Guanyin Kannon Kwanseum Quan Âm Avalokitesvara

Dear guest! Please consider joining FreeSangha. You'll be able to take part in the discussions and you also get access to our chat and the Danger Zone topics!

[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