). Dreaming in Japanese, 'Green Tara' (interpretive / devotional essay)other
- [7]Green Tara Light? (Buddhism StackExchange Q&A). Buddhism StackExchange, 'Green Tara Light?' (community Q&A regarding meditational experiences)other
- [8]Green Tara and Parvati (Hinduism StackExchange Q&A). Hinduism StackExchange, 'Green Tara and Parvati' (comparative question/answer discussion)other
- [9]Order of the White Moon Goddess Gallery presents: Green Tara by Mystic Raven. Order of the White Moon, 'Green Tara' (devotional page)other