In Praise of the Twenty-One Noble Tārās

Our October Text of the Month is A Garland of Fresh Utpalas of Benefit and Bliss: A Praise of the Twenty-One Tārās by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. This homage presents the twenty-one emanations of Tārā largely according to the Longchen Nyingtik tradition, which is less familiar to many practitioners than the widely recited Atiśa lineage.

Khyentse Wangpo composed this praise in his youth, while studying grammar and poetics at Shechen Monastery—already demonstrating the erudition and poetic flair that are defining features of his body of work.

Talk on the Twenty-One Noble Tārās with Albion Butters

This session with KVP Managing Editor Dr. Albion M. Butters opens with a map of the four main traditions of the Twenty-One Tārās (Sūryagupta, Atiśa, Jigme Lingpa’s Longchen Nyingtik, and Chokgyur Lingpa) and a comparison of their names, colors, and implements. Khyentse Wangpo’s praise follows the Longchen Nyingtik closely, while opening with two forms found outside it: Durgottāriṇī, drawn from the Sādhanamālā, and Varadā Tārā, prominent in the Sūryagupta tradition.

Albion M. Butters holds a Ph.D. in the History of Religion from Columbia University and is a Docent at the University of Turku, specializing in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. He is Managing Editor at Khyentse Vision Project and editor of Studia Orientalia Electronica.