The Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara

The Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara
Author: Lokesh Chandra
Publisher: Abhinav Publications
Total Pages: 338
Release: 1988
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9788170172475

A Fundamental Work Based On Original Sanskrit, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, The Lost Iranian Language Sogdian And Tibetan Works-On The Origin Of Avalokitesvara. It Indentifies The Several Prevalent Folk-Deities Which Were Assimilated Into The Iconographical Form. The Worship Of Avalokitesvara Was Accompanied By A Dharani (Recited Hymn). This Work Describes Five Versions Of Thedharani. The Dharani Is An Essential Part Of The Zen Repertoire Of Sutras. It Was Transliterated Into Chinese Eight Times Over A Span Of Eight Enturies: From The 7 Th To The 14 Th Century. The Present Edition Is Not Only A Reconstruction Of The Original Sanskrit Text Of The Hymn, But A Detailed Study With The Texts Of Bhagavad-Dharma Amoghavajra, Vajrabodhi And Chih-T Ung In Chinese Characters. The Korean, Sogdian, And Tibetan Texts Are Also Given In Their Indigenous Scripts. Siddham Manuscripts From Korea And Japan Have Been Done In Facsimile. Popular Iconic Vocabulary Becomes The Essence Of Ever-Renewing Theogony. From An Attendant Acolyte Of Amitabha In The Sukhavativyuha, Avalokita Gained Independence As A Separate Deity In His Own Right. The System Of Iconographic Classification Of 33 Types, With Their Symbols, Bijas And Mudras Presents A New Model For Buddhist Iconographic Studies. The Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Tibetan And Sogdian Transliterations Of Sanskrit Hymns To The Thousand-Eyed, Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara Have The Attributes Of Hari And Hara And Have The Faces Of Narasimha And Varaha. In Reconstructing These Versions It Became Imperative That Sanskrit Texts Bearing On Harihara Be Consulted And The Iconography Of Harihara Be Analysed With Precision. The 36 Orphological Types Of Harihara Have Been Defined In A Succinct Manner On The Principles Of Icono-Taxonomy. A Novel Departure In The Study Of The History Of Art. Comparison Has Resulted In The Discovery Of The Mythogenesis Of Primal Arya Avalokitesvara, As Well As His Form With A Thousand Arms, With A Thousand Eyes On Each Of The Thousand Palms. The Emergence Of The Thousand Armed Avalokitesvara Is Linked With The Interiorisation Of Isvara-Siva Into Avalokita As Visvarupa. Amoghavajra S Version Indicates The Connection Of The Thousand-Armed Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara With The Security Of The State. New New Readings Of The Dharant That Emerge Out Of Comparative Exegesis Are Refreshing Like The Ozone-Laden Morning Air, With A Distinct Character, With Poetic Profundity And Devotional Fervour. While This Volume Resurrects The Dharani, It Traces The Very Origins Of The First Avalokita-Svara, And The Continuous And Perplexing Processes Of Assimilation That Travel Into A Phantasmagoria Of Universes. Avalokita Becomes A Wave Of Many Waves.

Eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara

Eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara
Author: Tove E. Neville
Publisher:
Total Pages: 200
Release: 1999
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN:

Illustrations: Numerous B/w Illustrations Description: The Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara is a study of the many origins that may have played a part in arriving at this number of heads, based on forms and powers male and female forms, origins based on name, in scriptural evidence and images, as well as Hindu deities, and finally origin seen in Rock-cut litanies in caves of India. Manifold as the sources are, they led to consideration of this Bodhisattva as the highest form of compassion in the widest sense of the word, the savior for humanity of eight to ten dreads, which assail and defeat humankind, especially for exposed travelers, be they pilgrims going to visit and pray at Buddhist shrines, or monks seeking new temples or to find new masters to teach them. This essay weaves together a panorama in South Asia, moving up to Central Asia and Chinese cultures who contributed their own examples from caves in China (Tun Huang) that also held depositories of paintings brought back to modern cultures for study in Paris and London, long scrolls such as the Yunan Tali Kingdom's treasure from the late Sung period, all told tales of Buddhist iconography and styles that most often harked back to earlier Indian models. Korea found influence from China and Japan had the Eleven Headed in Metal and also of lacquer and wood in splendid examples from seventh and eight centuries on. Still, most astounding is a theory weaving the thread back to the Indian cave litanies, showing how the Bodhisattva as savior caused in practice of art to furnish the model for how the ten scenes of dreads plus the great Avalokitesvara's own face led to an eleven-headed giants seen in Indian Gupta styles.

The Gods of Northern Buddhism

The Gods of Northern Buddhism
Author: Alice Getty
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 350
Release: 1988-01-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780486255750

Invaluable reference covers names, attributes, symbolism, representations of deities in Mahayana pantheon of China, Japan, Tibet, etc. 185 illus.

Buddha in the Crown

Buddha in the Crown
Author: John Clifford Holt
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 1991-01-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0195362462

Historical, anthropological, and philosophical in approach, Buddha in the Crown is a case study in religious and cultural change. It examines the various ways in which Avalokitesvara, the most well known and proliferated bodhisattva of Mahayana Buddhism throughout south, southeast, and east Asia, was assimilated into the transforming religious culture of Sri Lanka, one of the most pluralistic in Asia. Exploring the expressions of the bodhisattva's cult in Sanskrit and Sinhala literature, in iconography, epigraphy, ritual, symbol, and myth, the author develops a provocative thesis regarding the dynamics of religious change. Interdisciplinary in scope, addressing a wide variety of issues relating to Buddhist thought and practice, and providing new and original information on the rich cultural history of Sri Lanka, this book will interest students of Buddhism and South Asia.

