Hai mươi một Quán Thế Âm Bồ Tát - 21 Taras

Tara, the Divine Mother of All the Buddhas

Let's just run through the 21 Taras, shall we?  With 21 Taras and 21 posts I'll try to learn a few Viet words along the way. But before we begin, here is my little BuddhistWitch Disclaimer just to further confuse things:

• First, I practice and study Buddhism as a philosophy and I am disenchanted with it as *A Religion*
• Secondly, I believe in some kind of order and logic in our universe. I call this karma, because that's the commonly understood word that comes closest to naming what I've seen. (And I don't understand shit about physics, sorry.)
• Thirdly, I believe in magic, or angels, or divine intervention, or miracles or whatever else one might choose to call any number of crazy phenomenon that science can't explain. (Especially those that have saved my own life.) 

Who or what is this Tara?

Tara is a Bodhisattva, and a Buddha, and a Pictsie, and a Guardian Angel, and a Woman, and a grrrrrll.  In Tibet she is called Tara, in China she is Kwan Yin, in Viet Nam she is Quan The Am.

Here she is in my backyard, doing my hair.

There are, of course, a gazillion other representations of her as Goddess Mother, but beyond Tara, Brigid (Celtic Goddess of Art, Forge, and Healing) and Artemis (Greek Goddess of the Hunt, the Hounds, and Protector of Children)  I don't try to keep up with all the Goddesses, because these seem to cover all the bases.

hai mươi một                         twenty one
Bồ Tát                                  Bodhisattva
Phật                                      Buddha
Nữ Thần                               Goddess
ma thuật                                magic
tôi không hiểu                       I don't understand
vật lý                                    physics

small victory

không bao = no bag 

cảm ơn chú Duoc = thank you Uncle Duoc

Heard these things when I was out in the world yesterday. Finally! I'm finally picking up things quickly. Tiny things, but Vietnamese phrases. Yay. Sheesh.

I am too busy

Aaarrghh. I've been distracted. I haven't given up on Vietnamese, but I've def fallen behind. I'm a little disappointed, but it's ok, I'll get back on track.