30/04/2024
White Tara (Seto Tara) is associated with long life. Her mantra is often chanted with a particular person in mind. She’s another representation of compassion, and she’s pictured as being endowed with seven eyes (look at the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and her forehead) to symbolize the watchfulness of the compassionate mind.
The first thing about White Tara is that she is white. This is not the whiteness of northern European skin, which is actually light brown. She’s white like a flower, or moonlight, or snow. She’s also known as Seto Tara, Seto meaning the color white, but also meaning pale, bright, or light. Additionally, white has the connotation of purity, so that Seto can mean pure, as well.
She is an enlightened being appearing in the form of a young goddess, adorned with silks, jewels, and flowers.
She sits cross-legged in meditation. She’s on a lotus, which symbolizes purity. The Buddha himself said that just as a lotus grows from muddy water, but has pure, unspoiled petals, he lives in the world untouched by it. In other words, although he was surrounded by selfishness and hatred, he himself was free of those things.
She has more than two eyes! She has a third eye in the center of her forehead, symbolizing the awakening of her vision as an enlightened being. She also has eyes in the palms of her hands and on the soles of her feet. These symbolize the fact that although she offers help in the world, she does not do so blindly, but is able to help people move toward awakening.
Her right hand is open in a gesture of giving.
Her left hand holds the stem of a blue lotus (Sanskrit, utpala) which blossoms above her shoulder. This type of lotus opens at sunset and blooms at night. It has a sweet scent that symbolizes the way that an ethical life has an uplifting effect on the world.
The fact that she is the color of moonlight and holds a flower that blooms at night, suggests that White Tara appears in the form of a moon goddess.
As mentioned above, her mantra is often chanted with a particular person in mind. Disciples of a teacher might well chant the mantra with the wish that the teacher live long and be healthy, for example. Or one might chant the mantra for a friend who is ill
