AVALOKITEŚVARA. - He is one of the great Bodhisattvas, that is, a Buddha in potency, who has renounced entering Nirvāṇa (v.) until all beings have been redeemed by him. An emanation of the Buddha Amitābha, "of infinite splendor," who, absorbed in contemplative ecstasy, reigns in the "blessed abode" (Sukhāvatī), he is the author of the current fourth cosmic creation. His name means "the Lord whose gaze is turned downward," that is, toward the miseries of our lowly world. He is also called Padmapāṇi, "he who holds a lotus in his hand," the left one, and is invoked with the well-known ejaculatory prayer: Oṃ maṇi padme huṃ, "hail, jewel in the lotus! Amen." His cult is attested in northern India at a date earlier than 400 A.D.; his oldest images belong to the 5th century. The apologetic sutra Kāraṇḍavyūha, an abbreviation of A.-guṇakāraṇḍavyūha, "description of the basket of the virtues of A.," is dedicated to him. Patron of the Tibetan religion, A. is worshiped under the form and name of Kwanīṇ in China and of Kwan-non in Japan.

Bibliography

BIBL.: v. the entry AMITABHA.

Ferdinando Belloni Filippi

@incollection{ec2_avalokitesvara, author = {Belloni, Filippi Ferdinando}, title = {AvalokiteŚVara}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {505}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/avalokitesvara} }

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Avalokiteśvara

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