Guanyin: Difference between revisions

| piccap = [[Wood carving]] of Guanyin with [[Amitābha]] on its crown. [[Northern Song Dynasty]], [[China]], {{circa|1025}}.

'''Guanyin''' ({{zh|s=|t=|first=t|p=Guānyīn|c=觀音}}) is a [[Bodhisattva]] associated with [[Karuṇā|compassion]]. Guanyin is a common Chinese name for [[Avalokiteśvara]] ({{lang-sa|अवलोकितेश्वर}}) in [[Chinese Buddhism]] and has been appropriated by other Eastern religions, including [[Taoism]] and [[Chinese folk religion]].{{NoteTag|For Details, see the [[#Role in other Eastern religions]].}} She was first given the appellation "Goddess of Mercy" or "Mercy Goddess" by Jesuit missionaries in China.<ref>{{harvnb|Yu|2001|p=371}}</ref> Guanyin is short for '''Guanshiyin''', which means "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World.".<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/P/39 |title = Perceiver of the World's Sounds |access-date = 2018-10-31 |archive-date = 14 December 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171214190807/http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/P/39 |url-status = live }}</ref> Due to sociogeographical factors, Guanyin can be historically depicted as genderless or adorning a androgynous apprentice.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Getty |first=Alice |title=The Gods of Northern Buddhism Their History and Iconography |publisher=Dover Publications |year=1988 |isbn=0486255751}}</ref> On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, Guanyin's attainment of [[Buddhahood]] is celebrated.<ref>{{cite web |title = Bodhisattva Guan Shi Yin's Attainment of Buddhahood 觀世音菩薩成佛 – Purple Cloud |url = http://purplecloudinstitute.com/bodhisattva-guan-shi-yins-attainment-of-buddhahood-%e8%a7%80%e4%b8%96%e9%9f%b3%e8%8f%a9%e8%96%a9%e6%88%90%e4%bd%9b/ |access-date = 2020-08-11 |language = en-AU |archive-date = 18 November 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201118033714/https://purplecloudinstitute.com/bodhisattva-guan-shi-yins-attainment-of-buddhahood-%E8%A7%80%E4%B8%96%E9%9F%B3%E8%8F%A9%E8%96%A9%E6%88%90%E4%BD%9B/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a [[sacred lotus in religious art|lotus]] and then sent to the western [[pure land]] of [[Sukhāvatī]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Reginald |title = Buddhist China |year=2008 |orig-year=1913 |publisher=Soul Care Publishing |isbn=978-0-9680459-3-0 }}</ref>{{By whom|date=June 2024}} Guanyin is often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity"<ref name="global.britannica.com">{{cite web |url = https://global.britannica.com/topic/Avalokiteshvara |title = Avalokiteshvara – bodhisattva |date = 6 October 2023 }}</ref> with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her, as is mentioned in the ''Pumen chapter'' of the ''[[Lotus Sutra]]'' and the ''[[Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra]]''.

Several large temples in East Asia are dedicated to Guanyin, including [[Shaolin Monastery]], [[Longxing Temple]], [[Puning Temple (Hebei)|Puning Temple]], [[Nanhai Guanyin Temple]], [[Dharma Drum Mountain]], [[Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple]], [[Shitennō-ji]], [[Sensō-ji]], [[Kiyomizu-dera]], [[Sanjūsangen-dō]], and many others. Guanyin's abode and [[bodhimaṇḍa]] in India are recorded as being on [[Mount Potalaka]]. With the localization of the belief in Guanyin, each area adopted its own Potalaka. In [[Chinese Buddhism]], [[Mount Putuo]] is considered the bodhimaṇḍa of Guanyin. [[Naksansa]] is considered to be the Potalaka of Guanyin in Korea. Japan's Potalaka is located at [[Fudarakusan-ji]]. Tibet's Potalaka is the [[Potala Palace]]. Vietnam's Potalaka is the [[Hương Temple]].{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

