Quan âm bồ tát tiếng anh
Anyone who spends more than a few hours in Vietnam giới will notice the many trắng statues of a divine woman usually holding an upside down vase. It’s not some feminine looking Buddha or an “Asian Virgin Mary” — it’s Quan Am (aka Kuan Yin, Kuan Shih Yin, Guanyin or Kannon), the bodhisattva of compassion. In Buddhist pagodas, on the altars in homes, & along hair-raising stretches of mountainside highway throughout Vietphái nam, devotees look khổng lồ Quan Am for guidance, fertility và protection.On this pageWhat would you like to lớn know about Vietnam?
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Quan Am greets the crowd at a festival bearing her name near Da nang và Hoi An.
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The Sanskrit term, bodhisattva, or bo tat in Vietnamese, refers lớn a complex and intriguing Buddhist concept, which in the broadest sense refers khổng lồ any being who devotes their life to easing the suffering of others. Though it’s mainly associated with the Mahayana tradition, the concept more accurately belongs lớn the whole of Buddhism. The current Tnhị king, for example, is believed by many of his Theravadomain authority Buddhist subjects to lớn be a bodhisattva in the flesh, & Shakyamuni Buddha, or the historical Siddhartha Gautama who founded the Buddhist religion 2,550 years ago in India, is considered by Theravadans to have sầu first been a bodhisattva over many lives (the stories of which can be found in the Jataka Tales).
But in the Mahayana Buddhism practised in varying forms throughout east Asia & beyond, the concept is taken to another cấp độ. All bodhisattvas take an oath khổng lồ lead all sentient beings from suffering before allowing themselves to lớn become fully enlightened buddhas. In the Mahayana view, bodhisattvas are often iconic figures who can yield magical powers and are similar in many ways lớn gods or goddesses in the Hindu view.
Quan Am is considered a ‘descendent’ of sorts of the ‘original’ bodhisattva of compassion, Avolokiteshvara, a male or sometimes androgynous icon that originated in India with a Sanskrit name which means “he who looks upon the world with compassion”. In India & Tibet, Avolokiteshvara has retained its original male identity (the Dalai Lama is believed by Tibetans khổng lồ be a reincarnation of him), but in seventh to 11th century China the icon transformed inkhổng lồ a female goddess figure, Kuan Shih Yin (literally: obhệ thống of the cries of the world), or Kuan Yin for short. In time, this female version of the bodhisattva of compassion was embraced by the rest of Mahayana east Asia, including Vietphái nam.
Avolokiteshvara/Kuan Yin is sometimes depicted with countless arms & faces which signify his/her ability to lớn see và help all sentient beings. An image lượt thích the stunning one pictured below (from the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi) could be referred lớn either as ‘Avolokiteshvara’ or ‘Kuan Yin’, but most Vietnamese would consider it a depiction of ‘Quan Am’, which is how the name ‘Kuan Yin’ has been rendered in the Vietnamese language.
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Quan Am is more commonly depicted as a graceful woman holding a willow branch, which represents healing, & a vase turned upside down, signifying how she actively cleanses & purifies — at least that’s one perceived significance but there are others. In Vietphái nam và other east Asian countries, there can be no overstating her popularity. Eight of the 15 largest Buddhist statues in the world are depictions of Kuan Yin.
The vast majority of Vietnamese Buddhists (and Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean Buddhists for that matter) belong to the Pure Land school. In this type of Buddhism, the key figure is Amithabố Buddha, or A Di Da Phat in Vietnamese, a separate buddha unrelated to Shakyamuni who presides over the Pure Lvà — a mythical sort of heaven that’s miễn phí of all suffering and is believed to lớn exist in some alternative realm of reality.
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Adherents believe sầu that by chanting Amithaba’s name every day & living ethically, they will be reborn khổng lồ enjoy numerous blissful lives in the Pure Lvà. This school of Buddhism also worships a number of semi-divine icons, including other buddhas & a pantheon of bodhisattvas, but chief ahy vọng them (apart from Amithaba) is Kuan Yin. If facing the altar in Pure Lvà pagodas throughout Vietphái mạnh, Quan Am stands to the right of A Di Da Phat, accompanied to the left by The Chi (aka Samanthabhadra), the bodhisattva of action và energy.
Kuan Yin is the star of many legends. Sometimes she arrives lượt thích a superhero, riding dragons and rescuing shipwrecked sailors, but most stories depict her as a more motherly, even down-to-earth sort of goddess. A steady theme in Kuan Yin mythology is that while she instigates or coerces sentient beings khổng lồ be kind, patient & generous — all of which leads to lớn good fortune by way of karma — ultimately it’s up to lớn each individual to lớn bởi vì the right thing.
Vietnamese Buddhists pray lớn Quan Am at all points of life. If seeking a baby, she’s a fertility goddess. If struggling with money, she’s a generous giver. And if all is already perfectly fine, she provides guidance on how to lớn make it better. Adherents understand, though, that these aren’t just blind wishes — they also require some effort on the part of the wisher, specifically khổng lồ be kind, generous and ethical in life.
Quan Am watches over a cliffside highway south of Tuy Hoa.
Of course, few if any Vietnamese Buddhists would neglect khổng lồ believe that Quan Am might swoop down on an emerald Long to save sầu the day. On the other hand, the goddess is believed lớn possess the power to lớn take infinite forms, & many Vietnamese believe sầu that she appears in the subtlest disguises, just when she’s needed most.
To see Quan Am in “action”, simply walk inkhổng lồ virtually any Buddhist pagodomain authority anywhere in Vietnam giới. If wanting khổng lồ gain a better understanding of the intense faith that many Vietnamese Buddhists have for her, try to factor the Quan Am Bodhisattva Festival into your plans. It takes place every year in mid-April just behind Marble Mountain on the road from Hoi An khổng lồ Da Nang.
Reviewed by David Luekens
David Luekens first came to lớn Vương Quốc Nụ Cười in 2005 when Tnhị friends from his former trang chính of Burlington, Vermont led him on a life-changing trip. Based in Xứ sở nụ cười Thái Lan since 2011, he spends much of his time eating in Bangkok street markets and isl& hopping the Andaman Sea.
