ATDTDA 748, 749

[Mark Kohut]

yes, female, always female.....

Sorta like Henry Adams' Virgin of the 15th Century, understood from within 
the Eastern tradition(s)....understood globally, might one say?
or Universally?

Or just in Pynchon's most mature vision? 

Mark




----- Original Message ----
From: "robinlandseadel at comcast.net" <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
To: P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 2:12:57 PM
Subject: RE: ATDTDA 748, 749

          Ya Sam :
          The Buddha is often referred to as The Compassionate One.....

          That escaped me. Thanks!

Just to keep my hand in, "The Compassionate One" has many
Female aspects in eastern thealogy:

                Guan Yin is the bodhisattva of compassion as 
                venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as 
                a female. She is also known as the Chinese 
                Bodhisattva of Compassion.

    One Buddhist legend presents Guan Yin as vowing to never 
    rest until she had freed all sentient beings from samsara, 
    reincarnation. Despite strenuous effort, she realized that 
    still many unhappy beings were yet to be saved. After 
    struggling to comprehend the needs of so many, her head 
    split into eleven pieces. Amitabha Buddha, seeing her plight, 
    gave her eleven heads with which to hear the cries of the 
    suffering. Upon hearing these cries and comprehending 
    them, Avalokitesvara attempted to reach out to all those 
    who needed aid, but found that her two arms shattered into 
    pieces. Once more, Amitabha came to her aid and appointed 
    her a thousand arms with which to aid the many. Many 
    Himalayan versions of the tale include eight arms with which 
    Avalokitesvara skillfully upholds the Dharma, each possessing 
    its own particular implement, while more Chinese-specific 
    versions give varying accounts of this number.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yin

This indicates some understanding of Compassion being in some ways,
essential ways, as feminine. Consider, as well, Tara, an East Indian
Goddess of similar qualities:

            Tara, also known as Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan, is 
            a female Buddha typically associated with Buddhist tantra 
            practice as preserved in Tibetan Buddhism. She is the "mother 
            of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work 
            and achievements. Tara is a tantric deity whose practice is 
            used by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana 
            Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and understand 
            outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and 
            emptiness. Tara is not found in the Japanese branch of 
            Vajrayana Buddhism, Shingon.

            Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or 
            bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be 
            understood as different aspects of the same quality, as 
            bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist 
            virtues.

            The most widely known forms of Tara are:

            Green Tara, known as the Buddha of enlightened activity

            White Tara, also known for compassion, long life, healing 
            and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or 
            Cintachakra

            Red Tara, of fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all 
            good things

            Black Tara, associated with power

            Yellow Tara, associated with wealth and prosperity

            Blue Tara;, associated with transmutation of anger
            Cittamani Tara, a form of Tara widely practiced 
            at the level of Highest Yoga Tantra in the Gelug School of 
            Tibetan Buddhism, portrayed as green and often conflated 
            with Green Tara

            Khadiravani Tara (Tara of the teak forest), who appeared to 
            Nagarjuna in the Khadiravani forest of South India and who is 
            sometimes referred to as the "22nd Tara"

            There is also recognition in some schools of Buddhism of 
            twenty-one Tara s. A practice text entitled "In Praise of 
            the 21 Taras", is recited during the morning in all four sects 
            of Tibetan Buddhism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_%28Buddhism%29

I still have to ponder Cyprian's miraculous gender conversion, his
[spoiler, I guess, so I command you to stop reading now!!!!!] 
transmutation into a nun being wonderous strange, but compassionate, sure. . . .

But the Taras [I work with a "Tara", she turned out good] and 
Quan Yin's are the compassionate face of the Buddah [my
house has Quan Yins everywhere, and a Tara Tanka on the 
Dining Room's north wall] so they are relevant as the 
Boddhisattva of compassion and relate to Shambahala.
Note as well that in Hinduism, Tara is one of the founding Mother 
Deities:

              Tara; is also known as a saviouress, as a heavenly 
              deity who hears the cries of beings experiencing 
              misery in samsara.

              The Tara figure originated not in Buddhism but in 
              Hinduism, where she, Tara, was one of a number of 
              Mother Goddess figures alongside Sarasvati, Lakshmi, 
              Parvati, and Shakti. In the 6th century C.E., during the 
              era of the Pala Empire, Tara was adopted into the 
              Buddhist pantheon as an important bodhisattva figure 
              just a few centuries after the Prajnaparamita Sutra had 
              been introduced into what was becoming the Mahayana 
              Buddhism of India. It would seem that the feminine principle 
              makes its first appearance in Buddhism as the "Mother of 
              Perfected Wisdom" and then later Tara comes to be seen 
              as an expression of the compassion of perfected wisdom. 
              However, sometimes Tara is also known as "the Mother of 
              the Buddhas", which usually refers to the enlightened wisdom 
              of the Buddhas, so in approaching Buddhist deities, one 
              learns not to impose totally strict boundaries about what 
              one deity covers, as opposed to another deity.

              They all can be seen as expressions of the play of the 
              energies of manifested form dancing out of vast emptiness. 
              Be that as it may, Tara began to be associated with the 
              motherly qualities of compassion and mercy. Undoubtedly 
              for the common folk who were Buddhists in India of that 
              time, Tara was a more approachable deity. It is one thing 
              to stare into the eyes of a deity who represents wisdom 
              as void. It is perhaps easier to worship a goddess whose 
              eyes look out with infinite compassion and who has a 
              sweet smile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_%28Buddhism%29


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