Third Tara

Tara on Tour

The Third Tara is "Tara protecting from floods". She protects from all water-related disasters and from the suffering and sickness arising from the negative aspect of desire. She's red in colour and holds a fire crystal in the lotus flower in her left hand.

I don't know whether this will be the case for each of the Taras, but there hss been a definite transition period between the second and third Taras. A period where the energy that built up around one dissolves to make way for the energy arising for the one that follows.

So we're in the "water element" and this has a very different feeling about it altogether. Whereas the earth element represented the stability and relative solidity (or not!) of the physical earth, the water element is much less fixed. It's fluid, malleable, adaptable; it's regarded as the "bearer of life", it transports and carries. It is strongly connected to emotions. Within the Buddhist understanding, the emotion of desire is the reason we are born in the human realm. It's the deep-rooted desire to exist, to be a particular "self", that produces the causes and conditions to manifest a human body.

So, in the quest for enlightenment - the liberation from misunderstanding - freeing ourselves from the negative aspects of desire must be seen as of central importance.

This is perhaps why renunciation is so often advocated and indeed demanded on any true commitment to a spiritual path. The mind is so gripped by habitual desire - which is a fundamental desire for happiness and pleasure - that it runs after all manner of things in the mistaken belief that Heaven, or at least relief from the craving, lies in the fulfilment of those desires. Most of us know from bitter experience that this just doesn't work. Renunciation is not a punishment, but rather a way to steer the mind towards what will truly satisfy desire and give rise to the peace of mind and joy that is enduring rather than fleeting.

True renunciation, however, is apparently rather different from renuncation externally imposed by an authority. The latter can often create problems: resentment, suppression, denial are all possible consequences of renouncing something in a superficial, premature or forced way. C.J.Jung, the Swiss psychoanalyst, believed that it was not possible to truly renounce anything until it had been fully embraced. In other words, you have to have made something a part of you, or at least have so thoroughly examined something that it has exhausted any potential to fascinate - and then renunciation comes quite naturally. Like an old skin falling away. No struggle. An effortless letting go.

Within the Vajrayana tradition, renunciation is a little more subtle than within some other traditions, where it underpins the way of life. A Theravadin monk or nun, for example, has renounced the worldly completely and lives an obviously simple, austere life where begging for alms is still commonplace. Within the Vajrayana, renunciation is very much a part of a monk or nun's commitments, but there is a strong emphasis on fully allowing and opening up to whatever arises within the mind - with a view to transforming, or seeing through, the content using the tools and practice of meditation. In this way, nothing need be rejected or pushed away - all experience can be brought to the spiritual path and be used to speed the process of realisation. So, desire is not a particular problem. Acting on desire might be, but desire itself is fine - it's there anyway so get to know its nature and work skillfully with it. And pray to channel the energy of desire into the ultimate desire for enlightenment!