Guanyin

 ( Buddhist Goddesses ) 

Another common manifestation of Guanyin is the hungry ghost king Ulkāmukha Pretarāja, popularly known in Chinese as Mianran Dashi (Chinese language: 面燃大士, pinyin: Miànrán Dàshì, lit: "Burning-Face Mahāsattva"). According to a sūtra, Ānanda, one of the Buddha's ten principal disciples, was once meditating in a forest at night when he encountered a ghost king named either Mianran (面燃, Miànrán, lit: "Burning Face") or Yankou (燄口, Yànkǒu, lit: "Flaming Mouth") that warned him about his impending death and rebirth in the realm of hungry ghosts which would happen unless he was able to give one measure of food and drink the size of a bushel used in Magadha to each of the one hundred thousand nayutas of hungry ghosts and other beings. The encounter prompted Ānanda to beg Śākyamuni Buddha for a way to avert his fate, at which point the Buddha revealed a ritual and a Dharani that he had been taught in a past life when he was a brahmin by the Bodhisattva Guanyin. According to the sūtra, the performance of the ritual would not only feed the hungry ghosts but would also ensure the longevity of the performing ritualist. The sūtra ends with Ānanda performing the rite according to the Buddha’s instructions and avoiding the threat of rebirth into the realm of the hungry ghosts. Buddhist traditions hold that he eventually achieved longevity and attained the state of arhathood. Chinese Buddhism tradition regards the ghost king Mianran as an emanation of Guanyin herself, and suffixes his name with the title Dashi (Chinese language: 大士, pinyin: Dàshì), meaning "Mahāsattva". The account in this sūtra forms the basis for most ghost-feeding rituals in East Asian Buddhist traditions, and an effigy or statue of Mianran Dashi is typically enshrined during certain Chinese ghost-feeding rituals in particular as well as during festivals like the Zhongyuan Festival. Other than ghost-feeding rites, the sūtra's account was also influential in the development of universal salvation ceremonies such as the Chinese Buddhist Shuilu Fahui and Korean Buddhist Suryukjae. A painting of Mianran Dashi is typically among the many shuilu ritual paintings enshrined during the Chinese Shuilu Fahui in particular.

In China, it is said that fishermen used to pray to her to ensure safe voyages. The titles Guanyin of the Southern Ocean (南海觀音) and "Guanyin (of/on) the Island" stem from this tradition.

According to the story, after the king asked his daughter Miaoshan to marry the wealthy man, she told him that she would obey his command, so long as the marriage eased three misfortunes.

The king asked his daughter what were the three misfortunes that the marriage should ease. Miaoshan explained that the first misfortune the marriage should ease was the suffering people endure as they age. The second misfortune it should ease was the suffering people endure when they fall ill. The third misfortune it should ease was the suffering caused by death. If the marriage could not ease any of the above, then she would rather retire to a life of religion forever.

When her father asked who could ease all the above, Miaoshan pointed out that a doctor was able to do all of these. Her father grew angry as he wanted her to marry a person of power and wealth, not a healer. He forced her into hard labour and reduced her food and drink but this did not cause her to yield. on Mount Kōya in Wakayama, Japan.]]

Every day she begged to be able to enter a temple and become a bhikkhuni instead of marrying. Her father eventually allowed her to work in the temple, but asked the bhikkhu to give her the toughest chores in order to discourage her. The monks forced Miaoshan to work all day and all night while others slept in order to finish her work. However, she was such a good person that the animals living around the temple began to help her with her chores. Her father, seeing this, became so frustrated that he attempted to burn down the temple. Miaoshan put out the fire with her bare hands and suffered no burns. Now struck with fear, her father ordered her to be put to death.

in Colombo, Sri Lanka.|left]]In one version of this legend, when Guanyin was executed, a supernatural tiger took her to one of the more hell-like realms of the dead. However, instead of being punished like the other spirits of the dead, Guanyin played music, and flowers blossomed around her. This completely surprised the hell guardian. The story says that Guanyin, by merely being in that Naraka (hell), turned it into a paradise.

