Martin Willson received his Ph.D. in radioastronomy at Cambridge University before spending 12 years as a Buddhist monk in Australia, Switzerland and France. He is the author of In Praise of Tara (0-86171-109-2). Now married, he lives in Swansea, South Wales, United Kingdom.

Synopsis:

Beautiful, inspirational literature on the beloved Buddha Tara, who has been exerting her fascination on devotees for upwards of fourteen centuries, as a bodhisattva, tantric deity, and the embodiment of the perfect woman latent within all of us.

This volume presents a selection of material devoted to Tara translated from Sanskrit and Tibetan, including canonical texts, history, commentary, sadhanas, songs and praises like the Twenty-one homages. The texts include Taranatha`s Golden Rosary; Tara`s Tantra, the Origin of All Rites; the Hundred and Eight Names; Arya Tara Who Saves from the Eight Fears; and Tara in the Manjushri mula kalpa.

As mother goddess, Tara embodies the feminine archetype and shares a close kinship with Demeter, Inanna, and the Virgin Mary. As a bodhisattva, she defied tradition by attaining enlightenment in female form. And as a tantric deity, she acts with lightning speed to aid those in distress and to fulfill her supplicant`s wishes.

"This book is a treasure, an outstanding collection of Indian and Tibetan praises and contemplations centred on Tara." Anne Klein.