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Bồ Đề Pagoda, New Orleans, LA.
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 and Tibet, Avolokiteshvara has retained its original male identity (the Dalai Lama is believed by Tibetans to be a reincarnation of him), but in seventh to 11th century China the icon transformed into a female goddess figure, Kuan Shih Yin (literally: observer 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 Vietnam.
Bồ Đề Pagoda, New Orleans, LA.
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 and Tibet, Avolokiteshvara has retained its original male identity (the Dalai Lama is believed by Tibetans to be a reincarnation of him), but in seventh to 11th century China the icon transformed into a female goddess figure, Kuan Shih Yin (literally: observer 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 Vietnam.