There are several pilgrimage centers for Guanyin in East Asia. Putuoshan (Mount Putuo) is the main pilgrimage site in China. There is a 33-temple Guanyin pilgrimage in Korea, which includes Naksansa. In Japan, there are several pilgrimages associated with Guanyin. The oldest one of them is the [[Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage]], a pilgrimage through 33 temples with Guanyin shrines. Guanyin is beloved by most Buddhist traditions in a nondenominational way and is found in most [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan temples]] under the name ''Chenrézik'' ({{bo|w=Spyan ras gzigs}}). Guanyin is also beloved and worshipped in the temples in Nepal. The [[Hiranya Varna Mahavihar]], located in [[Patan, Gujarat|Patan]], is one example. Guanyin is also found in some influential [[Theravada]] temples, such as [[Gangaramaya Temple]], [[Kelaniya]], and [[Natha Devale, Kandy|Natha Devale]], near the [[Temple of the Tooth]] in [[Sri Lanka]]. Guanyin can also be found in Thailand's [[Wat Phra Kaew|Temple of the Emerald Buddha]], Wat Huay Pla Kang (where the huge statue of her is often mistakenly called the "Big Buddha"), and BurmaMyanmar's [[Shwedagon Pagoda]]. Statues of Guanyin are a widely depicted subject of [[Asian art]] and are found in the Asian art sections of most museums in the world.

''Guānyīn'' is a translation from the Sanskrit ''Avalokitasvara'', the name of the Mahāyāna bodhisattva. Another name for this bodhisattva is ''Guānzìzài'' ({{zh|s=观自在|t=觀自在|first=t|p=Guānzìzài}}), from Sanskrit ''[[Avalokiteśvara]]''. It was initially thought that early translators mistook ''Avalokiteśvara'' as ''Avalokitasvara'' and thus mistranslated ''Avalokiteśvara'' as ''Guānyīn'', which explained why [[Xuanzang]] translated ''Avalokiteśvara'' as ''Guānzìzài''. However, the original form was indeed ''Avalokitasvara'' which contained [[morpheme]] ''svara'' ("sound, noise") and was a compound meaning "sound perceiver", literally "he who looks down upon sound" (i.e., the cries of sentient beings who need his help).<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lokesh Chandra |author-link=Lokesh Chandra |date=1984 |title=The Origin of Avalokitesvara |url=http://www.indologica.com/volumes/vol13/vol13_art13_CHANDRA.pdf |journal=Indologica Taurinensia |volume=XIII (1985–1986) |pages=189–190 |access-date=26 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606205922/http://www.indologica.com/volumes/vol13/vol13_art13_CHANDRA.pdf |archive-date=6 June 2014}}</ref><ref name=Mironov>{{cite journal |last1=Mironov |first1=N. D. |title=Buddhist Miscellanea |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1927 |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=241–252 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00057440 |jstor=25221116|s2cid=250344585 }}</ref><ref name="Red Pine 2004 pg 44-45">{{cite book |author-link=Red Pine (author)|last=Pine |first=Red |title=The Heart Sutra: The Womb of the Buddhas |year=2004 |publisher=Shoemaker & Hoard |isbn=1-59376-009-4}} pg 44–45</ref> This is the exact equivalent of the Chinese translation ''Guānyīn''. This etymology was furthered in the Chinese by the tendency of some Chinese translators, notably [[Kumārajīva]], to use the variant ''Guānshìyīn'', literally " One who perceives the world's lamentations"—wherein ''lok'' was read as simultaneously meaning both "to look" and "world" (Skt. ''loka''; Ch. 世, ''shì'').<ref name="Red Pine 2004 pg 44-45"/>

Legend has it that Shancai (also called ''[[Sudhana]]'' in [[Sanskrit]]) was a disabled boy from India who was very interested in studying the [[dharma]]. When he heard that there was a Buddhist teacher on the rocky island of Putuo, he quickly journeyed there to learn. Upon arriving at the island, he managed to find Guanyin despite his severe disability.

Guanyin, after having a discussion with Shancai, decided to test the boy's resolve to fully study the Buddhist teachings. She conjured the illusion of three sword-wielding pirates running up the hill to attack her. Guanyin took off and dashed to the edge of a cliff, the three illusions still chasing her. Shancai, seeing that his teacher was in danger, hobbled uphill. Guanyin then jumped over the edge of the cliff, and soon after this the three bandits followed. Shancai, still wanting to save his teacher, managed to crawl his way over the cliff edge.