觀世音菩薩與現代社會：第五屆中華國際佛學會英文論文集
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) and Modern Society

Editor’s Preface

William Magee
Dharma Drum Buddhist College

In March of 2006, the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies hosted its Fifth International Conference on Buddhism. The Conference attracted a diverse group of world-reknowned scholars to Taiwan to share their research under the general topic: “Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) and Modern Society.” Of the ten articles in English (including Professor Yü’s Keynote Address) published herein, a number discuss manifestations of Guanyin in Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist art, while others present discussions—ranging across practically all of Asia—devoted to studies of compassion, tantric deities associated with Guanyin, explorations of meditative states and modern devotional healing, the history of Guanyin cults, and the interactions of worship and practice among the many compassionate aspects of Guanyin.

The Conference was initiated by a Keynote Address on “Kuan-yin and Chinese Culture” by Professor Chün-fang Yü of Columbia University, author of a comprehensive study of Kuan-yin (alternatively spelled Guanyin) in China. In her address, Professor Yü details the scope of the religious and cultural influence of Kuan-yin, or Kuan-shih-yin. She points out that the cult of the deity originally called Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit is not limited to East Asia, but exists throughout Asia. Called Lokesvara (Lord of the World) in Cambodhia and Java, Lokanatha (Protector of the World) in Burma, Natha Devio in Sri Lanka, and Chenrezi (spyan-ras-gzigs, “One Who Sees with Eyes”) in Tibet, Avalokiteśvara is identified by many names and in many forms. Most Asian Buddhist cultures have known and worshipped this Bodhisattva in one form or another.

José Ignacio Cabezón of the University of California at Santa Barbara addresses “The Cults of Peaceful and Wrathful Avalokiteśvara at Sera Monastery.” The Cult of Hayagrīva in Tibet worships a deity with Indian roots and a long history in both the Buddhist and the Hindu traditions. The cult of Hayagrīva also spread to China (where he came to be known as Ma-tou Kuan-yin) and to Japan (where he was known as Bato Kannon). Through the influential Ge-luk lineage, Hayagrīva also became an important deity in Mongolia. In his paper, “The Bodhisattva Intent: Guanyin and the Dynamics of Healing in Buddhist Meditation,” Professor Edward F. Crangle of the University of Sydney addresses the dynamics of Buddhist meditation, specifically samatha practices, insofar as they reveal to some degree their ‘relationship’ to Bodhisattva Guanyin, while realising their potential to facilitate insight and increase the likelihood of spiritual healing. Professor Crangle’s paper also explores briefly some concepts and associated contemplative methods in the context of Buddhist soteriology and Buddhist healing.

At the beginning of the Supplement to (Nāgārjuna’s) “Treatise on the Middle”, Candrakīrti praises compassion because it is the chief distinguishing feature of a Bodhisattva. Since Bodhisattvas become Buddhas, by paying homage to a Bodhisattva’s practice of compassion, Candrakīrti implicitly honors Buddhas who arise from this practice. He pays respect to the causes of Buddhahood since, if one wishes to attain Buddhahood, one must generate compassion in order to enter the Bodhisattva path.

University of Virginia Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Hopkins offered the Conference an overview of “Avalokiteśvara and Tibetan Presentations of Compassion.” He describes how compassion is treated as a scholastic topic in a number of eighteenth-century Ge-luk commentaries on Candrakīrti. Following a description of compassion and great compassion, Professor Hopkins’ article concludes with a discussion of the Avalokiteśvara mantra.

University of Tennessee Professor Miriam Levering asks the question, “Why Does Dabei Guanyin Need a Thousand Hands and Eyes?” in her article on Guanyin and encounter-dialogues in Chan. Her research delves into Guanyin in India and Central Asia, before he/she came to China. Over time in China the cult of Guanyin spread to all levels of society, as well as into Daoist and folk religious worship. The scriptures of the major Chinese Buddhist schools that developed in the Tang, the Tiantai, Huayan, and Pure Land, all feature Guanyin. Interestingly, the only major Chinese Buddhist school from that period that was immune to the cult of Guanyin was the Chan school.

