Guanyin Kannon Kwanseum Quan Âm Avalokitesvara

[heybai]

Guanyin, Kannon, Kwaneum, Quan Âm, Avalokitesvara

[heybai]

Has anyone read this book? --

Faces of compassion: classic Bodhisattva archetypes and their modern expression, 2005, By Taigen Daniel Leighton

Excerpts are available on Google books --
http://books.google.com/books?id=XcvVUAhFwQIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=faces+of+compassion&hl=en&ei=QsBLTMj5AcaXcYeA3dsM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

[heybai]

Some syncretic Buddhist and Christian observers have commented on the similarity between Guanyin and Mary of Christianity, the mother of Jesus Christ. The Tzu-Chi Foundation, a Taiwanese Buddhist organization, also noticing the similarity, commissioned a portrait of Guanyin and a baby that resembles the typical Roman Catholic Madonna and Child painting.
Some Chinese of the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Philippines, in an act of syncretism, have identified Guanyin with the Virgin Mary.[5]
During the Edo Period in Japan, when Christianity was banned and punishable by death, some underground Christian groups venerated the Virgin Mary disguised as a statue of Kannon; such statues are known as Maria Kannon. Many had a cross hidden in an inconspicuous location.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanyin

[Sunya]

Also interesting to note the origins of the word "ishvara", meaning lord, found in Avalokiteshvara. Lord Shiva of the Shaivite branch of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) is considered a manifestation of Ishvara, an aspect of Brahman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara#Etymology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishvara#Etymology

[catmoon]

Wow that's a pretty impressive bit of painting that is.

[heybai]

Wow, she's a babe.  It is sacrilegious to call a bodhisattva a "babe"?   If so, I think she'll forgive me.

[Sunya]

Something else of possible interest:

Bodhisattvas tend to be known as "The Bodhisattva of [insert pleasant word here]", being the embodiment of that benevolent quality. It seems easier to think of abstract concepts in terms of a humanoid entity that embodies them, rather than as intangible ideals. We relate better to that which shares our likeness, and even more favorably to attractive images and icons with a human form. In order to elevate the value of the characteristic, such as compassion, it helps to associate it with beauty.

[heybai]

Lovely.

[heybai]

A Yuan/Ming Dynasty (c. 1300 CE) Wooden Guanyin Statue

From the collection of --
Chiayi City Cultural Affairs Bureau, 600 Chung Hsiao Road, Chiayi City (Taiwan)
http://www.cabcy.gov.tw/local_web/afroism_hosanna_pic.aspx

[heybai]

From the Rijksmuseum, Netherlands

Guanyin, c1100 CE, China

http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/AK-MAK-84?lang=enhttp://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/AK-MAK-84?lang=en

[humanitas]

I look up at this very painting painted on wood every day next to my computer.  It inspires me and shapes a kind of receptivity in me just looking at it.   It hangs on the wall.  It was a gift from a friend who said this made him think of me when he stayed in China for a couple years studying.  He's not Buddhist, and I'm not sure he'd know what or who GuanYin is, but he said he thought of me when he saw it and bought it as a gift for me.  When I finally received it, I was awestruck.  It felt so resonant and familiar.   

Until now in seeing this picture, I didn't know who this was a picture of.  Very curious indeed.

What are the odds the one Buddhist painting I own is this one you posted... hehe.

Also interesting to note the origins of the word "ishvara", meaning lord, found in Avalokiteshvara. Lord Shiva of the Shaivite branch of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) is considered a manifestation of Ishvara, an aspect of Brahman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara#Etymology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishvara#Etymology

[Jikan]

I was awestruck.  It felt so resonant and familiar.   

that's an image of your nature.  that's what your fundamental nature looks like.  Funny that it's surprising, no?

[santamonicacj]

I've got a glow-in-the-dark statue of her in my bedroom. She slowly fades to darkness as I go to sleep.

[humanitas]

I want a glow in the dark statue too!!

[gregkavarnos]

My lama has a guan yin statue that plugs into a power socket and has lights in it, a (mechanical) spinning halo and plays a really crackly and bad (chinese) song version of the mantra.  One time he plugged it in while we were sitting around chatting and I threatened to kill him and the statue if he didn't turn it off.  He replied by saying that he wouldn't turn it off if I did not reach enlightenment then and there.  Needless to say we compromised (not surprising coz after 5 minutes it was driving him nuts too!).

Avalokitesvara was my first sadhana practice AND i received an empowerment for the practice a week ago!  I love Avalokitesvara but cannot abide glow in the dark singing stautes of him/her!!!