Where the Heart Beats

Where the Heart Beats
Author: Kay Larson
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 497
Release: 2013-07-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0143123475

A “heroic” biography of John Cage and his “awakening through Zen Buddhism”—“a kind of love story” about a brilliant American pioneer of the creative arts who transformed himself and his culture (The New York Times) Composer John Cage sought the silence of a mind at peace with itself—and found it in Zen Buddhism, a spiritual path that changed both his music and his view of the universe. “Remarkably researched, exquisitely written,” Where the Heart Beats weaves together “a great many threads of cultural history” (Maria Popova, Brain Pickings) to illuminate Cage’s struggle to accept himself and his relationship with choreographer Merce Cunningham. Freed to be his own man, Cage originated exciting experiments that set him at the epicenter of a new avant-garde forming in the 1950s. Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Allan Kaprow, Morton Feldman, and Leo Castelli were among those influenced by his ‘teaching’ and ‘preaching.’ Where the Heart Beats shows the blossoming of Zen in the very heart of American culture.

The Weaving of Mantra

The Weaving of Mantra
Author: Ryûichi Abé
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 620
Release: 1999-06-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780231528870

The great Buddhist priest Kûkai (774-835) is credited with the introduction and establishment of tantric -or esoteric -Buddhism in early ninth-century Japan. In Ryûichi Abé examines this important religious figure -neglected in modern academic literatu

A Thousand Hands

A Thousand Hands
Author: Nathan Jishin Michon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2016
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781896559315

A Thousand Hands is an anthology of 50 articles by Buddhist chaplains, teachers, therapists, and social workers, presenting Buddhist approaches and resources designed to help community leaders respond to the many challenges brought to them by their communities. As a Buddhist community leader--or even a concerned community member--we may have read many sutras, practiced thousands of hours of meditation, or become well versed in Buddhist philosophy, but that does not prepare us for every situation we will face. It is very natural that people turn to a spiritual or religious community in times of trouble, and when such a person comes our hearts may fill with compassion and want to do whatever we can to ease their suffering. However, conversations with Buddhists in the West show that both training and resources in these areas are often lacking. This book is divided into three sections. The first deals primarily with ways to help one's self--ways to help develop one's capacity to be present in an effective way to help others in need, whether that is through listening more effectively or better organizing a group's money in order to keep a temple or organization stable. The second section is more about helping individuals with particular issues, such as cancer, divorce, anger, financial troubles, and depression. The third section contains chapters with broader community themes like group facilitation, leading projects, creating family programs, and volunteering. In each chapter, further resources, recommended reading, and relevant organizations are listed. "The voices contributing to this volume demonstrate that North American Buddhism is awakening from its predominantly inward and private focus and realizing that our strength for the future lies in healthy, whole, and peaceful communities. Yet the forms of suffering that manifest in communities boggle the imagination in their diversity. The essays collected here show that the necessary concern has been aroused and the helping hands of compassion are reaching out, each hand, like that of the bodhisattva Guan Yin, emblazoned with the eye of intelligence that looks into the underlying causes and the prospects for a solution." Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi "A Thousand Hands provides a remarkably broad set of resources aimed at helping people navigate suffering with greater clarity and ease. The editors have done a wonderful job gathering together many wise voices to share on a host of important topics." Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness "Buddhist communities struggle with the reality that we bring the world with us--that walking into the doors of the sangha does not instantly liberate us from our mental illness, addictions, trauma, and emotional woundedness. Even more jarring is confronting the truth that our sanghas are organized to privilege the mental, physical, and fi nancial elite. The Buddha taught a Dharma for all ages, and at its heart is the call for radical loving integrated with truth. This book helps us to hold love and truth together as we move into the profound, beautiful, and very uncomfortable space of meeting people where they are and asking: How can I care for you?" Lama Rod Owens, co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation

Bodhisattva of Compassion

Bodhisattva of Compassion
Author: John Blofeld
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1590307356

She is the embodiment of selfless love, the supreme symbol of radical compassion, and, for more than a millennium throughout Asia, she has been revered as “The One Who Hearkens to the Cries of the World.” Kuan Yin is both a Buddhist symbol and a beloved deity of Chinese folk religion. John Blofeld’s classic study traces the history of this most famous of all the bodhisattvas from her origins in India (as the male figure Avalokiteshvara) to Tibet, China, and beyond, along the way highlighting her close connection to other figures such as Tara and Amitabha. The account is full of charming stories of Blofeld’s encounters with Kuan Yin’s devotees during his journeys in China. The book also contains meditation and visualization techniques associated with the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and translations of poems and yogic texts devoted to her.

Dunhuang Manuscript Culture

Dunhuang Manuscript Culture
Author: Imre Galambos
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2020-12-07
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 3110727102

“Dunhuang Manuscript Culture” explores the world of Chinese manuscripts from ninth-tenth century Dunhuang, an oasis city along the network of pre-modern routes known today collectively as the Silk Roads. The manuscripts have been discovered in 1900 in a sealed-off side-chamber of a Buddhist cave temple, where they had lain undisturbed for for almost nine hundred years. The discovery comprised tens of thousands of texts, written in over twenty different languages and scripts, including Chinese, Tibetan, Old Uighur, Khotanese, Sogdian and Sanskrit. This study centres around four groups of manuscripts from the mid-ninth to the late tenth centuries, a period when the region was an independent kingdom ruled by local families. The central argument is that the manuscripts attest to the unique cultural diversity of the region during this period, exhibiting—alongside obvious Chinese elements—the heavy influence of Central Asian cultures. As a result, it was much less ‘Chinese’ than commonly portrayed in modern scholarship. The book makes a contribution to the study of cultural and linguistic interaction along the Silk Roads.