Guanyin Bodhisattva's previous life
#图文创作打卡挑战活动#在中国, Guanyin Bodhisattva is highly regarded by people. What was such a beautiful and touching Guanyin Bodhisattva with a kind face and a benevolent face as the image of the "Oriental Virgin"?
Portrait of Guanyin Bodhisattva
Legend has it that at the beginning, Guanyin Bodhisattva was not a human, but an animal. Mr. Xu Jingbo's "Examination of Avalokiteshvara" wrote: As early as the seventh century B.C., before Buddhism was born, the ancient scripture of Indian Brahmanism, the "Rig Veda", already had "Avalokiteshvara". At that time, Guanyin was still a good god in Brahmanism, a symbol of compassion and kindness - a pair of cute twins.
In the 5th century BC, Shakyamuni founded Buddhism. When the Brahmans converted to Buddhism, they brought Avalokiteshvara with them. After arriving B.C., probably because the other bodhisattvas were human bodies, and the Avalokiteshvara of the animal body did not match them, the "horse-headed Guanyin" was changed to a human body. In order to convince people that Guanyin Bodhisattva is a human being, Buddhists made up a story for Guanyin Bodhisattva that Guanyin Bodhisattva is the eldest son of the Holy King of the Wheel.
With the in-depth spread of Buddhism in China, people turned the originally male Guanyin Bodhisattva into a beautiful woman according to their own wishes. and made up a story that Guanyin Bodhisattva was originally the third daughter of the ancient King of Miaozhuang (that is, the King of Chuzhuang) named Miaoshan. In order to make people believe that Guanyin Bodhisattva is a female body. The story goes that Princess Myeon-sun believed in Buddhism since she was a child. As she grew older, King Miao Zhuang chose a marriage for her. Miao Shan disagreed, and cut her hair to become a nun. King Miao Zhuang was very angry when he found out that his daughter had resisted the decree and became a monk, and immediately led his soldiers and horses to arrest Miao Shan, behead her, and make her soul fall into hell. After the Jade Emperor heard the news, he specially ordered the king of Hades to resurrect Miaoshan. Miaoshan formed a house in the purple bamboo forest of Xiangshan and became the current Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Now the most widely circulated is also the saying that Princess Miaoshan is the previous life of Guanyin Bodhisattva. From the perspective of the entire historical evolution, Guanyin Bodhisattva's previous life should have been the twin foal at the earliest.
Why did Guanyin Bodhisattva not become a Buddha?
We have always called Guanyin Bodhisattva Guanyin Bodhisattva, but Guanyin Bodhisattva is so merciful and compassionate, and has immeasurable merits, why did he not become a Buddha, but has always been a Bodhisattva?
Portrait of Guanyin Bodhisattva
In fact, the Guanyin Bodhisattva we have been calling has already become a Buddha. There is such a passage in the "Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Great Compassion Dharani Sutra" that can be proved: "Avalokiteshvara, the incredible divine power, has been a Buddha in the past immeasurable eons, called the Dharma is clear, the power of great compassion, and the happiness of all sentient beings, and is now a bodhisattva." In this sentence, in addition to knowing that Guanyin Bodhisattva has become a Buddha, we can also see the reason why Guanyin Bodhisattva has not become a Buddha.
Therefore, the reason why Guanyin Bodhisattva did not become a Buddha is that in order to comfort sentient beings, he does not want to see sentient beings in the six realms of reincarnation, so he reverses from the Buddha position to the Bodhisattva position, and comes to the world of Buddhahood to purify sentient beings. In the "Thousand Eyes View of the Bodhisattva of Freedom Secret Sutra", the Buddha Muni once said: "Guanyin Bodhisattva became a Buddha before me, the name is correct and the Dharma is clear, I am an ascetic disciple, and the ten directions are all free and enlightened." In these few words, we can conclude that Guanyin Bodhisattva was already a Buddha when he applied Muni Buddha or was an ascetic disciple, and now that he has become a Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva is indeed a disciple of Muni Buddha, and he came to the world to assist in imposing Muni Buddha to save sentient beings.
Therefore, we have to correct a misunderstanding: Guanyin Bodhisattva did not become a Buddha, but voluntarily downgraded to become a Bodhisattva. Guanyin Bodhisattva only wished to take care of all sentient beings and purify all sentient beings, and gave up the Buddhahood for this wish. Guanyin Bodhisattva is the true Bodhisattva of great compassion and relief from suffering, and it is the righteous Dharma of the Righteous Enlightenment of Cihang.
Guanyin Bodhisattva mount
As we all know, almost every Bodhisattva has an exclusive mount, and we generally judge the Buddha's name based on the Mount of Guanyin Bodhisattva. For example, Manjushri's mount is a lion, and Fugen's mount is an elephant. Most of the ways to judge the name of a Buddha by mount are not wrong, but there are some that can be confusing.
Ride the Guanyin
Regarding the Guanyin Bodhisattva mount, some say that there is one, and some say that it is three. It is said that Kannon's mount also contains lions and elephants. One is a lion, one is a lion, and the other is a white elephant. The more recognizable one is the remarkable.
Qiang, commonly known as Wangtian roar, roaring towards the sky, legend has it that the dragon king is the son of the dragon king, and has the habit of watching. It is recorded that the mount of Guanyin Bodhisattva is "roaring towards the sky". So, what kind of animal is the calf? The explanation in the Modern Chinese Dictionary is as follows: "犼, the name of the beast, resembles a dog, and eats people." It is said that the fierce and abnormal, the Qing Dynasty Dongxuan master's "Strange Record" recorded: "There is a beast in the East China Sea, which can eat dragon's brain, take off up and down, and the eagle is fierce and abnormal." Every time he fights with the dragon, he breathes fire in his mouth for several feet, and the dragon is invincible. In the summer of the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi, Pingyang County has a dragon from the sea to the air, fighting for three days and nights, people see three dragons and two dragons, fight together, kill one dragon and two Jiao, and the dragon is also killed, and they all fall into the valley. One of them, one or two feet long, is like a horse, and has scales. After death, the flames in the scales are still on fire, and the cover is also fierce. "It's enough to see the ferocity. And people will Guanyin riding on the image of the dragon is called "riding roaring Guanyin".
