Kannon: The Compassionate Bodhisattva in Japanese Buddhism and Mythology (観世音)

in #kannon • 8 months ago

• Early images of Kannon had a thousand hands, and with each of them the goddess was believed to save a sinner. In Chinese mythology it corresponds to Guanyin, in Buddhist mythology it corresponds to the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

• The dogmatic foundations of the veneration of Kannon are contained in the 25th chapter of the “Lotus Sutra” dedicated to her, which exists in Japan as a separate sutra “Kannonge”. Despite the fact that the bodhisattva is a sexless being, in Japan Kannon was perceived as the goddess of mercy.

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• She is one of the most popular Japanese deities of the lower Buddhist pantheon; many folklore legends are associated with her name, revealing her universal compassion.

• The Kannon cult is shared by most schools of Japanese Buddhism. The main temple where Kannon is venerated is Hasedera in Kamakura. The iconography of the goddess is represented by numerous images, including the “thousand-armed Kannon”.

#bodhisattva #japanesemythology #buddhistdeity #lotussutra #hasedera #universalcompassion #thousandarmedkannon
8 months ago in #kannon by
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