A variant of the legend says that Miaoshan allowed herself to die at the hand of the executioner. According to this legend, as the executioner tried to carry out her father's orders, his axe shattered into a thousand pieces. He then tried a sword which likewise shattered. He tried to shoot Miaoshan down with arrows but they all veered off. Finally in desperation he used his hands. Miaoshan, realising the fate that the executioner would meet at her father's hand should she fail to let herself die, forgave the executioner for attempting to kill her. It is said that she voluntarily took on the massive karmic guilt the executioner generated for killing her, thus leaving him guiltless. It is because of this that she descended into the Hell-like realms. While there, she witnessed first-hand the suffering and horrors that the beings there must endure, and was overwhelmed with grief. Filled with compassion, she released all the good karma she had accumulated through her many lifetimes, thus freeing many suffering souls back into Heaven and Earth. In the process, that Hell-like realm became a paradise. It is said that Yama, the ruler of hell, sent her back to Earth to prevent the utter destruction of his realm, and that upon her return she appeared on Fragrant Mountain. Another tale says that Miaoshan never died, but was in fact transported by a supernatural tiger, believed to be the Deity of the Mountain, to Fragrant Mountain. The legend of Miaoshan usually ends with Miaozhuang Wang, Miaoshan's father, falling ill with jaundice. No physician was able to cure him. Then a monk appeared saying that the jaundice could be cured by making a medicine out of the arm and eye of one without anger. The monk further suggested that such a person could be found on Fragrant Mountain. When asked, Miaoshan willingly offered up her eyes and arms. Miaozhuang Wang was cured of his illness and went to the Fragrant Mountain to give thanks to the person. When he discovered that his own daughter had made the sacrifice, he begged for forgiveness. The story concludes with Miaoshan being transformed into the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, and the king, queen and her two sisters building a temple on the mountain for her. She began her journey to a pure land and was about to cross over into heaven when she heard a cry of suffering from the world below. She turned around and saw the massive suffering endured by the people of the world. Filled with compassion, she returned to Earth, vowing never to leave till such time as all suffering has ended.

After her return to Earth, Guanyin was said to have stayed for a few years on the island of Mount Putuo where she practised meditation and helped the sailors and fishermen who got stranded. Guanyin is frequently worshipped as patron of sailors and fishermen due to this. She is said to frequently becalm the sea when boats are threatened with rocks.

• Shuiyue Guanyin () – "Water-Moon Guanyin". A traditionally masculine form of Guanyin who is closely linked to and sometimes regarded as a further manifestation of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin. Traditionally invoked for good rebirth, safe childbirth as well as enlightenment, he is usually portrayed in statues and paintings as a young man or woman in a relaxed lalitasana pose beside a pond or lake with the moon reflected in the water, with the moon in the water being a metaphor for the Buddhist tenet of Śūnyatā.
• Songzi Guanyin () – "Child-giving Guanyin". An aspect of Guanyin which is closely linked to another manifestation, Baiyi Guanyin. She is primarily venerated as a fertility goddess and frequently invoked in prayers for children; usually portrayed in statues and paintings as a reclining white-robed young woman with a child sitting on her lap. Iconographic forms of this manifestation were noted by European travelers during the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty to bear a striking resemblance to depictions of the Virgin Mary as the Madonna with Child. This manifestation is also syncretized into Taoism and Chinese folk religion as Songzi Niangniang.
• Baiyi Guanyin () – "White Robed Guanyin". A traditionally feminine form of Guanyin who is closely linked to another manifestation, Songzi Guanyin. Like that manifestation, Baiyi Guanyin is usually venerated as a fertility goddess and invoked in prayers for children. She is usually portrayed in statues and painting as a young woman dressed in a white robe which sometimes covers the head, acting as a veil. The significance of the color white in this manifestation was influenced by tantric sutras as well as mandalas such as the Mandala of the Two Realms which frequently depict Guanyin as being clad in white.
• Yulan Guanyin () – "Fish Basket Guanyin". A form of Guanyin that originates from a legend about Guanyin descending as an avatar in the form of a beautiful young fisherwoman in order to convert a town of vicious, evil men into Buddhists. Usually portrayed in statues and paintings as a young woman holding a fish-basket, this manifestation also appears in the popular Ming dynasty novel Journey To The West, one of the Four Classic Chinese Novels, where she uses the fish basket to capture a sea demon.
  Cheng'en, approximatelyapproximately 1582 Wu (2026). 9780226971315 ISBN 9780226971315
• Nanhai Guanyin () – "Guanyin Of The Southern Seas". A form of Guanyin that became popularized after the establishment of Mount Putuo as Guanyin's bodhimaṇḍa and a major Chinese Buddhist pilgrimage center. Usually portrayed in statues and paintings as a young woman in a relaxed rājalīlā pose meditating on Mount Putuo, or Mount Potalaka. Certain iconographic details vary from depiction to depiction, with some including a stand of bamboo before the Bodhisattva, or a vase with willow branches, or Sudhana and Longnü standing beside her as attendants.

