Avalokitesvara and the Tibetan Contemplation of Compassion
Karen M. Andrews
May 31, 1993
Tibetan Contemplative Traditions
Who is Avalokitesvara? What is his place in Buddhist doctrine
and history? Why is he important in Tibetan Buddhism? What is his
function in Tibetan Buddhism? What does he do? What are the
philosophical explanations of his existence? How is he used in
contemplative practice?
Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, is one of the
most important and popular Buddhist dieties. Although he originally
was conceived of in a Mahayana context, he has been worshipped under
different names and in different shapes in nearly every form of
Buddhism in every country Buddhism has entered.
Avalokitesvara first appears in Indian Buddhism. He is
originally mentioned as one of a number of bodhisattvas. These
bodhisattvas are personifications of various attributes of the
Buddha. Avalokitesvara is the personification of compassion. The
development of a Buddhist doctrine of bodhisattvas is more or less
contemporaneous with the development of brahmanic deity worship.
Either the same societal forces led to both developments, or the
bodhisattva doctrine was a response to the rival movement of
brahmanic deity worship. The bodhisattva doctrine may have appeared
as early as the second century B.C.E.
Originally, bodhisattvas were considered to be less important
than buddhas. Buddhas, of course, are completely enlightened
beings, whereas bodhisattvas are beings who are on the verge of
being completely enlightened. Bodhisattvas originally appear as
attendants of the buddhas. Texts speak of there being vast numbers
of bodhisattvas. A few of the bodhisattvas are more important than
others. Avalokitesvara does not appear in the earliest texts about
bodhisattvas. However, after a while he becomes one of the
important bodhisattvas. By the second century C.E., in the larger
Sukhavativyuha, Avalokitesvara is described along with
Mahasthamaprapta as one of the two bodhisattvas in Sukhavati, the
pure land of the Buddha Amitayus. The two of them are described as
the source of the light that illumines the pure land. They also
teach the devotees of Amitayus, adapting their techniques to the
understanding of the listeners.
Avalokitesvara's prominence changed as the doctrinal position
of Mahayana Buddhism changed. In Mahayana, compassion and wisdom
are seen as being the two most important qualities a person can
develop. In early Mahayana, wisdom was seen as more important than
compassion. Therefore, Manjusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, was the
most highly regarded bodhisattva. However, with time, compassion
came to be seen as the more important quality, and thus
Avalokitesvara became the most honored bodhisattva.
Avalokitesvara's rise in prominence did not stop at this
point. Probably around the fifth century C.E., a full-blown cult of
Avalokitesvara emerged. Avalokitesvara evolves into the supreme
savior of all suffering beings. He takes on the characteristics of
various brahmanic gods, such as Brahma, Visnu, and Siva. Like
Brahma, Avalokitesvara is described as the creator of the universe.
"From his eyes arose the sun and the moon, . . . from his mouth, the
wind, . . . from his feet, the earth."1 He is also described as
being the creator of the brahmanic dieties. This attribution of
power to Avalokitesvara may well have been aimed at proselytizing
among brahmanic followers.
Descriptions of his physical form become increasingly
fantastic. He is described as being enormously large. His face is
a hundred thousand yojanas in circumference (a yojana is a few miles
long). His body is gold colored. He has a halo in which there are
five hundred buddhas, each attended by five hundred bodhisattvas,
each attended by numberless gods. From the hair between his
eyebrows there flow eighty-four kinds of rays. Each ray contains a
vast number of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Each of his ten finger
tips has eighty-four thousand pictures and each picture has
eighty-four thousand rays which shine over everything that exists.
And so forth.
At this point, Avalokitesvara takes precedence over the
buddhas. Even the buddhas cannot estimate Avalokitesvara's merit.
It is said that just thinking of him garners more merit than
honoring a thousand buddhas. Avalokitesvara's rise to prominence
may be partially caused by the Mahayana doctrine of the bodhisattva
vow. This doctrine says that the most wonderfully compassionate
decision is to vow to stay a bodhisattva instead of becoming a
buddha, because bodhisattvas can more effectively help other beings
become enlightened. Because of his compassion, Avalokitesvara has
vowed not to become a buddha and slip into nirvana until after all
sentient beings are saved from the nearly endless round of suffering
in samsara. Instead, he has committed to continued existence so
that he can help suffering beings. Avalokitesvara is not the only
bodhisattva who has made this vow. However, he embodies the
compassionate motivation which led all bodhisattvas to the vow.
