Red Tara Lineages Of Literature And Practice Rachael Stevens by Rachael Stevens instant download after payment.

This thesis offers an insightful and much-needed overview of the literature, iconography and practices associated with the subjugatory aspect of Tibetan Buddhism’s most popular female deity, Tārā (Tib. sGrol ma). Stevens’ investigation embraces many of the most important schools of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as their precursors in the Indic world of the first millennium. The dissertation deftly combines textual, ritual and art-historical elements to provide a satisfyingly well-rounded portrait of Red Tārā in her numerous forms, performing various functions for her devotees down the generations.
Tārā appears in many aspects represented by different colors, the most famous of which are green and white. The many forms of Tārā have become revered in Tibet and Western Tibetan Buddhism, both in their own rights and as attendants to the country’s patron deity, the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteśvara (Tib. sPyan ras gzigs). Of the less pacific, red aspect of Tārā, the most well known is named Kurukullā (Tib. Rig byed ma), with her characteristic bow and arrow made of flowers, who has received at least some scholarly attention. Individual Red Tārās who are not Kurukullā are sometimes misidentified as her or subsumed under her aspect, and so overlooked or erased from the academic view. These often forgotten or marginalized manifestations together form the focus of this dissertation.