Page 80 - Popular Deities of Chinese Buddhism (Illustrated) and Symbols

Paradise of his spiritual father, Amitabha. No sooner had he

emptied the hell of its inhabitants, within the next instant other

beings were reborn there to fill up their places. Out of despair

and grief in discovering the extent of wickedness in the world

and the utter helplessness of saving all mankind, the Bodhi-

sattva’s head split into ten pieces.

Amitabha Buddha quickly came to the rescue of his beloved

disciple and caused each of the pieces to become a head, placed

them in three tiers of three, with the tenth head on top and his

own image above them all.”

us the Great Compassionate One was endowed with twenty-

two eyes instead of two, to see all suffering, and eleven brains in-

stead of one, to concentrate on the best means of saving mankind.

As mentioned earlier, Kuan Yin is always accepted by the average

Chinese to be a female Bodhisattva due to her various manifes-

tations and legend in China. To refer to her as a male deity will

surely cause many a brow to wrinkle up and pairs of confused

eyes staring at you for the profanity uttered. is is because the

great majority of her devotees and faithfuls are lacking in doctri-

nal knowledge and it is for this particular reason that this book

has been prepared. To them Kuan Yin is a great Being who can

be counted upon for help under any circumstances for she has

indeed helped countless others, so that just to have faith in this

Goddess of Mercy is good enough and that the complicated doc-

trines of the Buddhas should be left to the monks and nuns who

will be there to guide them whenever the need arises. is may

 