In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (meaning "the Lord who looks down", "Avalokitesvara". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.), also known as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a Bodhisattva associated with Great Compassion (mahākaruṇā). Avalokiteśvara has a vast number of manifestations (e.g., the 108 forms of Avalokiteśvara) and is depicted in various forms and styles across Buddhist traditions of different cultures. In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is also considered a manifestation of Amitabha Buddha for the purpose of Dharma teaching,The Great Buddhist Dictionary - 佛學大辭典【觀音】 and an emanation from Vairocana Buddha as an embodiment of the Miraculous Observing Wisdom (妙觀察智).The Buddha's Light Great Dictionary - The Five Wisdoms and Three Bodies 佛光大辭典【五智三身】Vajrasekhara Sutra in Chinese - 金剛頂一切如來真實攝大乘現證大教王經
In East Asian Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is known as , or more commonly simply as (). In the traditional cultures of these Asian countries, there is a female form of Avalokiteśvara depicted as a divine mother in a white robe, called White-Robed Avalokiteśvara or Southern Sea Avalokiteśvara. This female form of Avalokiteśvara is worshiped widely in East Asian religions including Taoism and Chinese folk religion.
Avalokiteśvara is also known for his popular mantra, , which is the most popular mantra in Tibetan Buddhism.Studholme, Alexander (2002). The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum: A Study of the Karandavyuha Sutra. State University of New York Press. p. 2.
Etymology The name Avalokiteśvara 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 īśvara, "lord", "ruler", "sovereign", or "master". In accordance with sandhi (Sanskrit rules of sound combination), a+īśvara becomes eśvara. 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.Studholme p. 52-54, 57. It does appear in the Cambodian form of the name, Lokesvarak.
The earliest translation of the name Avalokiteśvara into Chinese by authors such as Xuanzang was as Guānzìzài (), not the form used in East Asian Buddhism today, which is Guanyin (). It was initially thought that early translators, lacking fluency in Sanskrit, mistook Avalokiteśvara for Avalokitasvara ("who looked down upon sound", i.e., the cries of sentient beings who need help) and thus mistranslated Avalokiteśvara as Guānyīn.Pine, Red. The Heart Sutra: The Womb of the Buddhas (2004) Shoemaker 7 Hoard. pg 44–45 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 Kumārajīva, to use the variant Guānshìyīn "who perceives the world's lamentations"—wherein 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.Studholme p. 52-57.
The original meaning of the name fits the Buddhist understanding of the role of a bodhisattva. The reinterpretation presenting him as an īśvara shows a strong influence of Hinduism, as the term īśvara 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 Avalokiteśvara upheld the Buddhist rejection of the doctrine of any creator god.Studholme p. 30-31, 37–52.
In Sanskrit, Avalokiteśvara is also referred to as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World"). In Tibetan, Avalokiteśvara 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).
Origin
Mahayana account
These are found in Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra: The Universal Gate of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (). This chapter is devoted to Avalokiteśvara, 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 Avalokiteśvara 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 Avalokiteśvara Sūtra (), and is commonly recited or chanted at Buddhist temples in East Asia.Baroni, Helen (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism: p. 15
When the Chinese monk Faxian traveled to Mathura in India around 400 CE, he wrote about monks presenting offerings to Avalokiteśvara.Ko Kok Kiang. Guan Yin: Goddess of Compassion. 2004. p. 10 When Xuanzang traveled to India in the 7th century, he provided eyewitness accounts of Avalokiteśvara 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 Avalokiteśvara called Cundī are very popular. The popularity of Cundī is attested by the three extant translations of the Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra from Sanskrit to Chinese, made from the end of the seventh century to the beginning of the eighth century.Studholme, Alexander (2002). The Origins of Oṃ Maṇipadme Hūṃ: A Study of the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra: p. 175 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 Cundī were extremely popular among both the populace and the elite.Jiang, Wu (2008). Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China: p. 146
In the Tiantai school, six forms of Avalokiteśvara 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 Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī Sūtra,Great Compassion Dharani Sutra - English translation of Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī Sūtra Gautama Buddha told his disciple Ānanda that Avalokiteśvara had become a Buddha countless eons ago, with the name Samyaka Dharma-Vidya Tathāgata meaning "Tathāgata 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 Sahā world.
Another Mahayana Sutra, Tathagata's Unimaginable State Sutra,English translation of Tathagata's Unimaginable State SutraMahāvaipulya Sūtra of the Inconceivable State of Tathāgatas, English translation of 大方廣如來不思議境界經 reaffirms that Avalokiteśvara 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 Avalokiteśvara was one of those Buddhas who appeared as Bodhisattvas.
In Mahayana Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas (四大菩薩) who are Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, and Kṣitigarbha.The Buddha's Light Great Dictionary - The Four Great Bodhisattvas 佛光大辭典【四大菩薩】 Avalokiteśvara is also a close assistant of Amitabha Buddha, helping Amitabha Buddha to preach the Dharma of the Pure Land.The Buddha's Light Great Dictionary - The Three Saints of the West 佛光大辭典【西方三聖】
Theravāda account
Veneration of Avalokiteśvara 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.Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 137
In more recent times, some western-educated Theravādins have attempted to identify Nātha with Maitreya Bodhisattva; however, traditions and basic iconography (including an image of Amitābha Buddha on the front of the crown) identify Nātha as Avalokiteśvara. Andrew Skilton writes:Skilton, Andrew. A Concise History of Buddhism. 2004. p. 151
Avalokiteśvara 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.
Modern scholarship Avalokiteśvara is worshipped as Nātha 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 Avalokiteśvara. 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.Iravatham Mahadevan (2003), EARLY TAMIL EPIGRAPHY, Volume 62. pp. 169Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (1963) Development of Religion in South India – Page 15Layne Ross Little (2006) Bowl Full of Sky: Story-making and the Many Lives of the Siddha Bhōgar, pp. 28 Avalokitesvara worship gained popularity with the growth of the Abhayagiri vihāra's Tamraparniyan Mahayana sect.
Western scholars have not reached a consensus on the origin of the reverence for Avalokiteśvara. Some have suggested that Avalokiteśvara, 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 Avalokiteśvara.
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 Avalokiteśvara described in the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra and Xuanzang's Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is Mount Potigai in Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli, at the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border.Hirosaka, Shu. The Potiyil Mountain in Tamil Nadu and the origin of the Avalokiteśvara cult 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 Aśoka 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 Avalokiteśvara.
The name Lokeśvara should not be confused with that of Lokeśvararāja, the Buddha under whom Dharmakara became a monk and made forty-eight vows before becoming Amitābha.