guan yin

[wiz cool c]

is the famous buddhist god guan yin a male or female?

[Gru Bianca]

Even though in many representation it looks more female then male Guan Yin does not have a well defined "sex", in simple it's both

[omarthefish]

It also depends on the dynasty. Earlier Guan Yin's were clearly male but he/she got feminized through the ages. In current Chinese culture Guan Yin is definitely a she but when Buddism was just hitting China (5th century? Just off the top of my head) Guan Yin was more clearly male. I wish I could remember which museum I saw the transition at. There was a display of Guan Yin's from various dynasties stretching about 7 or 8 hundred years and you could really see the transition.

[David Jamieson]

Is Either/Neither.
Is a god.

[SPJ]

She may become a buddha and go to the western extreme peace place.

But she decided to come back or stay in this earthly world and help people to enter the buddhahood.

so she kept being reincarnated into this world.

in some lives, she is she.

in some other lives, he is he.

etc etc.

:)

[SPJ]

avatar or last air bender borrowed her ideas.

in some lives, avatar was a guy

in some lives, avatar was a girl.

in the end

avatar is avatar or omnipresence or a whole or both male and female

etc etc.

:)

[wenshu]

Is a god.

No.

Bodhisattva =/= a god

[WanderingMonk]

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, the embodiment of compassion, is a male bodhisattva according to the Sanskrit Buddhist scripture.

When Buddhism first spread to China, Avalokiteshvara was depicted as a male bodhisattva. His name was translated as "guan yin", [the lord who] observes sounds.

Some have speculate that Chinese view compassion as a female quality and hence Guan yin became female to be more in tune with chinese's view of compassion.

The change was gradual and the view that Guanyin was a female bodhisattva probably became prevalent due to the popularity of various incarnations of guanyin as savior for women and children. One of the most popular one is the white robe guanyin. I used to recite her sutra whenever I was in trouble and needed help when I was little.

In the Buddhist sutra, it was stated that Avalokiteshvara would take whatever form most suitable to render assistance or appear in the form most receptive by the audience to achieve the necessary results. It would seem the female form of bodhisattva of compassion was the most suitable one for the Chinese.

[David Jamieson]

No.

Bodhisattva =/= a god

Yes.

The Compassionate Regarder of the Cries of the World is a god/dess.

Not my god, perhaps not yours, but somebodies.
Try to be tolerant of others beliefs will you. :p

[wenshu]

Yes.

The Compassionate Regarder of the Cries of the World is a god/dess.

Not my god, perhaps not yours, but somebodies.
Try to be tolerant of others beliefs will you. :p

Look, I don't come down to your church and try to tell you how to oppress women and ****sexuals. So don't try to lecture me about mine.

[David Jamieson]

Look, I don't come down to your church and try to tell you how to oppress women and ****sexuals. So don't try to lecture me about mine.

This is your church?
lol.

(as an aside, I don't do church, I"m a gnostic deist and I oppose organized religion and all it represents as falseness...so, there you have it.)

[wenshu]

This is your church?


No, I became a teetotaling vegetarian because it makes me popular at parties.

[GeneChing]

No, I became a teetotaling vegetarian because it makes me popular at parties. You too, huh?
:cool:

[David Jamieson]

I find that a diet that is more rich and towards vegetarian goodies will do a lot of things for you. Especially as I age! More and more food with a face just isn't making it to my plate anymore.

Still, as someone who practices Chan, I'll eat what I can afford and what is available and what is given me. It's sustenance after all. :)

[GeneChing]

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

The fad of flexitarianism. :rolleyes:

[Lucas]

but the face is the best part...

[wenshu]

You too, huh?
:cool:

Well, in my case, I wasn't exactly blessed with an overabundance of social dexterity in the first place. 囧


Oysters don't have faces.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/tyree-smith-axe-murder-cannibal-connecticut_n_1232067.html


According to the arrest warrant, Smith confessed to his cousin, Nicole Rabb, that he had killed Gonzalez with a hatchet in mid-December. He allegedly said he was sleeping on a porch of an abandoned apartment building when Gonzalez, a man he apparently did not know, woke him up and invited him in out of the cold. After entering the building, Smith allegedly attacked Gonzalez with an axe, police said.

