In Buddhism, Avalokiteà Âvara (meaning "the Lord who looks down", ), also known as Lokeà Âvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a Bodhisattva associated with Great Compassion (mahÃÂkaruá¹ÂÃÂ). Avalokiteà Âvara has a vast number of manifestations (e.g., the 108 forms of Avalokiteà Âvara) and is depicted in various forms and styles across Buddhist traditions of different cultures. In some texts, he is considered to be the source and divine creator of all Hindu deities (such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Saraswati, Bhudevi, Varuna, etc.). In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Avalokiteà Âvara is also considered a manifestation of Amitabha Buddha for the purpose of Dharma teaching, and an emanation from Vairocana Buddha as an embodiment of the Miraculous Observing Wisdom (å¦Âè§Âå¯Âæº).
In East Asian Buddhism, Avalokiteà Âvara is known as è§Âé³ (an abbreviation for è§Âä¸Âé³), pronounced Gwoon Yaam in Cantonese, Guanyin in Mandarin Chinese, Kannon in Japanese, Gwaneum in Korean, and Quan ÃÂm in Vietnamese. In the traditional cultures of these Asian countries, there is a female form of Avalokiteà Âvara depicted as a divine mother in a white robe, called White-Robed Avalokiteà Âvara or Southern Sea Avalokiteà Âvara. This female form of Avalokiteà Âvara is worshiped widely in East Asian religions including Taoism and Chinese folk religion.
Avalokiteà Âvara is also known for his popular mantra, , which is the most popular mantra in Tibetan Buddhism.
The name Avalokiteà Âvara combines the verbal prefix ava "down", lokita, a past participle of the verb lok "to look, notice, behold, observe", here used in an active sense, and finally ëà Âvara, "lord", "ruler", "sovereign", or "master". In accordance with sandhi (Sanskrit rules of sound combination), a+ëà Âvara becomes eà Âvara. Combined, the parts mean "lord who gazed down (at the world)". The word loka ("world") is absent from the name, but the phrase is implied. It does appear in the Cambodian form of the name, Lokesvarak.
The earliest translation of the name Avalokiteà Âvara into Chinese by authors such as Xuanzang was as GuÃÂnzìzài (), not the form used in East Asian Buddhism today, which is Guanyin (). It was initially thought that early translators, lacking fluency in Sanskrit, mistook Avalokiteà Âvara for Avalokitasvara ("who looked down upon sound", i.e., the cries of sentient beings who need help) and thus mistranslated Avalokiteà Âvara as GuÃÂnyën. It is now understood that Avalokitasvara was the original form and is also the origin of Guanyin "perceiving sound, cries". This translation was favored by the tendency of some Chinese translators, notably KumÃÂrajëva, to use the variant GuÃÂnshìyën "who perceives the world's lamentations"âÂÂwherein lok was read as simultaneously meaning both "to look" and "world" (Sanskrit loka; ). The original form of Guanyin's name appears in Sanskrit fragments from the fifth century.
The original meaning of the name fits the Buddhist understanding of the role of a bodhisattva. The reinterpretation presenting him as an ëà Âvara shows a strong influence of Hinduism, as the term ëà Âvara was usually connected to the Hindu notion of Vishnu (in Vaishnavism) or Shiva (in Shaivism) as the Supreme Lord, Creator, and Ruler of the world. Some attributes of such a god were transmitted to the bodhisattva, but the mainstream of those who venerated Avalokiteà Âvara upheld the Buddhist rejection of the doctrine of any creator god.
In Sanskrit, Avalokiteà Âvara is also referred to as Lokeà Âvara ("Lord of the World"). In Tibetan, Avalokiteà Âvara is Chenrézig (). The etymology of the Tibetan name Chenrézik is spyan "eye", ras "continuity", and gzig "to look". This gives the meaning of one who always looks upon all beings (with the eye of compassion).
These are found in Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra: The Universal Gate of Bodhisattva Avalokiteà Âvara (). This chapter is devoted to Avalokiteà Âvara, describing him as a compassionate bodhisattva who hears the cries of sentient beings and who works tirelessly to help those who call upon his name. A total of 33 different manifestations of Avalokiteà Âvara are described, including female manifestations, all to suit the minds of various beings. The chapter consists of both a prose and a verse section. This earliest source often circulates separately as its own sutra, called the Avalokiteà Âvara Sà «tra (), and is commonly recited or chanted at Buddhist temples in East Asia.