Jan Nattier of Soka University, in her aticle, “Avalokiteśvara in Early Chinese Buddhist Translations: A Preliminary Survey,” makes the point that many scholarly studies of Avalokiteśvara have focused on the beliefs and practices associated with Avalokiteśvara in China and adjacent lands. Not only can data from East Asia be used to help us understand the history of Avalokiteśvara outside this region, Nattier argues, but also Indian Buddhist scriptures preserved in Chinese translation can help us to understand the emergence of devotion to this Bodhisattva in South Asia. Her paper makes use of information provided in the Chinese Buddhist canon to explore the role of Avalokiteśvara in India.
The purpose of Professor Nattier’s paper is to investigate the appearances of Avalokiteśvara in scriptures dating from the beginning of Chinese Buddhist translation activity through the mid-third century CE.

Professor Shunzo Onoda, of Bukkyo University, writes on “An Origin of the Design of Qing Dynasty Embroideries of Caturbhuja Avalokiteśvara.” In this article, Professor Onoda discusses an embroidery work of Caturbhuja (i.e., four-armed) Avalokiteśvara which is now preserved at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. The origin of the design and the creation of this artifact and three others similar to it are taken into consideration in this penetrating analysis.

“The Growing Audience of the Bodhisattva Guanyin,” by Dr. Petra Hildegard Rösch, Member of the Collaborative Research Center “Dynamics of Ritual” at Heidelberg University, discusses a common temple furnishing found in many Buddhist temple-halls: the Bodhisattva Guanyin amidst a large shielding screen (Guanyin yingbi, 觀音影壁) surrounded by various accompanying figures. Although many of these screens date to the Qing Dynasty, Dr. Rösch’s article shows that these screens are not a recent invention but are examples of a long tradition of such pictorial Guanyin screens beginning at least in the Northern Song Dynasty. As such, they should be understood and analysed in the context of this tradition. In “Guanyin Images in Medieval China, 5th–8th Centuries,” Professor Dorothy C. Wong of the University of Virginia argues that since layers of development contribute to the eclectic, complex character of Chinese Buddhist art of the fifth through the eighth centuries, it follows that Avalokiteśvara images in China underwent stages of transformation, interweaving foreign sources with local. Professor Wong examines the early visual representations of Guanyin from its early developments in fifth and sixth centuries to the appearance of new forms of esoteric Guanyin in the seventh and early eighth centuries. Examples of the new iconographic types of Guanyin in Korea and Japan are also considered.

“No Text, Only Images: The Veneration of Dizang 地藏 and Guanyin 觀音 at Sichuan Beishan,” by Shi Zhiru, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Pomona College, explores the complex relationship between textbook accounts segregating Bodhisattvas according to explicitly differentiated functions and the actual inter-relationship of Dizang (Skt. Kṣitigarbha) and Guanyin. Through close scrutiny of the visual and inscriptional materials, Professor Zhiru discerns that Dizang and Guanyin were frequently worshipped together in medieval China. In particular, this paper examines the visual and inscriptional sources at the Northern Mountain (Beishan 北山) sculptural site in Sichuan known as the Fowan 佛灣 (Buddha Curve) cliff.

I have saved for last the inspiring Opening Remarks of the Founder of Dharma Drum, the most Venerable Sheng Yen. The Master Sheng Yen explains why the theme “Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) and Modern Society” was chosen for this conference, and discusses his personal experiences and contributions related to the worship of the Bodhisattva. He presents a scholarly overview of the history of Guanyin worship in Chinese and Taiwanese society and shares with us his inspiring motivation: “By helping individuals in our modern times to attain inner peace, society to be more harmonious, and the world to be peaceful, we work for the world’s future, realizing the vision of a Pure Land on Earth.”

May all beings have happiness.