What is the bodhisattva Kannon?
What is the bodhisattva Kannon?
By Wayne Crothers | 20 Apr 15. Bodhisattvas are individuals filled with compassion who, rather than enter Nirvana after attaining enlightenment, remain in the life–death cycle to redeem other souls.
Who is the goddess Kannon?
Kannon is the goddess of mercy and she originates from China where her name is Guanyin. Kannon is believed to appear in 33 images and often is pictured as a many-armed deity. To those who worship Kannon, she gives happiness but that happiness comes at a high price.
Is Kannon a Buddha?
Kannon is not a Buddha, but a Bodhisattva, a being who is able to achieve Nirvana but delays doing so through compassion for suffering beings, but many in Japan do not make that distinction.
Is Kannon the same as Kwan Yin?
In Japanese, Guanyin is pronounced Kannon (観音), occasionally Kan’on, or more formally Kanzeon (観世音, the same characters as Guanshiyin); the spelling Kwannon, based on a premodern pronunciation, is sometimes seen.
Is Kannon a Kuan Yin?
Their transformation attests to an almost universal religious desire that can be satisfied only by a female “goddess” of compassion: a Kannon, a Kuan Yin, or a Maria.
Is Kannon a Japanese name?
In Japanese Baby Names the meaning of the name Kannon is: Form of Kuan-yin who was Chinese Buddhist deity of mercy.
Is Kannon male or female?
However, it is not explicitly said whether Kannon is male or female. Nevertheless, Kannon-sama is generally accepted as female and depicted this way in most works found in Japan. This is the 1.8-meter-tall statue of Amida Nyorai at the back of Yokodo Hall within the grounds of Sensoji Temple.
Is Kuan Yin real?
The twelfth-century legend of the Buddhist saint Miao Shan (see below), the Chinese princess who lived in about 700 B.C., is widely believed to have been Kuan Yin, reinforced the image of the Bodhisattva as a female.