Page 28 - Popular Deities of Chinese Buddhism (Illustrated) and Symbols

e two most adored Buddhas of the distant past, whose exist-

ence were revealed to us by Sakyamuni Buddha himself, are

shown seated by his sides. A B, e Buddha

of Boundless Light and Limitless Life, the Creator of the West-

ern Paradise (Sukhavati) where all Pure Land Buddhists hope

to take rebirth into, sits on the right hand side of Sakyamuni

Buddha. B-G, the Healing Buddha, the Creator

of the Eastern Paradise, also known as the Medicine Buddha

because of his healing powers, is seated on the left.

Just below the Buddhas are the ree Great Bodhisattvas. A

Bodhisattva or P’usa, in Chinese, is an Enlightened Being who

forsakes Nirvana and accepts rebirth into the suffering worlds

of Samsara for the sake of relieving the pains of sentient beings

and leading them to the path of enlightenment. e six sam-

saric realms or worlds are those belonging to the gods, asuras,

humans, animals, ghosts and hell-beings.

K S Y P’ or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva can be

seen seated just below Sakyamuni Buddha and is flanked by her

two famous disciples ‘G Y’ and ‘J G’. Being

the personification of Compassion, Kuan Yin is easily the most

popular of all the Deities of the entire pantheon.

W-S P’ or Manjusri Bodhisattva, the embodiment

of Wisdom, is the figure seated upon the lion which represents

the ‘wild mind’ which meditation transforms. P H P’

or Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, the personification of Perfect

Activity and Happiness, is depicted as seated upon the white

 