Red Tara: The Female Buddha of Power and Magnetism

Buddhist practitioner Stevens debuts with a meticulous if dense introduction to the red form of the Buddhist goddess Tārā. Stevens examines the origins of Tārā, the “embodiment of the feminine divine” who vowed to reincarnate as a woman until all sentient beings achieved enlightenment, and focuses on the goddess’s red variant, which is associated with powers of attracting the objects of one’s needs and submitting others to one’s will. The author notes that practitioners often worship Tārā through tantric practices and rituals aimed at achieving liberation by embodying Tārā. Exploring the numerous manifestations of Red Tārā, Stevens describes how the Indian tribal goddess Kurukullā was “integrated into the Buddhist pantheon and came to be identified” as a variant of Red Tārā because of their shared association with subjugation. Stevens demonstrates a strong command of the Buddhist lore around Red Tārā, but the exceedingly academic and granular prose (“In most of her emanations Kurukullā is crowned with the deity Amitābha, and Day writes that Kurukullā is the ‘most widely revered of the Red Tārā emanations of the Dhyani -Buddha Amitābha’”) mean that all but advanced practitioners will struggle. Still, scholars of Buddhism will appreciate this thorough volume. (Aug.)