• Bokefuji Kannon – "Senility-healing Kannon". A 20th century invention by a religious goods manufacturer due to rising concern about senility and dementia. Depicted as a woman with small figures of an elderly man and woman at her feet.
• Jibo Kannon – "Compassionate-mother Kannon". Kannon as a woman holding an infant. Became especially popular in Japan when suppressed Christians used the image to represent the Virgin Mary and Christ Child.
• Koyasu Kannon – "Safe-childbirth Kannon". Kannon as a woman, holding or often nursing an infant. Predates Jibo Kannon by several centuries. Similarly used by Christians.
• Mizuko Kuyō Kannon – "New-born Memorial-service Kannon". (Mizuko Kuyō is a memorial service held for children who are born dead or die shortly after birth.) A woman surrounded by or holding several children. A 20th century development in response to aborted pregnancies as well as stillbirths and spontaneous pregnancy terminations.
• Maria Kannon – "Mary Kannon". A statue of the Virgin Mary disguised to look like a statue of Kannon. Often contains a Christian symbol, either obscured on the surface or hidden within the statue. Arose during a time when Christianity was proscribed during the Tokugawa shogunate.
• Yōkihi Kannon – "Yang Guifei Kannon" (Yang Guifei is read as "Yōkihi" in Japan). Yang Guifei was a famed Chinese Tang dynasty era beauty. Despite being depicted as an epitome of feminine beauty Yōkihi Kannon usually sport a moustache designed to desexualise the icon and demonstrate how the capacity for enlightenment does not depend upon a person's sex.

In Chinese culture, the popular belief and worship of Guanyin as a goddess by the populace is generally not viewed to be in conflict with the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's nature. In fact the widespread worship of Guanyin as a "Goddess of Mercy and Compassion" is seen by Buddhists as the boundless salvific nature of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara at work (in Buddhism, this is referred to as Guanyin's "skillful means", or upaya). The Buddhist canon states that Bodhisattvas can assume whatsoever gender and form is needed to liberate beings from ignorance and dukkha. With specific reference to Avalokitesvara, he is stated both in the Lotus Sutra (Chapter 25 "Perceiver of the World's Sounds" or "Universal Gateway"), and the Śūraṅgama Sūtra to have appeared before as a woman or a goddess to save beings from suffering and ignorance. His salvific power is emphasized in various Chinese Buddhist rituals, such as the tantric Yujia Yankou rite, where the monastic performing the rite practices deity yoga with Guanyin as the yidam in order to facilitate the ultimate liberation of Hungry ghost as well as prolonging the lifespans of the living and warding off disasters.