When the Chinese monk Faxian traveled to Mathura in India around 400 CE, he wrote about monks presenting offerings to Avalokiteà Âvara. When Xuanzang traveled to India in the 7th century, he provided eyewitness accounts of Avalokiteà Âvara statues being venerated by devotees from all walks of life, from kings to monks to laypeople.
In Chinese Buddhism and East Asia, Tangmi practices for the 18-armed form of Avalokiteà Âvara called Cundë are very popular. The popularity of Cundë is attested by the three extant translations of the Cundë DhÃÂraá¹Âë Sà «tra from Sanskrit to Chinese, made from the end of the seventh century to the beginning of the eighth century. In late imperial China, these early esoteric traditions still thrived in Buddhist communities. Robert Gimello has also observed that in these communities, the esoteric practices of Cundë were extremely popular among both the populace and the elite.
In the Tiantai school, six forms of Avalokiteà Âvara are defined. Each of the bodhisattva's six qualities is said to break the hindrances in one of the six realms of existence: hell-beings, pretas, animals, humans, asuras, and devas.
According to Nëlakaá¹Âá¹Âha DhÃÂraá¹Âë Sà «tra, Gautama Buddha told his disciple ÃÂnanda that Avalokiteà Âvara had become a Buddha countless eons ago, with the name Samyaka Dharma-Vidya TathÃÂgata meaning "TathÃÂgata who clearly understands the right Dharma". Out of great compassion, he wants to help all other Bodhisattvas to achieve the highest Awakenment, and bring happiness and peacefulness to all sentient beings, therefore he appears as a Bodhisattva, taking the name Avalokiteshvara and often abides in the Sahàworld.
Another Mahayana Sutra, Tathagata's Unimaginable State Sutra, reaffirms that Avalokiteà Âvara is actually a Buddha. In the Sutra it is written that when Sakyamuni Buddha attained the highest Awakenment, countless Buddhas from other worlds, appearing as Bodhisattvas, came to our world to congratulate him and assist his Dharma-teaching work, and Avalokiteà Âvara was one of those Buddhas who appeared as Bodhisattvas.
In Mahayana Buddhism, Avalokiteà Âvara is one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas (Ã¥ÂÂ大è©è©) who are Mañjuà Ârë, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteà Âvara, and Ká¹£itigarbha. Avalokiteà Âvara is also a close assistant of Amitabha Buddha, helping Amitabha Buddha to preach the Dharma of the Pure Land.
Veneration of Avalokiteà Âvara Bodhisattva has continued to the present day in Sri Lanka.
In times past, both Tantrayana and Mahayana have been found in some of the Theravada countries, but today the Buddhism of Sri Lanka (formerly, Ceylon), Myanmar (formerly, Burma), Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia is almost exclusively Theravada, based on the Pali Canon. The only Mahayana deity that has entered the worship of ordinary Buddhists in Theravada Buddhism is Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. In Sri Lanka, he is known as Natha-deva and is believed by the majority to be the Buddha yet to come, Bodhisattva Maitreya. The figure of Avalokitesvara is usually found in the shrine room near the Buddha image.
In more recent times, some western-educated TheravÃÂdins have attempted to identify NÃÂtha with Maitreya Bodhisattva; however, traditions and basic iconography (including an image of AmitÃÂbha Buddha on the front of the crown) identify NÃÂtha as Avalokiteà Âvara. Andrew Skilton writes:
Avalokiteà Âvara is popularly worshipped in Myanmar, where he is called Lokanat or lokabyuharnat, and Thailand, where he is called Lokesvara. The bodhisattva goes by many other names. In Indochina and Thailand, he is Lokesvara, "The Lord of the World". In Tibet, he is Chenrezig, also spelled Spyan-ras gzigs, "With a Pitying Look". In China, the bodhisattva takes a female form and is called Guanyin (also spelled Kwan Yin, Kuanyin, or Kwun Yum), "Hearing the Sounds of the World". In Japan, Guanyin is Kannon or Kanzeon; in Korea, Gwaneum; and in Vietnam, Quan Am.
Avalokiteà Âvara is worshipped as NÃÂtha in Sri Lanka. The Tamil Buddhist tradition developed in Chola literature, such as Buddamitra's Virasoliyam, states that the Vedic sage Agastya learned Tamil from Avalokiteà Âvara. The earlier Chinese traveler Xuanzang recorded a temple dedicated to Avalokitesvara in the south Indian Mount Potalaka, a Sanskritization of Pothigai, where Tamil Hindu tradition places Agastya as having learned the Tamil language from Shiva. Avalokitesvara worship gained popularity with the growth of the Abhayagiri vihÃÂra's Tamraparniyan Mahayana sect.