Thus, valuing the bodhisattva vow leads to valuing Avalokitesvara
and everything he signifies.
As compassionate action is Avalokitesvara's essence, he is
supremely helpful. He can assume any form in order to help sentient
beings, and there are descriptions of him appearing as buddhas,
brahmanic gods, humans, and animals. In all these forms he does
wonderful things to help alleviate the suffering of beings and bring
them towards enlightenment. He rescues his followers from fires,
from drowning, from bandits, from murder, from prisons. He gives
children to female followers who want children. He helps release
beings from the three mental poisons of passion, hatred, and
delusion. He helpful both on the physical, worldly plain, and on a
more psychological or spiritual level.
In addition to being the personification of compassion,
Avalokitesvara has been connected with light more thoroughly than
any other Buddhist deity. The stories say that he was created from
a ray of light which emanated from Amitabha Buddha. Avalokitesvara
is a luminous being of light, and is repeatedly described as
radiating light which shines over all sentient beings and over all
corners of the universe. Similarly, he sees everything and everyone
in all corners of the universe, a fact that is emphasized by his
name. "Avalokitesvara" comes from two roots, "avalokita" and
"isvara". "Avalokita" means "glance" or "look". "Isvara" means
"lord". "Avalokitesvara" has been taken to mean such things as
"Lord of what we see", "Lord who is seen", "Lord who is everywhere
visible", "Lord who sees from on high", and "Lord of compassionate
glances". None of these interpretations are definitive, but
regardless of how his name is interpreted, Avalokitesvara is
certainly connected with lightness and sight. His ability to see
everywhere is important because it allows him to manifest his
compassion everywhere. The light that he emanates everywhere is
sometimes described as a representation of the flow of his
compassion to all parts of the universe.
As Buddhism spread throughout Asia, the teachings about
Avalokitesvara were carried everywhere Buddhism went. In China and
Japan, Avalokitesvara is the most popular bodhisattva. However, he
has undergone a sex-change, and is almost always portrayed in
feminine form. In China, he/she is called Kuan-yin or occasionally
Kuan-tzu-tsai. In Japan, she is called Kan-non or Kwan-non. In
both countries, she is seen as the supreme savior of suffering
beings and is worshipped widely as the goddess of mercy and
compassion. She gives children to women who pray to her for
offspring.
The cult of Avalokitesvara also spread to Sri Lanka. This is a
little surprising as Sri Lanka primarily follows Theravada Buddhism,
while Avalokitesvara was originally a strictly Mahayana conception.
In Sri Lanka, he is called Natha, which is an abbreviation of
Lokesvaranatha, which means "Lord of the World". He has become
identified with the bodhisattva Maitreya, the "future Buddha". He
is also seen as being identical with several Hindu gods. Natha is
seen as the guardian deity of Sri Lanka, and is reportedly
worshipped primarily because he is regarded as a pragmatically
useful source of advantages in the phenomenal world. Although I
have been able to find very little information on it, apparently the
cult of Natha has also spread with little change to other Theravada
Buddhist countries, such as Cambodia and Burma.
In Nepal, Avalokitesvara is conflated with the Brahman deity
Matsyendranath. He is worshipped in elaborate rituals which are
performed by a priestly caste. Ordination is handed down from
father to son, with some important positions being sold to the
highest bidder from within the caste. According to one reporter,
the meanings behind the rituals have been largely forgotten.
However, they continue to be performed because they are customary
and are considered to bring luck.
In Tibet, Avalokitesvara has reached a position of tremendous
importance. The stories surrounding him, his integration in the
practicalities of life, and his use in meditative practice have all
been highly developed. The Tibetans started with Avalokitesvara
(here called Chenrezi) where the Indians left off.
Traditional Tibetan belief holds that the cult of
Avalokitesvara was brought to Tibet by the eighth century C.E.
