Should it be called Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva or Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva?

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-02-01

Speaking of Guanyin Bodhisattva, whether you believe in Buddhism or not, you have probably heard the name of this great Bodhisattva, as long as you talk about this Bodhisattva, many people will immediately put their hands together, and call it "Great Compassion and Great Compassion to Save the Suffering Guanyin Bodhisattva", it can be said that in the hearts of the Chinese people, Guanyin Bodhisattva ranks first among the great Bodhisattvas of Buddhism, and is the most admired Bodhisattva of Buddhists.

Guanyin Bodhisattva has many legends and stories in folklore, and in the widely spread ** "Journey to the West", he is also the Buddhist character who appears the most. In "Journey to the West", this Bodhisattva is called Guanyin Bodhisattva, but in fact, during the Tang Dynasty, in order to avoid the name of Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Guanyin Bodhisattva was called Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Therefore, in the folk, the common people are accustomed to calling this Bodhisattva "Guanyin Bodhisattva" or "Guanyin Bodhisattva", but in the regular Buddhism and temples, it is often called "Guanyin Bodhisattva", why is this?

Buddhism was first introduced to China from Qiuci (pronounced Qiuci, located in present-day Xinjiang), and the famous monk Kumarosh of the Western Regions was a native of Qiuci, who translated a large number of Buddhist scriptures, which were later introduced to China. In these Buddhist scriptures, including the early Buddhist scriptures translated by others from the country of Qiuzi to China, they are all translated as "Guanyin Bodhisattva", and the Sanskrit for comparison is **alokitasvara, "*alokita" means "view", and "svara" means sound and chanting, so it is translated as "Guanyin Bodhisattva".

In the Tang Dynasty, Master Xuanzang went to India to learn scriptures and brought back scriptures directly from India, and it was also from Master Xuanzang that he translated the name of this Bodhisattva for the first time as "Guanzi Bodhisattva", and the corresponding Sanskrit is **alokitesvara - one of the letters has changed from "a" to "e".", a difference of one letter, the meaning is not the same.

According to the speculation of Buddhist researchers, it is possible that there was a small error in the process of the Buddhist scriptures being introduced from ancient India to the country of Qiuci, so the Buddhist scriptures that were introduced to China from the country of Qiuci at the beginning were translated as "Guanyin Bodhisattva", and the Buddhist scriptures that Xuanzang obtained directly from India were translated as "Guanzi Bodhisattva" according to the original text.

Therefore, later in the regular temples and Buddhist scholars, more people called this Bodhisattva "Guanyin Bodhisattva", but the folk have become accustomed to it, and most people still call it "Guanyin Bodhisattva" or "Guanyin Bodhisattva".

I think the reason why the common people are willing to call this Bodhisattva Guanyin Bodhisattva is because the image of this Bodhisattva relieving suffering and relieving the suffering is too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In the twenty-fifth article of the Myoho-renge-kyo, "Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Pumenpin", it is said: "If there are immeasurable millions of sentient beings who suffer from all kinds of afflictions, and they hear the name of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, they will be called Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva and they will be liberated by observing the sound of Avalokiteshvara, and in this sense, it is also very appropriate to call Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva."

Therefore, it doesn't matter whether you should call Guanyin Bodhisattva or Guanyin Bodhisattva, in fact, it doesn't matter, what name is just a name, as if Zhang San changed his name to Li Si, but the person is still the original person, as long as he knows in his heart that he is calling this Bodhisattva, from the perspective of Buddhism, it is just "Kana Anritsu".

By the way, let's talk about the origin of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

According to Buddhist scriptures, Amitabha Buddha was a king in his past life, and his name was King Wuyinen. He had a thousand sons, and later he embraced Buddhism and took a thousand sons with him to take refuge in the treasure of Nyorai. The treasure is to be conferred on the King of Wuzhen and his thousand sons, and the King of Wuyin will become a Buddha in the Pure Land of Bliss in the West, which is for Amitabha. His eldest son, Xuan (Xuan), is Guanyin Bodhisattva, the second son Nemo is the Great Trend Bodhisattva, and the rest of the sons are Manjushri and Puxian.

Avalokiteshvara is the supreme bodhisattva under the throne of Amitabha Buddha, the head of the Western sect. The "Three Sages of the West" that we often see in the temple now are the Amitabha Buddha, the leader of the Western Pure Land of Bliss, and his left and right attendant Bodhisattvas - Guanyin Bodhisattva and Dashi Zhi Bodhisattva, so how to distinguish the statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva and Dashi Zhi Bodhisattva in the temple? There are three main points, Avalokiteshvara is on the left hand side of Amitabha Buddha, and the general trend to the Bodhisattva is on the right hand side of Amitabha Buddha; In the hands of Guanyin Bodhisattva is a pure bottle and willow branches, and in the hands of the Bodhisattva is a lotus; On the head of Guanyin Bodhisattva, there is a Buddha statue in the middle of the crown, and in the middle of the crown on the head of the Bodhisattva is a pure bottle.

Related Pages

    Is Avalokiteshvara a man or a woman?

    The full name of the Bodhisattva of the World Sound,the full name of the Great Compassion of the South,the Great Compassion,the Great Inspiration of t...

    How exactly should you make money?

    I keep saying that we Chinese have no faith,how can it be?For us,making money is one of the strongest beliefs at the moment.There are two ideas about ...

    How to choose sunscreen

    Sunscreen is a very important job,in ordinary times should start from many aspects to do a good job of sunscreen,not only to supplement more vitamin C...

    How exactly should cars be sold?Tear 2023

    Text Joey.How exactly should cars be sold?Logically speaking,this could not have been called a problem in a bygone era.Because at that time,the entire...

    How should the elderly care for themselves?

    At the age of more than ,it is really the time when there are old and young.The so called old man is that at this age,the old people on both sides hav...