Avalokiteshvara 

5 creative works found

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  FOUR ARMED AVALOKITESHVARA DIETY
  by PHILLIPEDOAN

  FOUR ARMED AVALOKITESHVARA DIETY: Digitization [2007]

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  BLACK MANDALA OF THOUSANDARMED AVALOKITESHVARA
  by PHILLIPEDOAN

  BLACK MANDALA OF THOUSANDARMED AVALOKITESHVARA [2008]: This image has been digitally amplified via a decent program called Micrografx PhotoMagic from its original, which was taken by anonymous photographer. This series of Buddhist art mostly pertains to Tibetan Buddhism, especially the mandalas. Here is a great general article that will explain the fundamentals of Buddhist Mandalas, mainly of the Tibetan School. Again, this article is entirely oririginal and came straight from the Wikipedia, the international encyclopedia… MANDALAS IN BUDDHISM Early and Theravada Buddhism / The mandala can be found in the form of the Stupa6 and in the Atanatiya Sutta7 in the Digha Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon. This text is frequently chanted. Tibetan Vajrayana / Details of Sand-MandalaA kyil khor (Tibetan for mandala) in Vajrayana Buddhism usually depicts a landscape of the Buddha land or the enlightened vision of a Buddha (which are inevitably identified with and represent the nature of experience and the intricacies of both the enlightened and confused mind): “a microcosm representing various divine powers at work in the universe.”[8] Such mandalas consist of an outer circular mandala and an inner square (or sometimes circular) mandala with an ornately decorated mandala palace9 placed at the center. Any part of the inner mandala can be occupied by Buddhist glyphs and symbols [10] as well as images of its associated deities, which “symbolise different stages in the process of the realisation of the truth.” [11] Mandalas are commonly used by tantric Buddhists as an aid to meditation. More specifically, a Buddhist mandala is envisaged as a “sacred space,” a Pure Buddha Realm12 and also as an abode of fully realised beings or deities. [13] While on the one hand, it is regarded as a place separated and protected from the ever-changing and impure outer world of Samsara,[14] and is thus seen as a Buddhafield15 or a place of Nirvana and peace, the view of Vajrayana Buddhism sees the greatest protection from samsara being the power to see samsaric confusion as the “shadow” of purity (which then points towards it). By visualizing purelands, one learns to understand experience itself as pure, and the abode of enlightenment. The protection we need, in this view, is from our own minds, as much as from external sources of confusion. In many tantric mandalas, this aspect of separation and protection from the outer samsaric world is depicted by “the four outer circles: the purifying fire of wisdom, the vajra circle, the circle with the eight tombs, the lotus circle.”[16] The ring of vajras forms a connected fence-like arrangement running around the perimeter of the outer mandala circle17 The mandala is also “a support for the meditating person,”[18] something to be repeatedly contemplated, to the point of saturation, such that the image of the mandala becomes fully internalised in even the minutest detail and which can then be summoned and contemplated at will as a clear and vivid visualised image. With every mandala comes what Tucci calls “its associated liturgy…contained in texts known as tantras,”[19] instructing practitioners on how the mandala should be drawn, built and visualised and indicating the mantras to be recited during its ritual use. The photograph at right is a good example of a Tibetan sand mandala.[20] This pattern is painstakingly created on the temple floor by several monks who use small tubes and rub another metal object against the tube’s notched surface to create a tiny flow of grains.[21] The various aspects of the traditionally fixed design represent symbolically the objects of worship and contemplation of the Tibetan Buddhist cosmology. To symbolize impermanence (a central teaching of Buddhism), after days or weeks of creating the intricate pattern, the sand is brushed together and is usually placed in a body of running water to spread the blessings of the mandala. The visualization and concretization of the mandala concept is one of the most significant contributions of Buddhism to Transpersonal Psychology. Mandalas are seen as sacred places which, by their very presence in the world, remind a viewer of the immanence of sanctity in the Universe and its potential in his or her self. In the context of the Buddhist path the purpose of a mandala is to put an end to human suffering, to attain enlightenment and to attain a correct view of Reality. It is a means to discover divinity by the realization that it resides within one’s own self. A mandala can also represent the entire Universe, which is traditionally depicted with Mount Meru as the axis mundi in the center, surrounded by the continents. A ‘mandala offering’[22] in Tibetan Buddhism is a symbolic offering of the entire Universe. Every intricate detail of these mandalas is fixed in the tradition and has specific symbolic meanings, often on more than one level. The mandala can be shown to represent in visual form the core essence of the Vajrayana teachings. In the mandala, the outer circle of fire usually symbolises wisdom. The ring of 8 charnel grounds23 probably represent the Buddhist exhortation to always be mindful of death and impermanence with which samsara is suffused: “such locations were utilized in order to confront and to realize the transient nature of life.”[24] Described elsewhere thus: “within a flaming rainbow nimbus and encircled by a black ring of dorjes, the major outer ring depicts the eight great charnel grounds, to emphasize the dangerous nature of human life.”[25] Inside these rings lie the walls of the mandala palace itself, specifically a place populated by deities and Buddhas. One well-known type of mandala in Japan is the mandala of the “Five Buddhas”, archetypal Buddha forms embodying various aspects of enlightenment, the Buddhas are depicted depending on the school of Buddhism and even the specific purpose of the mandala. A common mandala of this type is that of the Five Wisdom Buddhas (a.k.a. Five Jinas), the Buddhas Vairocana, Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi. When paired with another mandala depicting the Five Wisdom Kings, this forms the Mandala of the Two Realms. Mandala offering / Whereas the above mandala represents the pure surroundings of a Buddha, this mandala represents the Universe. This type of mandala is used for the mandala-offerings, during which one symbolically offers the Universe to the Buddhas or one’s teacher for example. Within Vajrayana practice, 100,000 of these mandala offerings (to create merit) can be part of the preliminary practices before a student can begin with actual tantric practices.[26] This mandala is generally structured according to the model of the Universe as taught in a Buddhist classic text the Abhidharma-kośa, with Mount Meru at the centre, surrounded by the continents, oceans and mountains, etc. Shingon Buddhism / The Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism, makes frequent use of mandalas in their rituals as well, though the actual mandalas differ. When Shingon’s founder, Kukai returned from his training in China, he brought back two mandalas that became central to Shingon ritual: the Mandala of the Womb Realm and the Mandala of the Diamond Realm. These two mandalas are engaged in the abhiseka initiation rituals for new Shingon students. A common feature in this ritual is to blindfold the new initiate and have them throw a flower upon either mandala. Where the flower lands assists in the determination of which tutelary deity the initiate should work with. Sand Mandalas, as found in Tibetan Buddhism, are not practiced in Shingon Buddhism. Nichiren Buddhism / The mandala in Nichiren Buddhism is called a moji-mandala and is a hanging paper scroll or wooden tablet whose inscription consists of Chinese characters and medieval-Sanskrit script representing elements of the Buddha’s enlightenment, protective Buddhist deities and certain Buddhist concepts. Called the Gohonzon, it was originally inscribed by Nichiren, the founder of this branch of Japanese Buddhism, during the late 13th Century. The Gohonzon is the primary object of veneration in some Nichiren schools and the only one in others, which consider it to be the supreme object of worship as the embodiment of the supreme Dharma and Nichiren’s inner enlightenment. The seven characters Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, considered to be the name of the supreme Dharma and the invocation that believers chant, are written down the center of all Nichiren-sect Gohonzons, whose appearance may otherwise vary depending on the particular school and other factors. Pure Land Buddhism / Like Nichiren, Pure Land Buddhists such as Shinran and his descendent Rennyo sought a way to create objects of reverence, but objects that were readily available to the lower-classes of Japanese society that could not afford the traditional form of mandala. In the case of Shin Buddhism, Shinran designed a mandala using a hanging scroll, and the words of the nembutsu written vertically. Such mandalas are still often used by Pure Land Buddhists in home altars called butsudan today.