But sometimes, the lion is also directly used as a form of roar, and the roar is expressed in the form of a lion's roar. Guanyin Bodhisattva rides on it, called "lion roar Guanyin".
In addition to this, Guanyin's mount also has a white elephant. Legend has it that when Guanyin was still Princess Miaoshan, after Guanyin became a monk, she went to Mount Meru to seek Taoism, and was killed when she passed through Jinlun Mountain. Fortunately, a white elephant carried it down the mountain. After saving Princess Miaoshan, this spiritual white elephant refused to return to the mountain, and wanted to go with Princess Miaoshan to seek positive results, so he became Princess Miaoshan's mount. People refer to the image of Guanyin riding on a white elephant as "riding elephant Guanyin".
It is generally believed that the mount of Guanyin Bodhisattva is the Bodhisattva, which is more identifiable, and when you see the Bodhisattva, you will know that this is the Mount of the Goddess of Mercy.
Guanyin Bodhisattva is male and female
After watching so many mythological dramas, Guanyin Bodhisattva always shows us the image of a dignified and elegant, graceful and luxurious woman, which makes us subconsciously think that Guanyin Bodhisattva is a woman. However, there is also a saying that Guanyin Bodhisattva is a man. This seems a bit clueless, but the so-called no wind and no waves, no wind and no wind, in the end Guanyin Bodhisattva is a man or a woman, let's find out.
Statue of Guanyin
In fact, Mahayana Buddhism's view of the gender of men and women is: "All dharmas have no fixed appearance, neither male nor female, and all women are the same, even though they appear as women and not women." "There are great differences and distinctions between men and women in the secular world, but Guanyin Bodhisattva has boundless powers, is ubiquitous, has great compassion, and has no distinction at all, and there is no distinction between men and women in his 32 bodies for relieving suffering. In order to facilitate the education of different types of sentient beings, Guanyin Bodhisattva adapts improvisedly, and in response to various habits and causes of the culture, customs, and knowledge hobbies of the times, and freely manifests different forms to save sentient beings, among which there are both male and female appearances, and this male and female appearance is only convenient to adapt, and in fact there is no gender area. However, the great bodhisattva appearance of Guanyin Bodhisattva itself is the appearance of a great husband. In the Huayan Sutra, it is said: "The brave husband is at ease."
In fact, when early Buddhism was first introduced to China, Guanyin Bodhisattva was still a man, and the most obvious sign was a mustache on his lips. The male body of Guanyin is more princely like, the physique is strong, the appearance is beautiful, some are dressed in royal clothes, some are leisurely, whether standing or sitting is the image of a man. But in the Tang Dynasty, fat was the beauty, and the face of the Guanyin statue gradually became plump and round, the eyebrows also became slender, the red lips and nose became beautiful, the black hair was draped, and the face was more pretty, and it evolved into a female image symbolizing love. In the Song Dynasty, Guanyin Bodhisattva really became a woman, and by the time of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, it became a typical Chinese lady.
Therefore, in fact, Guanyin Bodhisattva was supposed to be a man, but after it was introduced to China, it changed from a man to a woman.
Guanyin Bodhisattva Dojo
There are two main theories about the Kannon Bodhisattva Dojo, one is the dojo recorded in the classics, and the other is the dojo that is now legendary in the world.
Portrait of Guanyin Bodhisattva
There are two dojos recorded in the classics. One is the Western Elysium, it is said that the Western Elysium is the fundamental dojo of Guanyin Bodhisattva, because Guanyin Bodhisattva is the auxiliary of Amitabha Buddha in the Western Elysium, and the Sutra says that Guanyin Bodhisattva is the great Bodhisattva in the Western Elysium.
There are also two legendary dojos in the world. One is Putuo Mountain, Zhejiang. Putuo Mountain, whose real name is Meicen, is located in Dinghai, Zhejiang. Due to the influence of the Huayan Sutra, it was renamed Putuo Mountain. In 858 A.D., a Japanese monk named Hui Yi who came to China to seek Dharma invited a statue of Guanyin on Mount Wutai and wanted to bring it to Japan to make offerings. However, when going to sea, passing through the Zhoushan Islands, it happened to encounter strong winds and waves and had to stop sailing, so the statue of Guanyin could only be left on the island to be worshipped. Gradually, more and more people worshipped, and the island was renamed Putuo Mountain, one of the four famous mountains of Chinese Buddhism. The other is the "Putuo Palace" in Lhasa, Tibet, that is, the Potala Palace. The reason why it is said that the Potala Palace is the incarnation of Guanyin is probably because the Potala is translated from the Sanskrit word Tona Loga.
In fact, Guanyin Bodhisattva does not have a fixed dojo. In the Buddhist scriptures, it is said that Guanyin Bodhisattva has become a Buddha for a long time in the past calamity. Guanyin Bodhisattva everywhere practice compassion, great wisdom and compassion, this is actually the place where he achieved the Buddha's path, and Guanyin Bodhisattva's dojo should be a place of great compassion. As long as there is a pious belief in Guanyin, there will be the great compassion of Guanyin, and then there will be a Guanyin dojo. #观音菩萨, Great Compassion #