Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Avalokiteshvara

Finally, I found some information on Avalokiteshvara. I have always been curious about Him since our encounter. I am not much of a Buddhist, so when He visited me, I was surprised.

Here is what is said about Avalokiteshvara. According to legend, the Bodhisattva looked at the world one day and was so impressed by what he saw that he temporarily despaired of the scale of the task he had set for himself, and his head literally burst with the pain. His spiritual father, the primordial Buddha Amitabha 'of Infinite Light' of whom he is the emanation, gathered the pieces from which had made eleven new heads which Avalokiteshvara wears in three successive series of three faces each. The first reflects compassion, the second wrath with regard to the distress of the world, and the third, the joy engendered by good. The next to last face above these is surmounted the final head, the head of the Buddha Amitabha. He also has a thousand arms, each hand adorned with an eye, the better to see the miseries of the world and thus fly instantly to the aid of the needy.

According to Tibetans, he is the supreme Protector of Tibet, and is incarnated in the Dalai Lama, who thereby remains the spiritual and temporal leader against all comers.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home