![]() ![]() The name changed as the bodhisattva absorbed some of the qualities of Śiva the Hindu Īśvara - svara became īśvara, and eśvara in combination. Svara means sounds and the name Avalokitasvara means "regarder of sounds or cries" which is how the name often appears in English translations of the Chinese Lotus Sutra for instance. ![]() Kwan Yin actually translates an earlier version of the name of this bodhisattva: Avalokita svara. In China, where Avalokiteśvara was very popular, he underwent a change and became Kwan Yin (觀音, also spelt Guān Yīn, and in Japanese: Kannon) a female Bodhisattva. He holds a cintamani or wish fulfilling jewel to his heart, and in his upper left hand a lotus in full bloom, and in his upper right hand a mālā for counting mantras. There are a number of two armed forms, and a form with one thousand arms! This image is of his four armed form is known as Ṣaḍakṣarī (six syllabled) Avalokiteśvara, because of the association with the popular mantra that this page features. "Lord who looks down", and is said to relate to his looking upon the earth and it's suffering beings with compassion. The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, or Chenrezig as he is known in Tibet, is associated with the quality of karuna or compassion.
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