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T A R A 
THE GREAT COSMIC FORCE OF THE DIVINE COMPASSIONTara guides the ardent aspirant on the path of spiritual evolution and fulfillment, in order to offer him or her the liberating grace of the divine transcendence. In the tantric pantheon, Tara is the second Great Cosmic Force and in the same time, she is the greatest deity in the Tibetan tantric Buddhism. In the Buddhist tradition in China, the great goddess is referred to as Kwan Yin. The most often and complex referring to this Great Cosmic Force are to be found within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, where she is also referred to as Tarini. In this tradition, the numerous forms of the goddess are presented as different aspects or functions of Tara, signifying the particular elements of this elevated expression of the divine consciousness in the manifested world. Moreover, the Tara's invocation and worship is intimately correlated with the complex pantheon of the five "families " of divine, creative energies and consequently of the five Dhyani Buddha. Under these circumstances, it is highly difficult to be able to perform a precise omologation between the deities associated to the characteristics of Tara and those of The Great Cosmic Force represented in the Hindu tradition. For instance, the text Sadhanamala Tantra presents a long row of such goddesses. Tara emanated from the gigantic sphere of consciousness of the great Dhyani Buddha Amogasiddhi, the most worshipped deity of the Tibetan Buddhism. On the other hand, some texts belonging to the Tibetan spirituality such as Saktisangama Tantra describe the qualities of several Great Cosmic Forces, Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari and Chinnamasta in the manifestation of only one goddess. 
Moreover, several times within the same tradition of the tantric Tibetan Buddhism we encounter the identification of Kali and Tara's cosmic functions, features and particularities.Tara's forms of representation are approximately the same in the different Hindu or Tibetan texts, and the differences between the two are reduced to the objects they hold in their hands. Nonetheless, there are some significant differences as well: for instance, in the Tantric tradition of the ten Great Cosmic Forces (Dasha Maha Vidya), Tara is endowed with universal functions synthesized in just two or maybe three of her aspects. Unlike the Tibetan tradition, she is not envisaged here as an emanation of the Dhyani Buddha Akshobhya, but she is associated with him. In the Buddhist texts, the first and the most important of the group of deities emanated from Akshobhya is Mahachinna Tara, known also as Ugra Tara - Tara in her terrible aspect, as presented in the Hindu tantric tradition. Another form is Ekajata Tara, who was revealed in India by the great sage Nagarjuna, after he adopted her form of adoration from Tibet. However, there are some doubts regarding the initiator of Tara's worship, as Nagarjuna lived approximately I - II AD, while the tantric Buddhism became obvious in the VIIth century AD. 
The third main form of Tara is mentioned as Nila Saraswati Tara, often assimilated to Ugra Tara. The tradition states that this form of Tara originated in the region of the lake Chola situated in the neighborhood of the sacred Mountain Meru. Thus, while Nila Saraswati Tara was practicing her tapas, her pure energy "fell" into the water and from that moment on her body became blue. However, at this point we need to mention that although the pantheon of the Tibetan tantric Buddhism mentions different aspects of the goddess Tara, she is not worshipped as one of the ten Great Cosmic Forces from the Hindu tantric tradition. However, we notice the existence of a group of feminine deities, somewhat resembling in shape with Tara, manifesting different paranormal capacities and offering spiritual and even material gifts to the sincere and loyal worshippers. |