Guanyin is immensely popular among Chinese Buddhists, especially those from devotional schools. She is generally seen as a source of unconditional love and, more importantly, as a saviour. In her Bodhisattva vow, Guanyin promises to answer the cries and pleas of all sentient beings and to liberate them from their own karmic woes. Based on the Lotus Sutra and the Shurangama sutra, Avalokitesvara is generally seen as a saviour, both spiritually and physically. The sutras state that through his saving grace even those who have no chance of being enlightened can be enlightened, and those deep in negative karma can still find salvation through his compassion. In Mahayana, gender is no obstacle to attaining enlightenment (or nirvana). The Buddhist concept of non-duality applies here. The Vimalakirti Sutras "Goddess" chapter clearly illustrates an enlightened being who is also a female and deity. In the Lotus Sutra, a maiden became enlightened in a very short time span. The view that Avalokiteśvara is also the goddess Guanyin does not seem contradictory to Buddhist beliefs. Guanyin has been a buddha called the "Tathāgata of Brightness of Correct Dharma" (正法明如來). In Pure Land Buddhism, Guanyin is described as the "Barque of Salvation". Along with Amitābha and the Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, she temporarily liberates beings out of the Wheel of Samsara into the Pure Land, where they will have the chance to accrue the necessary merit so as to be a Buddha in one lifetime. In Chinese Buddhist iconography, Guanyin is often depicted as meditating or sitting alongside one of the Buddhas and usually accompanied by another Bodhisattva. The Buddha and Bodhisattva that are portrayed together with Guanyin usually follow whichever school of Buddhism they represent. In Pure Land Buddhism, for example, Guanyin is frequently depicted on the left of Amitābha, while on the buddha's right is Mahasthamaprapta. Temples that revere the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha usually depict him meditating beside Amitābha and Guanyin.

Even among Chinese Buddhist schools that are non-devotional, Guanyin is still highly venerated. Instead of being seen as an active external force of unconditional love and salvation, the personage of Guanyin is highly revered as the principle of compassion, mercy and love. The act, thought and feeling of compassion and love is viewed as Guanyin. A merciful, compassionate, loving individual is said to be Guanyin. A meditative or contemplative state of being at peace with oneself and others is seen as Guanyin.

In the Mahayana canon, the Heart Sutra is ascribed entirely to Guanyin. This is unique, since most Mahayana Sutras are usually ascribed to Gautama Buddha and the teachings, deeds or vows of the Bodhisattvas are described by Shakyamuni Buddha. In the Heart Sutra, Guanyin describes to the arhat Sariputta the nature of reality and the essence of the Buddhist teachings. The famous Buddhist saying "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form" (色即是空，空即是色) comes from this sutra.

Guanyin is revered in the general Chinese population due to her unconditional love and compassion. She is generally regarded by many as the protector of women and children, perhaps due to iconographic confusion with images of Hariti. By this association, she is also seen as a fertility goddess capable of granting children to couples. An old Chinese superstition involves a woman who, wishing to have a child, offers a shoe to Guanyin. In Chinese culture, a borrowed shoe sometimes is used when a child is expected. After the child is born, the shoe is returned to its owner along with a new pair as a thank you gift.

Guanyin is also seen as the champion of the unfortunate, the sick, the weak, the needy, the disabled, the poor, and those in trouble. Some coastal and river areas of China regard her as the protector of fishermen, sailors, and generally people who are out at sea, thus many have also come to believe that Mazu, the goddess of the sea, is a manifestation of Guanyin. Due to her association with the legend of the Great Flood, where she sent down a dog holding rice grains in its tail after the flood, she is worshiped as an agrarian and agriculture goddess. In some quarters, especially among business people and traders, she is looked upon as a goddess of fortune. In recent years there have been claims of her being the protector of air travelers.