During the eighth century, King Srong-btsan sgam-po was active in
bringing Buddhism to Tibet. This king is considered an incarnation
of Avalokitesvara. Tibetans traditionally believe that he was
active in propagating a cult of Avalokitesvara. Not long after his
reign, Buddhism went into a decline, and did not revive until the
eleventh century. Western scholars believe that although there may
have been a small following of the Avalokitesvara cult during the
reign of Srong-btsan sgam-po (and there is not much evidence that
there was any such cult then), the cult certainly died out between
then and the eleventh century. Traditional Tibetan belief holds
that the cult continued in secret during this period. However,
everyone agrees that the cult of Avalokitesvara first became widely
popular during the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
The belief that Avalokitesvara is the creator of the universe
was accepted and elaborated upon. In Tibetan writings, he is seen
as not only creating the world and the Hindu gods, but also as
creating the buddhas and the buddha-fields. The whole cosmos exists
as a manifestation of Avalokitesvara's creative activity.
This is especially true of Tibet, which is depicted as having a
particularly close relationship with Avalokitesvara. His vow to
save all beings becomes a vow to first save Tibetans, because they
need his teachings particularly badly and because the Buddha asked
him to concentrate on Tibet.
Stories arose which describe Avalokitesvara as being intimately
involved with the creation of Tibet. One of the more popular of
these stories describes the creation of the Tibetan people. Once
there was a monkey who was an incarnation of Avalokitesvara. He
lived in the mountains, where he practiced meditation. One day, a
demoness saw him and fell in love with him. She tried
unsuccessfully to court him, and finally said that she would bring
disaster on all the living beings in the area if he did not marry
her. The monkey was confused, and asked Avalokitesvara what to do.
Avalokitesvara told the monkey to marry the demoness. The monkey
and the demoness wed and had six children, who were the progenitors
of the Tibetan people. Thus, all Tibetans are direct descendants of
a manifestation of Avalokitesvara.
Tibetan Buddhism also produced the innovation of recognizing
mortal human beings as the incarnations or manifestations of
dieties. As far as I am aware, Tibet is the only Buddhist country
that has this understanding. Incarnations of Avalokitesvara are
particularly important in Tibetan history. I have already mentioned
the progenitor monkey and King Srong-btsan sgam-po. Another
manifestation of Avalokitesvara which plays a crucial role in
Tibetan history is the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama has been
repeatedly incarnating in Tibet since the fifteenth century. He is
now in his fourteenth incarnation. The Dalai Lama is the head of
the Kagyu-pa school, which is one of the four major schools of
Tibetan Buddhism. Also, from the time of his fifth incarnation in
the early seventeenth century until the Chinese conquered Tibet, the
Dalai Lama was the ruler of Tibet. Thus, Tibet was governed by a
manifestation of their protective deity, who was also the progenitor
of the Tibetan people and the ruler who had brought Buddhism to
Tibet. Further, this deity, and therefore also his manifestation,
is the personification of compassion, which should guarantee that
his rule is kind and reduces suffering.
Avalokitesvara is important not only in Tibetans' understanding
of their history, but also in their practice of Buddhist
meditation. Particularly in tantric visualization practices,
Avalokitesvara, as the embodiment of compassionate action, is
critically important. In tantra, practitioners create
visualizations which are structured so as to bring about
experiential realizations of Buddhist teachings2. In order to
understand the purpose of these visualizations, it is necessary to
understand the philosophy which the visualizations serve to make
experientially real.
What is this philosophy? It is beyond the scope of my paper to
lay forth the entire teachings of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism,
but I will try to briefly outline the philosophies which are most
commonly used in tantric visualizations of Avalokitesvara.
The most obvious Buddhist teaching used in these practices is
the importance of compassion. What, precisely, is the Buddhist
understanding of compassion? Compassion starts with sorrow at the
suffering of others. As such, it incites action aimed at reducing
the suffering of others. Compassion is the motivating force behind
useful action. It is a warm, positive energy directed towards
helping others.
Compassion can only arise when we do not have a strong sense of
separation from others. If there is a feeling that I am over here,
and you are over there, and we are totally separate individuals,
then we will not be able to truly sorrow at each others' pain,
because others' pain will not touch us. In order to truly be
touched by the suffering of others, we have to abandon our
attachment to sharp divisions between individuals. We need to live
in awareness of the flow of energy between ourselves and others.