When you think of Avalokitesvara with Thousand Arms and Thousand Eyes, what comes to mind? For me, I think of the dance "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" performed by Tai Lihua and others at the 2005 Spring Festival Gala. I was still in high school at the time and didn't know much about th

When you mention Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Guanyin , what do you think of?

For me, the dance "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" performed by Tai Lihua and others at the 2005 Spring Festival Gala. I was still in high school at the time and didn't know much about the teachings of Buddhism, but I was still impressed by the power of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin.

Later, after reading more books, I realized that Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara turned out to be a god revered by Tantric Buddhism.

Avalokitesvara with Thousand Arms and Thousand Eyes is also called "Avalokitesvara with Thousand Eyes and Thousand Arms". According to the tantric classic "Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's Vast, Complete and Unhindered Great Compassionate Heart Dharani Sutra", Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva "in the past "countless billions of kalpas", he heard the King of Thousand Lights Tathagata quietly speak "Great Compassion, Heart Dharani", and vowed to "benefit happiness and happiness to all sentient beings", so he grew thousands of hands and eyes. Thousands of hands represent protecting all sentient beings, and thousands of eyes represent observing the world.

The image of Bodhisattva with Thousand Arms and Thousand Eyes mainly includes with forty-second eyes and Thousand Arms and Thousand Eyes.

Forty-two eyes, except for the two central hands with palms together, there are twenty hands on the left and right, each with one eye. Each of these forty hands and eyes is matched with "twenty-five you", which is exactly a thousand hands and a thousand eyes. This is a vivid and exaggerated approach to show the incomparable vastness of Guanyin’s compassion.

There is a concept here, "Twenty-five You", let me explain it to you. "You" is the free translation of the Sanskrit word Bhava, which means "existence". The so-called "twenty-five existences" refer to the twenty-five kinds of existence environments of sentient beings in the three realms. Including:

(1) The fourteen "beings" of the world of desire.

The four evil realms: hell, hungry ghosts, animals, asuras.

The four major continents : Dongsheng Shenzhou , Nanzhan Buzhou , Xiniu Huozhou, Beiju Luzhou .

Six Desire Heaven : Four Heavenly Kings Heaven, Trayastry Heaven, Ye Motian, Tushita Heaven, Happy Change Heaven, and Other Transformation Heaven.

(2) The seven "beings" of the color realm.

First Zen Heaven, Second Zen Heaven, Third Zen Heaven, Fourth Zen Heaven, Brahma Heaven , Pure Residence Heaven, and Formless Heaven.

(3) The four "beings" of the colorless realm.

The sky is boundless, the consciousness is boundless, there is nothing, is neither thought nor non-thought .

There is another Thousand-Hand Guanyin with thousands of hands and thousands of eyes. Its typical statue is: three eyes on the face, one thousand hands on the arms, one eye on each of the thousand hands, wearing a crown on the head, and a transformed Buddha on the crown. His big hand has eighteen arms. He clasped his palms together with both hands first, holding the Vajra in one hand, the trident in the other hand, the Brahma in the other hand, the treasure seal in the other hand, the tin staff in the other hand, the orb in the other hand, and the Buddhist seal in the other hand. Hold the treasure wheel, apply the lotus in one hand, hold the rope in the other hand, poplar branches in one hand, count the beads in one hand, pour the bath with one hand, give out nectar with one hand, and give out all kinds of precious rain with the other hand. The remaining nine hundred and eighty-two hands all hold various weapons, swords, and other seals in their hands.

The largest wood carving of Thousand-Armed Guanyin in my country is the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin statue in the Mahayana Pavilion of the Eight Great Buddha Temples outside Chengde. Guanyin stands on the lotus throne, with her hair tied in a knot, wearing a cassock, a Buddha crown, and bare feet. There are a total of forty-two hands, the two hands on the chest are clasped together, and the other forty hands each hold various magical weapons. There is one eye in the center of each palm, plus three eyes on the face, for a total of forty-three eyes. This statue is 22.23 meters high and weighs about 110 tons. It is the best wood carving of Guanyin.

The Japanese also worship the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara. When the great monk Jianzhen traveled east to Japan, he brought the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara statue with him. After Jianzhen founded Tangzhaoti Temple, he imitated the statue of Guanyin he brought and built a giant statue of Guanyin with thousands of hands and eyes to enshrine in the golden hall of the temple. In addition, in the Rengeo-in Sansankendo Hall in Kyoto, Japan, there are 1,001 standing statues of Avalokitesvara with Thousand Arms and Thousand Eyes, which are as tall as a real person. They are magnificent, solemn and breathtaking.