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  Avalokiteshvara
  by Wendy Slee

  A Window of Compassion…. Avalokiteshvara is the embodiment of the compassion of all the Buddhas…One who empathizes with all living and suffering upon the face of the Earth so much so that he refrained from his own blissful attainment to become a Buddha until he had saved all the creatures of the Earth. / His mission – to listen to the prayers of all sentient beings and assist them to reach Nirvana – a state of ultimate bliss and the end of suffering. IN Tibetan Buddhism, he is also known as Chenrezig – Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama to be the incarnation of Chenrezig. The Chinese depict this deity as the Goddess of Compassion Quan Yin. Whether Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, or simply one who chooses no cultural banner, the gift of compassion is a basic human right and aspiration…. to open one’s heart to non-judgment, unconditional love, forgiveness, joy and the overwhelming kindness that is symbolized by this deity is intrinsic to our very being. It is in the giving and receiving of compassion that the flow of all life on this planet is ensured. May you walk in beauty and the light of compassion…...

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  goldfaces
  by tim buckley

  detail | 1000 arm chenrezig statue | tekchen choeling monastery | mcleod ganj | hp | india / © tim buckley | bodhi images / CRW_5128.1.1 / featured May 2009 /

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  Om Mani Padme Hum Mandala
  by bodhicittatees

  Monochrome line version of a mandala featuring the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum”, meaning “The Jewel in the Lotus”, mantra of the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara. Related items from our other shops: / (Click on choose your shirt style and customize your own) /