Who is Avalokiteśvara?

Avalokiteśvara is the bodhisattva of compassion, one of the most loved figures in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. A bodhisattva is a being who seeks awakening in order to help all others. The Sanskrit name is often explained as "the lord who looks down" or "the one who perceives the cries of the world", with compassion.

Many names and forms

Avalokiteśvara is known by different names across Asia:

• Guanyin (or Kuan Yin) in China
• Kannon or Kanzeon in Japan
• Gwaneum in Korea
• Quan Âm in Vietnam
• Chenrezig in Tibet

In India and Tibet, Avalokiteśvara is usually shown in male form. In China, from around the tenth century onwards, Guanyin came to be shown more often in female form, robed in white and holding a vase of pure water or a willow branch. Both forms are understood as expressions of the same compassion, which is not limited to any one shape.

A well-known form has a thousand arms, each hand with an eye in its palm. It shows compassion that sees every being in need and reaches out to help.

In the sutras

Avalokiteśvara appears in several important sutras. A chapter of the Lotus Sutra describes how this bodhisattva hears those who call out in danger and appears in whatever form will help them. In the Heart Sutra, it is Avalokiteśvara who, practising deep wisdom, sees that all five aggregates are empty and so passes beyond suffering. In Pure Land teaching, Avalokiteśvara is one of the two bodhisattvas who attend the Buddha Amitābha.

Practice

People turn to Avalokiteśvara in many ways. In Tibetan Buddhism, the six-syllable mantra oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ is associated with Chenrezig and is recited constantly, carved on stones and spun in prayer wheels. In East Asia, people chant the name of Guanyin or recite the Great Compassion Dhāraṇī.

The Dalai Lama is traditionally regarded in Tibet as an emanation of Avalokiteśvara.

What the figure teaches

For many practitioners, Avalokiteśvara is both someone to turn to and a picture of what they hope to become. Reflecting on this bodhisattva is a way of cultivating compassion, or karuṇā, in one's own heart. The aim is to listen to the suffering of others, as Avalokiteśvara does, and to respond with kindness and wisdom.