AVALOKITEŚVARA

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 splendour,” who, absorbed in contemplative ecstasy, is enthroned in the “blessed abode” (Sukhāvatī), he is the author of the present 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 in a period prior to A.D. 400; his most ancient images belong to the fifth century. The apologetic sutra Kāraṇḍavyūha is dedicated to him, an abbreviation of A.-guṇakāraṇḍavyūha, “description of the basket of A.’s virtues.” Patron of the Tibetan religion, A. is worshipped under the form and name of Kwanīṇ in China and Kwan-non in Japan.