The Creation of Avalokiteśvara: Exploring His Origin in the Northern Āgamas

Through intertextual analyses between the northern Āgamas, Ava-lokiteśvara’s (A.) iconography-quality, and the early A.-related texts, this research argues that A. is a composite character representing the Buddha’s entire bodhisattva aspect. His iconography is based on Sumedha in the Dīpaṃkara Buddh...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zhang, Juyan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Simon Fraser University, David See Chai Lam Centre for International Communication 2017
In: Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 12, Pages: 1-62
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:Through intertextual analyses between the northern Āgamas, Ava-lokiteśvara’s (A.) iconography-quality, and the early A.-related texts, this research argues that A. is a composite character representing the Buddha’s entire bodhisattva aspect. His iconography is based on Sumedha in the Dīpaṃkara Buddha story; his title is based on the narrative through which the Buddha recounted how he surveyed the world upon awakening. They are respectively the starting point and the ending point of the Bodhisattva Path. The research also demonstrates that the eleven-headed A. is based on the eleven benefits of and the eleven directions in practicing the brahmavihāras (divine abidings). The research proposes that A.’s identity first became dissociated with the Buddha-to-be likely due to the Amitābha cult.,
ISSN:1710-825X
Contains:Enthalten in: Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies