Tara, simply means star! And at that we would have picked the name for our baby, as we were looking for secular non distort-able two syllable names, and this worked. And for a mother whose favourite painting is Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, and one of the favourite songs too being on the same painting and artist - Vincent, by Don McLean - there was adequate romanticism for this name to be the natural choice.So while this has always been a popular name with me, what really made it work was brief exposure to this stunning avatar of Buddha that i had seen on a trip to Dharamsala with Gunuakka.
So this background gave the name a little more depth ...
Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā) or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma (Tibetan language:rje btsun sgrol ma) in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. ]
Tara is a tantric meditation deity whose practice is used by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist virtues. [And Tara is so beautiful and serene - and all the art on the thangkas made me fall in love with her]
The most widely known forms of Tārā are:
- Green Tārā, known as the Buddha of enlightened activity
- White Tārā, also known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or Cintachakra. Tara is believed to protect human beings from suffering. The White Tara is often represented with many eyes and known as the Seven Eyes Tara – with extra eyes on her forehead, hands and feet. These extra eyes help her sense and understand the suffering of beings.[nice, i thought...]
- Red Tārā, of fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all good things
- Black Tārā, associated with power [like Kali]
- Yellow Tārā, associated with wealth and prosperity
- Blue Tārā, associated with transmutation of anger
- Cittamani Tārā, a form of Tārā widely practiced at the level of Highest Yoga Tantra in the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism, portrayed as green and often conflated with Green Tārā
- Khadiravani Tārā (Tārā of the teak forest), who appeared to Nagarjuna in the Khadiravani forest of South India and who is sometimes referred to as the "22nd Tārā."
Note: Ref. Jetsun Dolma...so while i was thinking up names i sent out this link to a few friends and family to get their response, and PJ picked up this name Jetsun Dolma and kept referring to the baby in the womb as Jetsun, and for a long while Tara was called Jetsun by all of us. Even when my water broke, Peej was around and did a little jig on the street outside Chang's singing Jetsun Dolma Jetsun Dolma :) - was cute and is a picture so vivid in my head.
Note: Stretching it, but good to know ...
Multiple references in Hindu mythology which is why it is not an uncommon name in the previous generation...wife of Brihaspati, wife of Bali and Sugreeva, one of the panchakanya etc... And then Irish connections as well... http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/tara/...like i said this is stretching it :) .......................
So for now we only wish that she grows up to like her name, more importantly has the good attributes that we wished for her to have, and for her name to signify.
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