1. Bodhisattva Guanyin (Kuan-yin)
Avalokitesvara (India), Lokesvara (Cambodia), Lokanatha (Burma), Natha Deviyo (Sri Lanka), Chenresig (Tibet)
Kennon or kwannon (Japan)
Kwanse’um (Korea)
Quan-am (Vietnam)

2. Avalokitesvara in Angkor, Cambodia: Lokesvara

3. Tibetan form of
Avalokiteśvara ( Four-armed Chenrezig)
Vietnam, Hanoi region

4. Avalokiteshvara in South Vietnam (8th and 9th century Bronze, Museum of the history of Ho Chi Minh City),
Seated statue of Senju-Kannon, Kyoto, Sanjusangen-do

5. Avalokitesvara
Originally a minor figure in some major Mahayana scriptures such as the Vimalakirti Sutra
Figured prominently in the Huayan Sutra and the Lotus Sutra.
Most prominent in the Pure Land Sutras,
Chief attendant to Amitabha Buddha
another is Mahathamaprapta
Prominent in Chinese Buddhist art
Water-moon, White-robed, Fish-basket, Clam-dwelling, Wife of Mr. Ma

6. Avalokitesvara in Major Scriptures
In the ascending order in terms of the importance of his role
The Sutra on the Mental Fixation of Integral Illumination
The Vimalakirti Sutra
The Longer/Larger Sutra
The Sutra of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva’s Receiving Prediction [Prophesy]
The Sutra on the Original Cause for Guanshiyin Bodhisattva’s Rebirth in the Pure Land

7. Guanyin (Kuan-yin) Assumes the Role of a Savior
The Lotus Sutra (chap. “Universal Gateway”)
The Contemplation Sutra (or The Sutra of Visualization on Amitayus Buddha)
The Surangama Sutra
The Karandavyudha Sutra
佛說大乘莊嚴寶王經
By Wu Daozi, Tang Dynasty

8. Guanyin and Indigenous Chinese Scriptures
Reasons for the making of indigenous Chinese scriptures:
Promoted the interest of the ruling authority
Criticized policies of the ruling authority
Reconciled differences between Buddhism and traditional Chinese thoughts, both Confucianism and Taoism
Advocated/proselytized a specific faith
Enhanced a cult of a national hero/heroine
Promised cures, blessings and other miracles

9. Guanyin in Indigenous Scriptures
The Sutra of Guanshiyin (Kuan-shih-yin) Samadhi
The King Kao’s Guanshiyin (Kuan-shih-yin) Sutra
The Sutra of the Bodhisattva Guanshiyin (Kuan-shih-yin) [who explains] the Conditions to be Reborn in the Pure Land
Dharani of Great Wish-fulfillment

10. Dharani Sutra of Five Mudras of the Great Compassionate White-Robed Guanyin
Sutra of the Great Merit of Foremost Rarity Spoken by the Buddha Received by the Empress Renxiao (Jen-hsiao) of the Great Ming in a Dream
Exalted Sutra Spoken by the Buddha on the Incarnation of the Great Compassionate and Supreme Holy Nine-lotus Bodhisattva to Save the World

11. The Sutra of Guanshiyin Samadhi
Guanyin grants the wishes of all who carry out a seven-day meditation
Sakyamuni acknowledges that he was a student of Guanyin when Guanyin was tathagata
Buddha acknowledges the recitation of the Sutra as the cause of his enlightenment

12. Meditation method:
Sit upright for seven days & nights and recite this sutra. On the seventh day, the Bodhisattva will reveal himself
recite dharani
Rewards of reciting the Sutra and the dharani
Good life, end of transmigration, rebirth in a buddha land, no rebirth in any of the evil paths, not be born with a female body

13. Southern Sea Guanyin

14. King Gao’s (Kao’s) Guanshiyin Sutra
Has only ten sentences
Central idea: Sins could be expiated by calling on the name of Guanyin, reciting a sutra, and chanting a dharani
Benefits similar to those described in the “Universal Gateway” chapter of the Lotus Sutra:
Be saved from seven perils (fire, water, wind or raksasa, knives, ghosts, shackles, enemies), three poisons (greed, delusion, and hatred)
Get two wishes (for a son and a daughter)

15. Sutra of the Bodhisattva Guanshiyin [Who Explains] the Conditions to be Born in the Pure Land
The Sutra provides a story about Guanyin’s past family life and spiritual journey
His father was Sakyamuni Buddha,his mother Amitabha Buddha, and his younger brother Mahasthamaprapta

16. Guanyin took vows to
save those who have no parents, have no eminent teacher, are poor
Save/help kings, ministers, merchants, householders, rulers, Brahmans, four assemblies, eight groups of living beings, and various kinds of living beings

17. Dharani of Great Wish-fulfillment
Content: three texts
1st text has dharani
2nd text is a talisman against difficulties in childbirth
3rd text is about Guanyin’s manifestations, e.g., as a layman wearing a white garment appearing in 3 miracle stories

18. Benefits derived from copying, chanting, and upholding the dharani
Bodhisattvas appear upon one’s death, touch one’s head, and promise one’s rebirth in the Pure Land
Practitioner is protected from loss of money, bad dreams, chronic illnesses, demon’s attack
See Guanyin, the Buddha and enjoy blessings
Woman gives birth to a wise boy or a beautiful girl

19. Dharani Sutra of Five Mudras of the Great Compassionate White-Robed Guanyin
Also known as the White-robed Guanyin Sutra
Content: A feminized White-robed Guanyin presented as a fertility goddess, or “Child-giving Guanyin,” in miracle tales

20. Chanting the scripture with sincerity, a wife would give birth to a handsome baby boy wrapped in a white caul
Perform good deeds:print and distribute copies of the sutra for free; make image(s) of Guanyin; build a shrine for Guanyin

21. Sutra of the Great Merit of Foremost Rarity
Content: discussion of true nature of mind and nature; dharanis spoken by various bodhisattvas
Benefits of chanting this sutra:
Free from all worries and suffering
Saved from fire, weather, robbers, poison, and wild animals
Dead ancestors of 9 generations back receive deliverance
Heirless persons given intelligent sons
Won’t go to Avici Hell
Obtain unmeasured blessings and virtues

22. Exalted Sutra Spoken by the Buddha
Content:
Guanyin asks the Buddha to help relieve people who suffer because of ignorance and evil deeds
The Buddha prophesizes the appearance of the Nine-lotus Bodhisattva
Urges people to chant the sutra and dharani revealed therein
Benefits not clearly detailed
Wood sculpture, Ming Dynasty