Guanyin is also a ubiquitous figure found within new religious movements of Asia:

• Within the Taiwan-based Yiguandao, Guanyin is called the "Ancient Buddha of the South Sea" (南海古佛) and frequently appears in their fuji. Guanyin is sometimes confused with Yuehui Bodhisattva (月慧菩薩) due to their similar appearance despite the latter usually depicited holding a scroll instead.
• Guanyin is called the "Ancient Buddha of the Holy Religion" (聖宗古佛) in Zaili teaching and Tiandi teachings. In Zaili teaching, she is the main deity worshipped.
• Ching Hai initiates her followers a meditation method called the "Quan Yin Method" to achieve enlightenment; followers also revere Ching Hai as an incarnation of Guanyin.
• Shinji Shumeikai acknowledges Guanyin or Kannon in Japanese as the deity of compassion or the Goddess of Mercy, who was actively guiding the founder Meishusama and represents a middle way between Zen and Pure Land Buddhism.
• Caodaism considers Guanyin, known as "Quan Am Tathagata" (Quan Âm Như Lai), as a Buddha and a teacher. She represents Buddhist doctrines and traditions as one of the three major lines of Caodaist doctrines (Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism). She also symbolizes utmost patience, harmony, and compassion. According to her Divine messages via seances, her main role is to teach the Tao to female disciples, and guide them towards divinity. Another of her well-known role is to save people from extreme sufferings, e.g. fire, drowning, wrong accusation/ imprisonment, etc. There is even a prayer named "Salvation from sufferings" for followers to cite in dire conditions.

During the Edo period in Japan, when Christianity was banned and punishable by death, some underground Christian groups venerated Jesus and the Virgin Mary by disguising them as statues of Kannon holding a child; such statues are known as Maria Kannon. Many had a cross hidden in an inconspicuous location. It is suggested the similarity comes from the conquest and colonization of the Philippines by Spain during the 16th century, when Asian cultures influenced engravings of the Virgin Mary, as evidenced, for example, in an ivory carving of the Virgin Mary by a Chinese carver. (mp4 audio, requires Apple QuickTime).

The statue of Guanyin (Gwanse-eum) in Gilsangsa in Seoul, South Korea was sculpted by Catholic sculptor Choi Jong-tae, who modeled the statue after the Virgin Mary in hopes of fostering religious reconciliation in Korean society.

• Cihang Zhenren, Taoist counterpart of Guanyin
• Kṣitigarbha
• Longnü and Sudhana
• Lotus Sutra
• Manjusri
• Queen Mother of the West
• Samantabhadra
• Tara (Buddhism)
• Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage
• Mount Putuo, sacred ground of Guanyin
• Quan Âm Pagoda (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam
• Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Malacca, Malaysia
• Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, Singapore
• Wat Plai Laem, Ko Samui, Thailand
• Lin Fa Temple, Hong Kong
• Kim Tek Ie Temple, Jakarta, Indonesia
• Guanyin of Nanshan, the fourteenth tallest statue in the world
• Tieguanyin, a variety of oolong named after Guanyin
• Yujia Yankou, an esoteric Chinese Buddhist ritual where Guanyin is the central figure
• Dabei Chan, a Chinese Buddhist repentance rite where the thousand-armed and thousand-eyed form of Guanyin is the central figure

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• Buddhanet: Kuan Yin Description on Kuan Yin
• Guan Yin – the Buddha's Helper Book on Guan Yin for children
• Detailed history of Miao Shan Legend of Miao Shan
• Heart Sutra Explanation on Kuan Yin and the Heart Sutra
• Lotus Sutra: Chapter 25. The universal door of Guanshi Yin Bodhisattva (The Bodhisattva who contemplates the sounds of the world) (Translated by The Buddhist Text Translation Society in USA)
• Sinicization of Buddhism – White Robe Guan Yin – explanation of how Avalokiteshvara transformed into Guan Yin in Chinese Buddhism
• Surangama Sutra English translation of Chapter 5 "The Ear Organ" which mentions Guan Yin.
• The Śūraṅgama Sūtra: A New Translation by Buddhist Text Translation Society. Chapter 6 details Kuan Yin's powers.
• Tzu-Chi organisation: Kuan Yin, Buddhist perspective