Western scholars have not reached a consensus on the origin of the reverence for Avalokiteà Âvara. Some have suggested that Avalokiteà Âvara, along with many other supernatural beings in Buddhism, was a borrowing or absorption by Mahayana Buddhism of one or more deities from Hinduism, in particular Shiva or Vishnu. This seems to be based on the name Avalokiteà Âvara.
On the basis of Buddhist scriptures, ancient Tamil literary sources, and field surveys, Japanese scholar Shu Hikosaka proposes the hypothesis that ancient Mount Potalaka, the residence of Avalokiteà Âvara described in the Gaá¹Âá¸Âavyà «ha Sà «tra and Xuanzang's Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is Mount Potigai in Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli, at the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. Shu also said that Mount Potalaka has been a sacred place for the people of South India since time immemorial. It is the traditional residence of Siddhar Agastya at Agastya Mala. With the spread of Buddhism in the region beginning at the time of the great king Aà Âoka in the third century BCE, it became a holy place also for Buddhists, who gradually became dominant as a number of their hermits settled there. The local people, though, mainly remained followers of the Tamil animist religion. The mixed Tamil-Buddhist cult culminated in the formation of the figure of Avalokiteà Âvara.
The name Lokeà Âvara should not be confused with that of Lokeà ÂvararÃÂja, the Buddha under whom Dharmakara became a monk and made forty-eight vows before becoming AmitÃÂbha.
Avalokiteà Âvara's six armed manifestation as CintÃÂmaá¹Âicakra is also widely venerated in East Asia. The CintÃÂmaá¹Âicakra Dharani () is another popular dharani associated with the bodhisattva.
Avalokiteà Âvara has an extraordinarily large number of forms, emanations or manifestations, including wisdom goddesses (vidyÃÂs) directly associated with him in images and texts.
Furthermore, at least two separate female Buddhist deities, Cundë and Tara also later came to be associated with Avalokiteà Âvara (and were even seen as manifestations of him).
According to à Âà «raá¹ gama Sà «tra, Avalokiteà Âvara Bodhisattva had achieved perfect mastery of Buddhist Dharma and hence can manifest countless forms with different numbers of heads, arms and eyes.
Some of the more commonly mentioned forms include:
One prominent Buddhist story tells of Avalokiteà Âvara vowing never to rest until he had freed all sentient beings from saá¹ÂsÃÂra. Despite strenuous effort, he realizes that many unhappy beings were yet to be saved. After struggling to comprehend the needs of so many, his head splits into eleven pieces. AmitÃÂbha, seeing his plight, gives him eleven heads with which to hear the cries of the suffering. Upon hearing these cries and comprehending them, Avalokiteà Âvara tries to reach out to all those who needed aid, but found that his two arms shattered into pieces. Once more, AmitÃÂbha comes to his aid and invests him with a thousand arms with which to aid the suffering multitudes.
This manifestation of Avalokiteà Âvara is known as Sahrasasbhuja Avalokiteà Âvara ("Thousand-armed Avalokiteà Âvara), and is among the bodhisattva's most popular iconographic forms across China, Japan and Korea.
According to various Mahayana sources, numerous Hindu deities are considered to be emanations of Avalokiteshvara. For example, in the KÃÂraá¹Âá¸Âavyà «hasà «tra (4thâÂÂ5th century CE), Great universal deities called Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Saraswati are all said to have emerged from Avalokiteshvara bodhisattva's body. The passage states:
<blockquote>ÃÂditya and Candra came from his eyes, Maheà Âvara came from his forehead, Brahmàcame from his shoulders, NÃÂrÃÂyaá¹Âa came from his heart, Devi Sarasvatë came from his canines, VÃÂyu came from his mouth, Dharaá¹Âë came from his feet, and Varuá¹Âa came from his stomach.</blockquote>
In a similar manner, Hindu deities like Nëlakaá¹Âá¹Âha and Harihara are cited in the Nëlakaá¹Âá¹Âha DhÃÂraá¹Âë, possibly as forms of Avalokiteshvara or as associated bodhisattvas (the text is not clear, though traditionally these have been interpreted as various names or forms of Avalokiteshvara).
