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.

[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.

Look, I don't come down to your church and try to tell you how to oppress women and homosexuals. 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 homosexuals. 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?

[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.