Faces of Compassion by Taigen Dan Leighton

Author:Taigen Dan Leighton
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781614290230
Publisher: Wisdom Publications

Guanyin in royal-ease pose, China, 12th century

In another manifestation, Guanyin Holding a Willow Branch vows to cure illness. Interestingly, modern pharmacologists have discovered an aspirin-like compound in willow bark. Dragon-Head Guanyin rides on a dragon, a symbol of enlightenment in Asia. One–Leaf Guanyin sits on a single leaf floating on the waters, meditating and protecting those who fall into the ocean depths. Moon-Water Guanyin, who meditates by gazing at the reflection of the moon in water, and Rock-Cave Guanyin, who sits in a cave to protect beings from the poisonous snakes who live there, both have some resemblance in posture and bearing to Wish-Fulfilling Gem Avalokiteśvara, one of the seven major manifestations described above, and may perhaps be derivative forms.

Fish-Basket Guanyin is based on Lingzhao, the daughter of the famed eighth-century Chan adept Layman Pang who was a great practitioner in her own right, and who made her living selling bamboo baskets. Calming Guanyin protects sailors by calming seas and saving the shipwrecked. Leaf-Robed Guanyin offers protection from pestilence, insects, and illness, and grants longevity. Pure-Water Guanyin carries a water vase in her left hand to symbolize purification. Lotus-Holding Guanyin, carrying a lotus to symbolize bodhisattva vow, is one of the earliest forms of Avalokiteśvara (referred to by some modern scholars starting in the nineteenth century as Padmapāṇi Bodhisattva), sometimes identified with the first of the seven major forms, Ārya Avalokiteśvara.

Extending-Life Guanyin and her gift of longevity are honored with a short ten-line Sutra for Protecting Life (Enmei Jukkū Kannon Gyō in Japanese) still chanted daily in Zen temples. It invokes and evokes causal affinity with buddha, dharma, and sangha, and the chanters’ mindfulness of Kanzeon Bodhisattva throughout the day from morning to evening. This sutra concludes by saying that such mindfulness comes forth with, and is not separate from, the universal buddha mind. Its text, almost as emblematic of compassion in East Asia as is Avalokiteśvara’s mantra Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ in Tibet, is chanted in Sino-Japanese:

Kanzeon / Namu Butsu, / Yō Butsu Ū In, / Yō Butsu Ū En, /

Bu Pō Sō En, / Jō Raku Ga Jō, / Chō Nen Kanzeon, / Bō Nen

Kanzeon, / Nen Nen Ju Shin Ki, / Nen Nen Fu Ri Shin.

Blue-Necked Guanyin is venerated in Avalokiteśvara’s “Great Heart of Compassion Dhāraṇī” (Daihī Shin Darāni in Japanese), still chanted daily in Zen temples. This figure is thought to be modeled after a legendary form of the Indian deity Śiva, who saved the world by swallowing the poison from the Lord of Serpents. The poison remained in Śiva’s throat, producing a blue spot on his white throat.

Guanyin Called the Wife of Malang is based on the story of a beautiful young woman in China in 817. Besieged by suitors, she announced that she would marry whoever could memorize the Guanyin chapter of the Lotus Sutra in one night. When twenty suitors fulfilled this requirement, she asked that they learn the Diamond Sutra overnight. Ten remained, and she said she would marry the one who memorized the entire Lotus Sutra within three days.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.