Fifth Tara

Tara on Tour

A brief introduction to the Fifth Tara.... she protects from dangers related to the air element - hurricanes, tornadoes, storms - and from suffering arising from the negative emotion of jealousy. She is white in colour and holds the symbol of Mt. Meru in her left hand. Mt. Meru symbolises the abundance of the Earth.

When it comes to jealousy, which is one of the most insidious of the poisons and which truly is a "green-eyed monster" at its most intense, the nature of the underlying fear seems to have something to do with abandonment, loss, or lack - the sense of incompletion. When jealousy is transformed, it is described as "all-accomplishing wisdom" and I have often struggled to understand what is really meant by that. As far as my current understanding goes, when our minds are free from jealousy, we have energy available to accomplish a great deal - we have a strong motivation to accomplish a great deal, because we are aware of all that we want perhaps but rather than begrudging others who have it (whatever "it" is) and feeling sorry and bitter that we don't, we are free to go out and create it for ourselves.

Another way of understanding this is to think of the interconnectedness between all beings - to remember that we are not truly separate from each other and that nothing one person has is taking anything from us. In fact, if my friend suddenly attains something desirable, I feel joy in this because I am happy for my friend and realise that their happiness is actually an intrinsic part of my own. So there is nothing to be jealous of.

So these are my first thoughts about the nature of Fifth Tara....and we'll see what lessons unfold for this one!