Alexander Studholme writes that these sources are influenced by Puranic Hinduism, and its concepts of an êà Âvara ("lord") and Maheà Âvara ("great lord"), both of which are terms that refer to a transcendent and all pervasive being. The name Maheà Âvara is also applied to Avalokiteshvara three times in the KÃÂraá¹Âá¸Âavyà «hasà «tra, and some passages he is described as a cosmic man, similar to how the Puranas depict Vishnu or Shiva. However, this Buddhist myth only focuses on how Avalokiteshvara gives birth to all the gods (devas), and he is not depicted as a true Creator God (who creates the cosmos, like the Hindu êà Âvara), instead he is depicted as a great cosmic being that manifests in myriad ways as a skillful means to guide living beings to Buddhahood.
There are various mantras and dharanis associated with Avalokiteà Âvara.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the central mantra is the six-syllable mantra (, also called the Mani mantra. Due to his association with this mantra, one form of Avalokiteà Âvara is called á¹¢aá¸ÂÃÂká¹£arë ("Lord of the Six Syllables") in Sanskrit. The Mani mantra is also popular in East Asian Mahayana, such as Chinese Buddhism. There are also different variations of the mani mantra, the most common which is Oá¹ maá¹Âi padme hà «á¹ hrëḥ. Hrëḥ is the seed syllable of the Lotus Buddha family and the Buddha Amitabha.
Recitation of this mantra while using prayer beads is the most popular religious practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Another popular religious practice associated with om mani padme hum is the spinning of prayer wheels clockwise, which contains numerous repetitions of this mantra and effectively benefits everyone within the vicinity of the practitioner.
The connection between this famous mantra and Avalokiteà Âvara is documented for the first time in the '. This text is dated to around the late 4th century CE to the early 5th century CE. In this sà «tra, a bodhisattva is told by the Buddha that recitation of this mantra while focusing on the sound can lead to the attainment of eight hundred samÃÂdhis.
Another mantra for Avalokiteà Âvara commonly recited in East Asian Buddhism is "three and a half syllables" (ardhacaturthÃÂká¹£ara) heart-mantra: "oá¹ ÃÂrolik svÃÂha" (or sometimes just ÃÂrolik or oá¹ ÃÂrolik), which is found (in many forms and variations like ÃÂrolika, arulika, etc.) in numerous pre-tenth-century Indian texts, including the 7th century Chinese translation of the DhÃÂraá¹Âësaá¹Âgraha, the Susiddhikarasà «tra, the Mañjuà Âriyamà «lakalpa, and the GuhyasamÃÂjatantra.
In Chinese Buddhism, this mantra is known as "Avalokiteà Âvara's mantra for eradicating karmic obstructions" (Chinese: è§Âä¸Âé³è©è©滠æ¥ÂéÂÂçÂÂè¨Â, pinyin: GuÃÂnshìyën púsàmiè yèzhàng zhÃÂnyán) and is typically recited everyday as part of the standard liturgy during the daily Mengshan Shishi ritual () carried out in all Chinese Buddhist monasteries. In Shingon Buddhism, this mantra is the main mantra for Avalokiteà Âvara, and it is also considered to be the main mantra of the Lotus Buddha family.
One text (Taisho Tripitaka no. 1031) describes a visualization practice done after reciting oá¹ ÃÂrolik svÃÂhàseven times which includes meditating on the meanings of the four letters of ÃÂrolik which are:
The ÃÂrolik mantra has also been found engraved on a few sculptures found in north India. One of these begins with "ÃÂrolik oá¹ hrëḥ". Another one of these found in Bihar also included other mantras, including ye dharma hetu, followed by "namo ratnatrayÃÂya namo ÃÂryÃÂvalokiteà ÂvarÃÂya bodhisatvÃÂya mahÃÂsatvÃÂya mahÃÂkÃÂruá¹ÂikÃÂya ÃÂrolok Oá¹ hriḥ hriḥ".
Another longer mantra appears in a translation by Amoghavajra (T. 1033, 20: 9b1âÂÂ7): <blockquote>namoratnatrayÃÂya | nama ÃÂryÃÂvalokiteà ÂvarÃÂya bodhisattvÃÂya mahÃÂsattvÃÂya mahÃÂkÃÂruá¹ÂikÃÂya | tadyathÃÂ
padmapÃÂá¹Âi sara sara ehy ehi bhagavann ÃÂryÃÂvalokiteà Âvara ÃÂrolik | </blockquote>In Chinese, oá¹ ÃÂrolik svÃÂha is pronounced ÃÂn ÃÂlÃÂlÃÂi jì suà Âpóhà(åµ é¿åÂÂÃ¥ÂÂç¹¼ å¨Âå©Â訶). In Korean, it is pronounced Om aroreuk Ge Sabaha (ì´ ìÂÂë¡ÂëÂÂê³ ì¬ë°ÂÃÂÂ). In Japanese, it is pronounced . In the Siddham script it is written as ðÂÂÂð¼ ðÂÂÂð¨ðºð©ð°ðÂÂÂð¿ ðÂÂÂð¿ðªð¯ð®ð¯ðÂÂÂ.
