The Legend of Kuan-Yin and the Thousand Arms
The Legend of Kuan-yin and the Thousand Arms
There are statues of her in just about every Chinese restaurant. The thousand arms reaching out from a serene figure seated in a pose of meditation may distract you from the other features Kuan-yin has in excess of, eleven heads and one thousand eyes. What are the origins of this thousand armed goddess in Chinese Buddhism? What was the evolution of this figure that she bacame the most important and best loved deity in the Chinese world?
The origins of the legend begin not with Kuan-yin, but with Avalokitesvara. The bodhisattva of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism that made a vow to postpone his own buddhahood until he assisted every sentient being in attaining Nirvana. After some time he became discouraged and thought, as Shangpa Rinpoche narrates:
"Samsara has no end. I must liberate myself."
With this degenerate thought, he broke his bodhisattva vow. His head cracked into a hundred pieces. With great repentance, he cried to Buddha Amitabha and all the Buddha 's for help, "I have not accomplished my purpose and sentient beings ' purpose, please help me". Buddha Amitabha appeared, collected the hundred pieces of cracked skull, and transformed them into eleven heads.
Buddha Amitabha then instructed, " There is no beginning to samsara. There is also no end to samsara. You must benefit sentient beings until samsara ends."
Avalokiteshvara requested " If I need to benefit all the sentient beings until samsara ends, may I have one thousand arms, and one thousand eyes ". Buddha Amitabha granted him his wish with one thousand arms and one thousand eyes, each eye in the palm of each hand.
By the fifth century Avalokitesvara was introduce to China and was at first represented in his original form. Later his likeness is found in female form. This change has been very controversial between Buddhist sects. "However, a powerful cause for this change of sex was the romantic legend of the Chinese princess Miao-shan. This
There are statues of her in just about every Chinese restaurant. The thousand arms reaching out from a serene figure seated in a pose of meditation may distract you from the other features Kuan-yin has in excess of, eleven heads and one thousand eyes. What are the origins of this thousand armed goddess in Chinese Buddhism? What was the evolution of this figure that she bacame the most important and best loved deity in the Chinese world?
The origins of the legend begin not with Kuan-yin, but with Avalokitesvara. The bodhisattva of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism that made a vow to postpone his own buddhahood until he assisted every sentient being in attaining Nirvana. After some time he became discouraged and thought, as Shangpa Rinpoche narrates:
"Samsara has no end. I must liberate myself."
With this degenerate thought, he broke his bodhisattva vow. His head cracked into a hundred pieces. With great repentance, he cried to Buddha Amitabha and all the Buddha 's for help, "I have not accomplished my purpose and sentient beings ' purpose, please help me". Buddha Amitabha appeared, collected the hundred pieces of cracked skull, and transformed them into eleven heads.
Buddha Amitabha then instructed, " There is no beginning to samsara. There is also no end to samsara. You must benefit sentient beings until samsara ends."
Avalokiteshvara requested " If I need to benefit all the sentient beings until samsara ends, may I have one thousand arms, and one thousand eyes ". Buddha Amitabha granted him his wish with one thousand arms and one thousand eyes, each eye in the palm of each hand.
By the fifth century Avalokitesvara was introduce to China and was at first represented in his original form. Later his likeness is found in female form. This change has been very controversial between Buddhist sects. "However, a powerful cause for this change of sex was the romantic legend of the Chinese princess Miao-shan. This
Cited: Rinpoche, Shangpa, "Arya Avalokitesvara and the Six Syllable Mantra", Dhagpo-Kagyu-Ling.org, Dhagpo Kagyu Ling, n.d., Web, 3 June 2013 Yu, Chun-fang, "Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara", New York: Columbia University Press, 2001, Print. Chamberlayne, John H., "The Development of Kuan Yin: Chinese Goddess of Mercy", Numen, Vol. 9, Fasc. 1 (Jan., 1962), pp. 45-52, Web. 28 May 2013. Tay, C. N., "Kuan-Yin: The Cult of Half Asia", History of Religions, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Nov., 1976), pp. 147-177, Web. 28 May 2013