See more: pendants & lockets
Sold Out
Avalokitesvara Pendant
$ 12.00
This product is sold out
- Avalokitesvara Pendant
- Approx. 1 1/8" x 7/8"
- Materials: vitreous enamel on tin and set in a metal case
- Avalokitesvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. This bodhi is variably depicted and described and is portrayed in different cultures as either female or male. In Chinese Buddhism, Avalokitesvara has become the somewhat different female figure, Guanyin. Avalokitesvara exemplifies the bodhisattva's resolve to postpone his own buddhahood until he has helped every sentient being on earth achieve liberation from suffering and the process of death and rebirth. His name has been interpreted as "the lord who looks in every direction" and "the lord of what we see".
- Avalokitesvara protects against shipwrecks, fire, assassins, robbers and wild beasts. He is the creator of the fourth world, which is the actual universe. One Buddhist story tells of Avalokitesvara vowing never to rest until he has freed all sentient beings from samsara (cycle of aimless drifting). After tremendous efforts, he realizes that many unhappy beings were still yet to be saved. After struggling to comprehend the needs of so many, his head splits into 11 pieces. Amitabha Buddha, seeing his plight, gives him 11 heads with which to hear the cries of the suffering, Avalokitesvara attempts to reach out to all those who needed aid but found that his 2 arms shattered into pieces. Once more, Amitabha comes to his aid and invests him with a thousand arms with which to aid the suffering people.
- Origin is India