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48 Lees-a

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3 Green

Tara inAustralia

Reassessing

the

relationship

between

gender,

religion

and

power

relationsI

Ruth

Fitzpatrick

This

chapter

focusesonwhatGreen

Tarameans to

a

group

ofAustralian

women

involvedinTibetanBuddhist

practice.

The

researchisbasedondata

generated

infourfocus

groups,

involving

13 Australian

womenwho

regularly

participated

inGreenTararituals.

In

conducting

thefocus

groups.

Iaimed

tounderstand

what

meanings

thewomenattributed

toTaraandhow

relevant

gender

andFeministconcerns

wereintheir

relationship

toher.

According

toTibetanBuddhist

mythic

history:

Green

Tara.

themost

popular

female

deity

oftheTibetan

Buddhist

tradition,

madeaVowto

always

incarnatein

afemaleform.

despite

the

prevailing

assumption

that

being

inafemale

body

was

anobstacle

to

gainingenlightenment:

‘Since

so

many

desire

enlightenment

ina

man’s

body‘,

Tara

pronounced.

‘untilall

suffering

isended.inall

worlds,

forall

beings.

inalluniverses.

1 shallworkforthe

benefitofsentient

beings

inawoman's

body.’

Tara

qualified

herdecision

bysaying:

‘[l-l]ere

thereisnowoman.

no

man,

no

individual

consciousness.

Labelling

maleorfemalehasno

essence. Rather

these

are

categories

created

by

theconfusion

of

worldly

minds‘

(Taranatha

W8]:

11712).2

This

reflected theTibetan Buddhist

philosophical

understanding

that

gender

is

ultimately

an

illusion,

a

product

ofdualislic

thinking

and,hence.

only

a

relative

truth.

Though

writtenthousands

ofyearsago,

ina

geographic

andcultural

landscape

far

from

Australia,

Tara‘s

story

continuestohave

meaning

andrelevance

in

thelives

ofAustraliansinthe

twenty»first

century.

Green

Tara‘s

story

cametolifefor

mein

1998,

whenlwasfirst

introducedto

the

practice

ofTarawhile

staying

in

Pcmaynngtse.

aTibetanBuddhist

monastery

inSikkim.

Following

theinstructions

given

tome.I

began

visualizmgmyself

as

Tara, majesticallyhovering

above

the

snow-cappedpeaks

of

Kachenjunga.

theview

from

my

roombeside

the

monastery.

Ifound

compelling

Tara‘sactive

and

dynamic

disposition.

articulated

inher

iconographic

film.

withher

rightleg

outstretched

ready

foractionand

herlett

leg

drawn

inward

symbolizing

meditative

concentration.

ThatTamwasboth

compassionately

and

energeticallyengaged

in

theworld.

while

deeply

meditative,

articulated

a

way

of

being

for

my

ownlife

thatharmonized

whatIhadsometimes

experienced

as

conflicting

motivations:

engagement

with social

change

versus

inward

spiritual development.

While

Tara‘sactivity

and

dynamism

andher

compassion

andwisdommadehera

highly