The KÃÂraá¹Âá¸Âavyà «ha Sà «tra also features the first appearance of the dhÃÂraá¹Âë of Cundë, which occurs at the end of the sà «tra text. After the bodhisattva finally attains samÃÂdhi with the mantra "oá¹ maá¹Âipadme hà «á¹Â", he is able to observe 77 koá¹Âës of fully enlightened buddhas replying to him in one voice with the Cundë DhÃÂraá¹Âë:
The Nëlakaá¹Âá¹Âha DhÃÂraá¹Âë is an 82-syllable dhÃÂraá¹Âë for Avalokiteà Âvara also known as the Great Compassion Mantra. It is very popular in East Asian Buddhism. Another popular Avalokiteà Âvara dharani in East Asian Buddhism is Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara Heart Dharani. This dharani is associated with Avalokiteà Âvara's eleven face form, known as EkÃÂdaà Âamukha, one of the six forms of Guanyin.
In East Asian Buddhism, the most popular form of Avalokiteà Âvara is the feminine white robed Guanyin. A common phrase which is widely chanted and recited by East Asian Buddhists is:
There are also longer chants, usually termed "White Robe Avalokitesvara" (Baiyin Guanyin) sutras (jing) or mantras (zhou). The most well known is the "Divine White-robed Avalokiteà Âvara Mantra" (c. 11th century). This longer mantra is as follows:
Another popular dharani of Guanyin is associated with her power over children and childbirth. This is called the "Dharani Sutra of White-Robed Guanyin's Heart of Five Seals".
In Japanese Buddhism, a popular longer chant to Kannon or Kanzeon (Guanyin) is the jikku kan'on gyà  (Ã¥ÂÂå¥è§Âé³ç¶Â), the "10 Verse Kannon Sutra". It is the following:
Avalokiteà Âvara is an important deity in Tibetan Buddhism. He is regarded in the Vajrayana teachings as a Buddha.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Tãrã came into existence from a single tear shed by Avalokiteà Âvara. When the tear fell to the ground it created a lake, and a lotus opening in the lake revealed Tara. In another version of this story, Tara emerges from the heart of Avalokiteà Âvara. In either version, it is Avalokiteà Âvara's outpouring of compassion which manifests Tãrã as a being.
Certain living tulku lineages, including the Dalai Lamas and the Karmapas, are considered by many Tibetan Buddhists to also be manifestations of Avalokiteà Âvara.
In Tibetan iconography, Avalokiteà Âvara (Chenrezig) is occasionally depicted wearing a deer-skinâÂÂtinasara or krishnasara à ¤Âà ¥Âà ¤·à ¥Âà ¤£à ¤¸à ¤¾à ¤° (ká¹Âá¹£á¹ÂasÃÂra) in Sanskrit, and à ½Âà ¾²à ½±à ½²à ½¤à ¾£à ¼Âà ½¦à ½±à ¼Âà ½¢ (krë-shna-sÃÂ-ra) or à ½Âà ¾²à ½²à ¼Âà ½¦à ¾Âà ½Âà ¼Âà ½¦à ½±à ¼Âà ½¢à ¼ in TibetanâÂÂdraped over his left shoulder. This attribute serves as a layered symbol of renunciation, deep compassion, and yogic practice. Historically, Indian ascetics used deer-skins as meditation seats or garments to support austere retreat and concentration.
The iconographic tradition may trace back to the Ruru JÃÂtaka (JÃÂtaka tale No. 482), also known as the 'Golden Deer' story, in which the bodhisattva was once born as a splendid golden deer endowed with compassion and the ability to speak human languages. He saved a man from drowning and, when the king later hunted him, he offered himself to protect his followers. His act of selflessness moved the king to prohibit hunting throughout the realmâÂÂthus embodying compassion that transforms society.
This convergence of yogic renunciation, mythic compassion, and visual representation makes the tinasara a powerful emblem in Chenrezig's devotional art.