Tyree allegedly told his cousin that the blows to Gonzalez's head were "so severe that he was able to remove an eye from the man's head along with pieces of brain matter and a piece of his skull," the arrest warrant reads.

Afterward, Smith allegedly took the organs to Lakeview Cemetery, where a relative of his is buried.

"At the cemetery he said he ate the eyeball, which tasted like an oyster, and the brain matter," according to the warrant.

Almost lunch time, anyone else hungry?

[wenshu]

But seriously, Bodhisattvas aren't gods. A god can become a Bodhisattva but one doesn't have to be a god to be a Bodhisattva.

Asian Christian syncretism equates Guan Yin with the Virgin Mary; venerated but decidedly not a god.

Jah could become a bodhisattva.

Give thanks and praise.

[GeneChing]

I bow to your skillful web fu in the last two posts.

[David Jamieson]

But seriously, Bodhisattvas aren't gods. A god can become a Bodhisattva but one doesn't have to be a god to be a Bodhisattva.

Asian Christian syncretism equates Guan Yin with the Virgin Mary; venerated but decidedly not a god.

Jah could become a bodhisattva.

Give thanks and praise.

These are buddhist "weasel words". And, you know it. :p

fact: people worship Bodhisattva as gods and see them as such. the make idols and images and bow down before them and pray to them and petition them with prayer for godlike favours.

I understand what you're saying, I don't believe that is how it is applied.

[Lucas]

unless you believe all the gods are real from all the cultures, then what makes a god but the peoples devotions?? anyone can become a god if enough faith is applied to them from the people.

[wenshu]

fact: people worship Bodhisattva as gods and see them as such. the make idols and images and bow down before them and pray to them and petition them with prayer for godlike favours.

No. Supernatural =/= god.

Catholics pray and make offerings to Catholic saints. Even going so far as to ascribe them supernatural powers but to consider a saint a god is blasphemy.

You've been pushing this Buddhism = Christianity B.S. for years but you are going to have to try a little harder than that if you want to start lifting heavy words like "fact"

In Buddhism the closest thing to gods are the Devas. They were not born human. Devas can become Bodhisattvas but not all Devas are Bodhisattvas and not all Bodhisattvas are Devas. As far as I know Avalokitesvara did not originate as a Deva.

In Chinese folklore and Taoism, Guan Yin is an immortal who started out as a human. Again something on the order of a Catholic saint than a God.

[David Jamieson]

No. Supernatural =/= god.

Catholics pray and make offerings to Catholic saints. Even going so far as to ascribe them supernatural powers but to consider a saint a god is blasphemy.

You've been pushing this Buddhism = Christianity B.S. for years but you are going to have to try a little harder than that if you want to start lifting heavy words like "fact"

In Buddhism the closest thing to gods are the Devas. They were not born human. Devas can become Bodhisattvas but not all Devas are Bodhisattvas and not all Bodhisattvas are Devas. As far as I know Avalokitesvara did not originate as a Deva.

In Chinese folklore and Taoism, Guan Yin is an immortal who started out as a human. Again something on the order of a Catholic saint than a God.

I've been pushing what? lol Get off it.

FACT: Kwan Yin is referred to commonly as "Goddess of Mercy"

You can dress it up however you like, but that does not detract from the fact that she/he is considered a GOD and a supernatural being etc etc.

Man, you're just being contrary for the sake of it.

Meanwhile at the zen temple, they take anyone in on dharma night and explain the goddess to those who enter the hall. Kwan Yin is a goddess in most explanations. But, I guess that abbot is wrong...and so are the others?

what the hell man? :confused:

[Lucas]

meh just subscribe to a culture where men can become gods then you're set. its all based around the parameters within which you opperate. of course in christianity no one can become a god. thats the rules. so go to a game with better rules ;)